Before her brand CurlDaze’s official rollout to nearly 450 CVS locations last month, Robyn Atwater dropped by a CVS store in Inglewood, Calif., and noticed that its Glossy Shine Gel had quickly sold out. “That was a mind-blowing moment, and I hope that trend continues,” says the influencer turned beauty entrepreneur.
It seems the trend is continuing. CurlDaze’s product lineup at CVS, including Creamy Curl Styler and Ultra Moisture Cream along with Glossy Shine Gel, has been picked clean at several of the drugstore chain’s locations. And the brand’s diehards are flocking to Target as well, where it recently entered more than 300 stores and e-commerce with Creamy Curl Styler, Glossy Shine Gel, Detangling Leave-In Conditioner and Ultra Moisture Creme Conditioner. Another drugstore company is due to launch CurlDaze later this year. At retail, the brand’s products are priced from $11.99 to $16.99.
The retail expansion furthers a stellar early ride for CurlDaze, which premiered in July 2020 and has sold tens of thousands of units since. “I gave myself a year to clear out my garage, and we cleared it out in three months,” says Atwater. “We wiped out our website three times selling out within the first year.”
CurlDaze’s success so far is indicative of the popularity of Atwater and the brand’s products in addition to the sales progress of the textured haircare segment. According to Romina Brown, founder and CEO of Strategic Solutions International, American consumers now spend in excess of $2.6 billion on textured haircare products. She identifies Mielle as the leading Black-owned brand in the segment at $50 million in revenues. Overall, Unilever-owned SheaMoisture is the top brand.
Atwater is very aware of the variety of textured haircare products on the market as she incorporated them in her YouTube and Instagram tutorials prior to developing her brand. An economist by trade, Atwater took to social media after detecting an inordinate amount of her hair falling out in 2010. She says, “I do a lot of research, and I was like, ‘I find answers to everything, so let me find an answer to this.’”
“We wiped out our website three times selling out within the first year.”
Atwater shared her product answers and haircare techniques with a burgeoning audience. Today, CurlDaze has 127,000 followers on Instagram, almost 63,000 followers on TikTok and just under 65,000 subscribers on YouTube. Atwater is particularly recognized for a hair hack she’s dubbed “the horseshoe method’ in which she twists hair around flexible rods to perfect poppin’ curls. Her social media experience was impactful in amassing supporters, of course, but also in teaching her what she wanted and didn’t want from CurlDaze’s products.
“We didn’t want any harmful chemicals in our products that would lead to any breakage or damage your curls in any way,” says Atwater. “I wanted to make sure that they are moisturizing because moisture is No. 1 for curlies. If our hair is dry, it breaks.” On a limited budget, self-funded CurlDaze started with three products—Creamy Curl Styler, Ultra Moisture Cream and Glossy Shine Gel—and expanded last year with its Silky Hydration collection containing Cream Shampoo, Detangling Conditioner, Detangling Leave-In Conditioner and Deep Conditioning Masque.
Initially, Atwater says, “Stylers were my main focus because that’s where I saw the need, and it’s what people asked me questions about most.” Next up for CurlDaze is a hair growth collection with an oil designed for the scalp, an edge control product and shine spray. The brand is discovering consumers with protective hairstyles are increasingly relying on it. Atwater says, “I’m the queen of a top-knot bun and a hat, and I’m seeing my consumers doing that more and more. That’s why I’m thankful that our products are so moisturizing because they’re great at locking in that moisture for protective styles. So, when you take it out at the end of the week, it’s still soft.”
CurlDaze broke into retail at Black-owned beauty supply stores like Strandz Unlimited, BeautyBeez, Evette’s Beauty Supply and Mylestone Beauty Supply. Even as it populates big chains, Atwater doesn’t foresee CurlDaze leaving those stores. “They reorder regularly,” says Atwater. “I was able to go to many of them and meet the owners of the stores. I have a connection with those owners, and that’s something that will never go away, I don’t care how many large big-box stores I’m in.”
“We have people of all ages, genders and ethnicities. Our brand is for everyone, it really is.”
Atwater has a connection with her social media admirers, too. From her digital presence, she’s accumulated a wide pool of customers for CurlDaze. “Going viral on social media really opens up your customer base. So, who you thought was your core customer base turns out to be something totally different,” she says. “Our customers are male and female. They are old and young. I would say between 18 and 35 is really the sweet spot, but we have people of all ages, genders and ethnicities. Our brand is for everyone, it really is.”
Atwater emphasizes, “I built relationships before the products came. It’s funny because people already thought I had products before I did. I already had branded the name before I had the products. I’m able to tap real time into my supporters, ask them what they want and for their feedback. They can really talk to me. I think that connection we have sets us apart, plus the products are amazing.”
Between running CurlDaze and being a parent, Atwater is constantly trying to figure out how to set aside precious minutes for content creation. Recently, CurlDaze has gone viral with TikTok videos featuring Atwater’s cousin Neil Bailey. A video showing him brushing out his curls with CurlDaze’s Curl Defining Brush and Creamy Curl Styler has racked up 2 million views. “He’s a super fan of the products,” says Atwater. “When I first launched, he said, ‘I’m growing out my hair, and I’m using your products.’ He comes to my house, and we just film videos and have a good time.”
Atwater is thrilled that people watching CurlDaze’s videos can easily buy its products at their local CVS or Target. “They can literally get in their cars and get it in real time instead of putting in an order and having to wait for shipping,” she says. Knowing that they’ve been doing that by the droves at the mass-market retail locations as they had done previously at beauty supply stores and online is a thrill to Atwater. “I’m not a crier, and I’ve cried more in this past year and a half than I think I have in my whole life,” she says. “I’ve just been thankful and happy.”
