Ouidad: The Curl Experts

Set your alarm hours early.  Get the blow dryer ready for a possible two hour-long run.  And please, please don’t let it rain, mist, snow or be anything other than dry, crisp and cool.  Do you recognize this morning? So did Ouidad.

Pronounced “wee-dod,” she came from a family full of curls. While her sister spent an hour and a half every day fighting her elaborate natural locks with the hair dryer, Ouidad let her curls flow.  She was no stranger to hardships by letting her curls wave – being mocked by her straight-haired classmates was a daily routine.

A self-proclaimed tomboy, Ouidad fought back by, well, fighting.  However, she quickly realized that would get her nowhere.  The best revenge would be to address the real issue, her curly hair!

Lucky for her she had a house full of clients. Little did they know their hair was being worked on by someone who would later be dubbed “The Queen of Curl.”

After working at a salon in Rhode Island she searched for apprenticeships in Europe.  She found one in Rome, then Paris where she worked for clients like Christian Dior and Yves Saint Laurent.  Her work continued in London where she did hair on the original production of Evita. Then, it was off to New York when the show launched on Broadway.  Curls, the Impetus behind Ouidad!

It was in New York where she established her name by working on all the curly-haired models for companies like Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein and Benetton. Three North American Hairstyling Awards for Best Stylist in the United States later, the first Ouidad Salon was born!