Our Story
OUR STORY
I remember as a little girl I thought my hair wasn’t pretty ENOUGH. I received my first relaxer between the age of 1 and 2. No hate to my mama, she didn’t know any better & products for OUR hair just didn’t exist. I never got the chance to embrace my hair the way it grew from my scalp. Being around predominantly white people during my most impressionable years led me to believe my hair wasn’t pretty enough. They could comb their hair with ease, their hair would flow in the wind, and my favorite, the ponytail would swing as they walked. During those times, you didn’t see many black women as main characters or on TV like today. I was drowning in the European standards of beauty. I always wanted my hair straightened and like theirs.
I VIVIDLY remember asking my white classmate, “How did you get your hair like that?” not knowing that’s just how her hair was. She answered, “ Uhh, Shampoo and conditioner!” I was so excited to have “the answer”.
My mama decided to take us to Walmart to get our hair washed one specific time. (I still want to ask her what made her do that cause NO MA’AM!) As the lady was washing my hair using ALOT of “shampoo and conditioner”, my excited self kept thinking, “Yes! My hair is about to be so silky!” After all, shampoo and conditioner makes my hair look like my white classmates, right? Anyways, I was sadly mistaken. I left Walmart with a big puff ball on the top of my head. I was confused. Why didn’t my hair turn out long and silky?
Well, fast forward to my high school years.. I finally found out WHY I’ve been getting relaxers all these years. Yep, high school! I am not ashamed. It was maybe my 10th grade year when I found out why I had to get a relaxer every 6-8 weeks. My hair was NATURALLY CURLY and I was permanently straightening it. No, my edges weren’t NAPPY, it was curly! It was just a major difference from the relaxed ends. I asked my mom all the time to corn row my hair so in the morning I can have this big “curly” fro, not knowing my hair did this NATURALLY and it’s wayyyy more beautiful! From then on I went longer without relaxers and 2014 I decided NO MORE RELAXERS. It wasn’t overnight that I embraced my natural unapologetically. I had to UNLEARN & RELEARN a lot of stuff! What I used on my relaxed hair, I couldn’t use on my natural hair. Of course, that resulted in me slapping a wig on it and calling it a day! Finding the right products were hard. So a year later, I knew I wanted to create hair products for my natural sistas.
I sat down on my sister’s bed coming up with names for my business. Elite Kinks stuck with me. When I think of Elite, I think best of the best, top notch, & special. It almost felt like a positive affirmation. And that’s what I wanted my future customers to feel about their hair. Hence the slogan, “Know Your Hair’s Worth”. I didn’t know mine when I was younger that’s why I always compared my hair to my classmates. Oh but NOW?! Now I do! I know that my hair embodies everything that I am as a black woman... BOLD... BEAUTIFUL.. STRONG & POWERFUL.... JUST THE WAY IT IS.
#BlackGirlMagic ✨
This is a gift to my inner child! ❤️
I VIVIDLY remember asking my white classmate, “How did you get your hair like that?” not knowing that’s just how her hair was. She answered, “ Uhh, Shampoo and conditioner!” I was so excited to have “the answer”.
My mama decided to take us to Walmart to get our hair washed one specific time. (I still want to ask her what made her do that cause NO MA’AM!) As the lady was washing my hair using ALOT of “shampoo and conditioner”, my excited self kept thinking, “Yes! My hair is about to be so silky!” After all, shampoo and conditioner makes my hair look like my white classmates, right? Anyways, I was sadly mistaken. I left Walmart with a big puff ball on the top of my head. I was confused. Why didn’t my hair turn out long and silky?
Well, fast forward to my high school years.. I finally found out WHY I’ve been getting relaxers all these years. Yep, high school! I am not ashamed. It was maybe my 10th grade year when I found out why I had to get a relaxer every 6-8 weeks. My hair was NATURALLY CURLY and I was permanently straightening it. No, my edges weren’t NAPPY, it was curly! It was just a major difference from the relaxed ends. I asked my mom all the time to corn row my hair so in the morning I can have this big “curly” fro, not knowing my hair did this NATURALLY and it’s wayyyy more beautiful! From then on I went longer without relaxers and 2014 I decided NO MORE RELAXERS. It wasn’t overnight that I embraced my natural unapologetically. I had to UNLEARN & RELEARN a lot of stuff! What I used on my relaxed hair, I couldn’t use on my natural hair. Of course, that resulted in me slapping a wig on it and calling it a day! Finding the right products were hard. So a year later, I knew I wanted to create hair products for my natural sistas.
I sat down on my sister’s bed coming up with names for my business. Elite Kinks stuck with me. When I think of Elite, I think best of the best, top notch, & special. It almost felt like a positive affirmation. And that’s what I wanted my future customers to feel about their hair. Hence the slogan, “Know Your Hair’s Worth”. I didn’t know mine when I was younger that’s why I always compared my hair to my classmates. Oh but NOW?! Now I do! I know that my hair embodies everything that I am as a black woman... BOLD... BEAUTIFUL.. STRONG & POWERFUL.... JUST THE WAY IT IS.
#BlackGirlMagic ✨
This is a gift to my inner child! ❤️
