ADVENTURES OF A FORWARD-THINKING FOUNDER

Bouclème founder, Michele Scott-Lynch, shares her journey on taking the plunge into curly hair products

Michele Scott-Lynch has had a varied career journey, from working as a sales assistant in a men’s clothing shop to a marketing assistant for Warner Records. She spent 10 years working in the music industry until she turned 30 and began studying holistic medicine as well as becoming a mum. Just ten years later Bouclème, a brand dedicated to the needs of people with curly hair, was launched.

So where did the idea for Bouclème come from? During her early years, Michele explained how she often battled with her natural curl pattern, choosing to chemically relax it in her teens. “When I turned 30, I read Malcolm X’s autobiography, which talks a lot about the process of chemical straightening. He spoke about how people of colour put themselves through that pain in order to conform with the Western concept of beauty being straight, sleek hair. When I read that, I decided that I was never going to straighten my hair again – and I never have.”

As Michele embarked on her journey of embracing her natural texture, she couldn’t find any products that suited her hair type. “It was a real struggle to find anything natural and effective, so I decided to create my own.” She was further inspired by her daughters' experiences with their hair. Both have curly hair, but with different curl patterns, and one day her eldest daughter came home from school and said ‘I hate my hair’ which gave Michele the determination to create a different experience for her them. “I wanted to redefine what it meant to be curly and help people find the confidence to be who they are, what they want to be, and to wear their hair with pride.”

How did she start to build a product line without any prior experience? By using her connections and her own personal experiences. “Bouclème is completely bootstrapped by myself. Having no background in beauty or hair, I turned to my friend and I was put in touch with someone who worked in product development.” Wanting to create three essential products that could work for as many people as possible, Michele created a cleanser, conditioner and a styling product. She then spent two years creating and testing out the products on herself and her daughters. “Each of us has different curls, so I tried them out to see if they worked across the various patterns.” After successful focus groups, Michele knew she was ready to launch.

Michele recently celebrated Bouclème's 10th anniversary (and HJ were there to join in the celebrations), she now spends her time in meetings, planning new launches and organising events. We asked for her thoughts on how the industry can increase representation for diverse, curly hair types and Michele told us she believes there’s still work to be done. “Many customers have had bad experiences with their hair, so I think it takes time to build trust.”

So what’s next? “We’re working hard on a launch exclusively for salon professionals, which has been about 18 months in the making. We’re still putting it through some rigorous testing, but we’re hoping to bring it to market early next year.” Hairdressers, keep your eyes peeled!