Bouncing around from The Netherlands to South America to the United States since she was a kid, Aziza El Wanni and her natural curly hair have experienced a lot of changes. Some were brought on by the weather, and others were brought on by hormones.
“My mom would always help me make little potions in her kitchen, hair products and skincare products,” recalls Los Angeles-based El Wanni, whose mother is Caribbean and father is Middle Eastern. “As I got older and my hair texture changed, I went back into the kitchen and played around with more ingredients. I started making my little potions again.”
After dabbling in DIY for 15 years, El Wanni decided to bring her formulas to market in 2021 by launching haircare brand The Potion Studio. She invested $50,000 from her savings to start the brand with four haircare products: $21 Confident Crown Conditioner, $32 Monoi Mango Moisturizer, $21 Satin Silk Shampoo and $32 Rose Bomb Leave-In Conditioning Spray. A treatment product is expected to enlarge The Potion Studio’s selection later this year.
Rose Bomb Leave-In Conditioning Spray is the brand’s hero product. “It’s light, it smells really good, really works well as a deodorizer,” says El Wanni. “It’s also great for after the gym if you don’t want to wash your hair too often.”
Suiting her on-the-go lifestyle, El Wanni is careful to keep The Potion Studio’s range edited and its products easy to use and multifunctional. “Sometimes I’d put 14 products in my hair, and it just got exhausting. I am a young professional, I don’t have time for this and, honestly, it’s not even needed,” she says. “I feel like the media has brainwashed, especially us with textured hair, that we need all these products for all these different things when in reality we really don’t.”
The Potion Studio keeps things simple on the ingredient front, too. “If we really go back to the basics, if we go back to North Africa, everybody has healthy hair, and that’s because of the natural products,” says El Wanni. “The key to healthy hair, whether we have textured hair, fine hair, really is to just have products that are potent, simple ingredients.”
The Potion Studio’s packaging is also minimal, although El Wanni admits that can be a detriment. “Because it’s not too busy, sometimes it’s not busy enough, and I lack instructions,” she says. “Some people are like, OK, well this is a moisturizer, but what do I use it for?” The Potion Studio turns to Instagram to fill in the educational gaps.
Largely available in direct-to-consumer distribution dating back to its launch, The Potion Studio landed on Nordstrom’s website last month. It will roll out to 25 of the retailer’s doors next month with its full haircare collection as well as the $27.95 detangling tool Rib Brush. The Potion Studio connected with Nordstrom through wholesale platform Folklore late last year.
El Wanni was drawn to Nordstrom for what she deems its proactive inclusiveness. “There are a lot of retailers out there that just add Black-owned brands or minority-owned brands to look better, and I honestly feel like Nordstrom doesn’t do that at all,” she says. “I feel like they really support independent, small brands. They really give us a chance.”
The brand initially launched in Nordstrom’s New York and Los Angeles flagships for a pop-up shop in partnership with 15 Percent Pledge, the nonprofit fighting for Black-owned brands to get on retail shelves, held in February timed with Black History Month. Connecting with beauty consumers in-person is a big marketing aim for The Potion Studio that El Wanni hopes will continue as the brand builds its business at retail.
“I’ve always made it clear [to Nordstrom] that I’m willing to work with you if you guys are willing to work with me regarding my budget, and if there’s anything I can do to put myself out there in the sense of doing events in the store, having a founder’s day, and if I need to travel to any other state to give a masterclass, I’m more than willing to do it,” she says. “I like to be hands-on when it comes to the brand and being in front of people.”
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