It may be our birthday...but we’re celebrating you, CurlMixer!
Six years ago, we embarked on a curly journey that changed our lives.
Even through the tangles and stresses among a variety of textures and tresses, we couldn’t be more grateful at the incredible growth of this company.
Who knew a hair care company could make such an uplifting impact?!
Well...we did know that. And we soon realized that there were a lot of other supporters who believed in that sentiment as well...our CurlMixers.
Honestly, we can’t count the infinite amount of times that you, our best curl friend, have shown up and shown out in the name of healthy natural hair.
We can, however, count a few monumental milestones that you helped create that made this curly journey extraordinary. Seven, to be exact:
2015 - Early Features of CurlMix
CurlMix launched in 2015 as a DIY-subscription service for women with all types of natural hair. We do mean all types: curls, waves, kinks...you name it.
One of the most exciting parts about releasing this bundle of curl into the beauty industry was hearing initial reviews and feedback. Several publications gave us our first early features:
These features gave us an even better platform to reach you, our audience of naturalistas who would soon become CurlMixers.
This was one of our first chances to connect with different types of curls around the world (er...at least Chicago for the time!).
We’re forever grateful that this type of specific recognition was part of the reason CurlMix jumped onto your radar.
2016 - CurlMix Parties
If you remember the CurlMix Parties...you may just be an OG!
From the beginning, our CEO Kim has always valued transparency.
The CurlMix Story is simple: we create products made of clean ingredients that can easily be implemented into your beauty routine. We have nothing to hide! Instead, we have a whole lot to share.
During our CurlMix Parties, we used our recipes from the subscription service to create hair and body products in-person with our CurlMixers.
Not only was this a chance to connect with our CurlMixers, but it also gave you an exclusive look into who CurlMix really is.
The CurlMix Parties have since then evolved into Packing Parties, a series on our Facebook Live that shows our Operations Team getting your orders together.
2017 - CurlMix Launches Flaxseed Gel
During this time, we realized something: the spirit of DIY isn’t for everyone! (And that’s okay.)
As much as our CurlMixers were enjoying the subscription service, there were still a few tangles. Largely, creating these products incorrectly.
We wanted to ensure that our CurlMixers were able to truly benefit from these hair and body products, but we couldn’t do the work of your DIY box for you.
Or...could we?
We formulated the watermelon kiwi hair gel, a popular DIY recipe, over 50 times to create a ready-to-use product that you don’t have to refrigerate.
We ended up creating our wash and go Flaxseed Gel, a CurlMix favorite and our best-seller.
This was the first product that led the way to establishing our CurlMix Classic lines, which includes the 4-Step Wash + Go System.
2018 - First Employees Hired
Running a company isn’t as easy and breezy as Wash Day.
It’s a whole lot of work, a whole lot of curls, and a whole lot of energy to put onto two people (and a plethora of volunteers) solely.
In 2018, we were able to hire our first employees to help us provide incredible service to our CurlMixers.
We’ve been able to grow our company with phenomenal people who are rockstars in their roles. (You’ve even got to meet a few of them within customer service and operations!)
They help keep us afloat so that we can help ensure your Wash Day and hair routines are smooth-sailing.
2019 - CurlMix Fresh and Wash + Go Wednesday
Remember the good ole days of when we were a DIY company? (Aka, just a few years ago…)
The spirit of DIY refuses to leave us, and honestly...we’re cool with that! Turns out, so are many of our CurlMixers are as well.
We launched CurlMix Fresh after our CurlMixers reminded us of how sweet our DIY creations were.
Every month, we continue this craft of curating new products to surprise our CurlMixers on the monthly basis. Every month should feel like your birthday, right?
We have to confess: when Wash + Go Wednesday initially started, it wasn’t on a Wednesday...and it wasn’t live from our CEO’s shower.
Kim and Tim, our founders, were at a conference where they were challenged to go Live on Facebook to demonstrate their business.
Kim went off to the bathroom, hopped on Facebook Live, and started styling up her curls with CurlMix products. Our CurlMixers loved this, and we went on to make this weekly thing.
Wash + Go Wednesdays are a true staple in the CurlMix community. Every Wednesday, we do a LIVE Wash + Go video that features Kim, hair influencers, and our very own CurlMixers.
We heard some of you look forward to Wednesdays now more than Fridays...and we don’t blame you.
2020 - Oprah’s Favorite Things
So we’ve been in the game for about five years now, and we’re still trekking down the curly road.
Our CurlMixers, who are also on the road with us, are always graciously dropping reviews and postings of our products.
Guess who picked up what they were dropping?
Oprah.
Our CurlMixers kept the buzz alive for us to receive recognition from the Chicago Queen herself.
It was truly an honor, and we could not have made it onto Oprah’s Favorite Things without our favorite curly community.
2021 - WeFunder
We’re not going to hold you, CurlMixer: we still get pretty emotional over this one.
Over the years, our customers have had a huge say in our company: which products to release, bring back, make permanent...the works.
We’ve always centered our CurlMixers as our main, so now it was time to become community-owned and customer-owned.
In 2021, we launched a campaign on WeFunder to raise money for CurlMix.
It was a big amount of money for a big change that we were preparing to make as a company.
It’s one thing to ask for you to trust in our products and our routines to use for your hair. It’s another thing to ask for your money to use for our company.
Simply put: our CurlMixers showed up. We raised over 5 million dollars of equity funding from our community. From you.
You are forever a part of this company’s story and success. So for our sixth birthday, all we want is to continue taking care of heads full of curls.
Happy Birthday to us, and thank you, CurlMixer.
Leave a comment