Rëzo Haircare Springs Onto QVC With Products For Curly Hair

Due to the pandemic, Rëzo founder Nubia Rëzo was forced to shutter her salon last year only two weeks after it opened. Terrible as it was, the shuttering gave her the opportunity to focus on her brand’s curly hair products, which debuted Tuesday on QVC. “I always say God takes one way and gives us another,” she muses.

Rëzo has dedicated her career to curly hair. Born and raised in Colombia, she moved to the United States in 1975 and trained at salons like Wella, DevaCurl, Aveda, Goldwell, Vidal Sassoon and Ouidad under renowned hairstylists. Her extensive experience with curly hair led her to develop her signature curly haircut aptly called the RëzoCut, and she educated other hairstylists to respect curly hair. In 2016, she launched Rëzo Academy in New York City. She trained over 2,000 stylists in the U.S. and has taken the program around the world. In 2019, she introduced her line of curly hair products.

QVC is selling Rëzo’s shampoo, conditioner, gel and towel as a bundle for $72.40. On Rëzo’s website, the shampoo and conditioner sell for $34.95, the gel is $39.95, and the towel is $21.95. A diffuser ($24.95) and hair serum ($64.95) make up the rest of the brand’s collection. The gel and serum are the most popular products, according to Rëzo, who strives to give curly-haired women regimens that aren’t overwhelming. “We knew that you didn’t need to apply so many products,” she says. “It’s more about the water and hydration and moisture balance needed to create beautiful curls.”

Rëzo emphasizes that QVC wasn’t looking for just another textured hair product. The home shopping network was looking for the education piece. So, along with selling the products on-air (remotely from the safety of her home), Rëzo is demonstrating how to apply the products. “I believe that that’s one of the biggest things that my curl community needs to learn, that less is more and you don’t start at the root area, you have to start from the ends to the shaft to control the frizz,” says Rëzo. She says she’s excited to show off “the simplicity of a great product” and have a platform where she’s able to “let textured hair shine.”

Salons have varying techniques for cutting curly hair. Some prefer to wet the hair prior to trimming it. Others prefer dry hair. Some blowdry the hair first, and others leave it curly. For the RëzoCut, customers are asked to come in with their hair in its natural state “in the most raw, beautiful way God created you,” says Rëzo. Then, the hair is cut in a way that “reflects flowers,” and more specifically roses, she describes. “We connect different textures that a curly girl may have and create a precision curl cut.” She compares it to the Vidal Sassoon cut that specializes in trimming hair section by section. Volume is the goal of the cut. “My motto is big hair, don’t care,” says Rëzo.

Rëzo Academy pivoted to online classes during the pandemic, and Rëzo shares that attendance grew by more than 50%. While the coronavirus prevented her from physically traveling, she quips she was still traveled to countries like Saudi Arabia and Sweden virtually. “I went everywhere in the pandemic, I visited the world,” she says. In-person courses have resumed, and classes in California and New Jersey have already sold out. Dubai is on the docket for October.

As for the Rëzo salon, it’s been open for a year now, although, when Rëzo returned to its Madison Avenue location in New York City last June, she wasn’t sure whether it would bounce back and was prepared to close it for good. “I was ready to say, ‘This was a dream. I’ve got to close it and let it go,” she says. She didn’t think customers wanted to travel to her third-floor space, but it turns out people were not only willing to make the trek to the Upper East Side, they were willing to cross oceans. This past weekend, the salon had customers from France and England who previously attended the Rëzo Academy go to the salon. “All my beautiful curly girls—I call them my angels—they followed me all the way to the third floor, and we’ve been growing since then,” says Rëzo.

In addition to QVC, Rëzo hopes to put her brand in retailers such as Sephora. “I want to be able to show that, if I did it, we all could do it together,” she says. “I want my brand to show that stylists, hairdressers, women can run amazing businesses.”