Jessicurl Keeps The Spirit Of Founder Jessica McGuinty Alive After Her Death

Just over a year since Jessica McGuinty passed away, the curly haircare brand that she founded, Jessicurl, is carrying on the spirit of what she represented.

“All of us have a little bit of that spirit of Jess within us,” says Jenny Thayer, United States marketing director for Jessicurl, which is owned by McGuinty’s widower Chris Spohn.

Spohn says, “Jess’s pioneering of gluten-free, vegan and cruelty-free curly hair products is now what so many companies are trying to establish. Jessicurl has 22 years of research and development towards a product line that is worth so much to the well-being of the world and so insightful into how people feel about themselves. If you ask me how the future looks, I’d say my wife was the future, and Jessicurl is the best-kept secret that everyone is about to know about.”

Rockin’ Ringlets Styling Potion is one of curly hair brand Jessicurl’s bestselling products, and it was in its initial trio of products when it launched in 2002.

Already, consumers are discovering it. According to Thayer, Jessicurl’s website traffic is up 40% this year, and it expects 2024 sales to increase 25% and projects even greater growth for 2025. She says the brand’s customers return to purchase products at an over 60% rate. In response to recent growth, Jessicurl is remodeling its home offices and production facilities in Arcata, Calif.

Jessicurl’s latest launch, $17.95 Clarifying Shampoo, its first new product in four years, is based on a formula from a recipe book McGinty gave Jessicurl’s team prior to her death. McGuinty died at age 47 on June 14 last year after being diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a disorder affecting connective tissue, the prior year. Other products inspired by her recipe book are slated for releases in the coming months.

Jessicurl decided to introduce Clarifying Shampoo because it spotted a gap in the market for a clarifying shampoo without added fragrance. The brand provides fragrance-free options for each of its 14 products. Thayer says, “A lot of other clarifying shampoos out there have essential oils or they have other herbal remedies in them, which can be great, but for somebody who has a lot of scent sensitivities or they have a lot of allergies, it’s not so great.”

“All of us have a little bit of that spirit of Jess within us.”

Growing up, McGuinty was made to feel different and inferior because her curly hair didn’t suit the straight-haired ideal. She was advised to do what she could to get rid of her curls, and she became obsessed with her curly hair challenges. As she grew older, she couldn’t find quality products for curl maintenance, but a breakthrough came in the early 2000s, when she happened upon the online community and content destination NaturallyCurly.com as the natural hair movement was rising and reveled in the camaraderie of her supportive curly-haired peers.

In 2002, McGuinty whipped up a formula for the product that would become Jessicurl’s Rockin’ Ringlets Styling Potion on the stovetop in her apartment. She posted about it on NaturallyCurly and the next day she was flooded with messages from people encouraging her to sell it. Jessicurl started the same year with it along with Gelebration Spray and Awe Inspiraling Spray.

Today, the brand’s bestsellers include Rockin’ Ringlets Styling Potion, Spiralicious Styling Gel, Too Shea! Extra Moisturizing Condition and Gentle Lather Shampoo. Its products are priced from $12.95 to $17.95.

Jessicurl has 14 products priced from $12.95 to $17.95. Its newest product, Clarifying Shampoo, is based on a recipe in a book founder Jessica McGuinty gave to her team before her death last year.

Michelle Breyer, CMO at consumer packaging goods accelerator program SKU, co-founder of NaturallyCurly and a close friend of McGuinty, describes Rockin’ Ringlets and additional Jessicurl products were game changers for many in the NaturallyCurly community. “Jess brought such creativity and passion to the Jessicurl brand,” she says. “Because of the high-quality of the products and their uniqueness as well as their loyal customer base of curlies, the brand has the power to live on and prosper.”

Jessicurl is expanding geographically as well as with its products. It’s looking to enter countries in Europe and other regions. Today, it’s available at several hundred salons across the U.S., Australia and the United Kingdom. Jessicurl’s current customers are 98% women between the ages of 35 to 54 years old, generally with type two and type three hair.

Thayer says they have a “middle-range curl pattern a little bit on the wider side. We really keep that in mind when we’re developing our products. We don’t want things that are going to weigh down people’s curls. We want things that are going to actually enhance them and make them bouncier.”