Ouidad: The Curl Experts

The Queen of Curls started her distinctive company based on a very personal passion.  And as a result, Ouidad has changed the lives of curly-haired consumers forever, building curl confidence one amazing product (and twirl) at a time!

Now Ouidad tells The Wall Street Journal how she’s serving the unique needs of the curly hair community, in this great video, part of the Journal’s How I Built It series.

But curl confidence is not the only thing Ouidad champions; she also encourages entrepreneurs to have confidence in business, inspiring those just starting out to believe in themselves!

It’s all about that confidence with Ouidad!

On October 20^thin New York City, The Queen of Curls was invited to share the story of how she revolutionized curly hair care business over the last 25 years. It was all part of the How I Built It entrepreneurial panel, moderated by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and hosted by the small business editor of the WSJ, Colleen DeBaise.  Also on the panel were Liz Lange (founder of Liz Lange Maternity) Stew Leonard Jr. (president of Stew Leonard’s) Chinedu Echeruo (founder of HopStop.com) and Ron Gonen (founder of RecycleBank).

This WSJ forum series provides a high profile platform to help up-and-coming small businesses by tapping the wisdom and experience of successful established business people, such as Ouidad.  She was able to share some of the successes and pitfalls that she experienced while building the business… and you know it’s a great story from Ouidad; after the now famous coin flip in 1983, Ouidad and Peter Wise built their revolutionary salons from the ground up. Now “Ouidad” is a household name.

Ouidad not only inspires men and women to embrace their natural curls, she also sets an example for anyone with the dream of doing what they love for a living. Inclusion on this WSJ Panel is one way that Ouidad continues to lead and inspire with her curly story, empowering future entrepreneurs.

Photo via OKmagazine.com

If you were born with straight hair, chances are you have always envied the look that only bold, beautiful curls can achieve. Admit it, curly hair is totally irresistible! It’s just like the character from Beverly Cleary’s popular novels, the young Ramona Quimby, who was simply fascinated by her nemesis–Susan Kushner–and her “perfect” long, curly locks! As the stories go, when Ramona finally gave in to the overwhelming urge to pull one of Susan’s springy ringlets, she and Ramona became unending rivals!

Luckily for all you fans of curly hair, Ouidad knows just how tempting it is for straight haired girls to get their own irresistible curly look. So we are happy to see OK Magazine recently feature soft and touchable curly styles on some of today’s hottest Hollywood starlets. And you know that we weren’t surprised at all to see a typically straight-haired beauty in the layout, Slumdog Millionaire’s Freida Pinto, trying out a truly tousled curly look. Her luscious locks look so great in her new curly style – it’s hard to imagine them any other way!

So many curly styles have been highly desirable over the centuries, from the dramatic curly-haired periwigs of the Britain’s16^th century to the classic and glamorous 20^th century curls of Marilyn Monroe.) And what straight haired person could resist those curly haired perms of the big ‘80s?)

Here at Ouidad we know that curly hairstyles always make an impression and they’re here to stay, but we think it’s great that OK Magazine is trumpeting yet another resurgence of the curly look. Just don’t envy those bold, beautiful curls though – get them for yourself!