Mariel Mejia is the Founder and CEO of Pink Root Products, a natural hair care brand geared towards helping with the transition from chemically relaxed and damaged hair to natural hair.
Pink Root Products was created to help customers, like Mariel, struggling with chemically treated and heat-damaged hair to transition back to its natural glory. With ingredients that are carefully chosen to nurture all textures and hair types from wavy to curly to kinks and coils, Pink Root products are designed to revitalize damaged hair and promote new growth by infusing nutrient rich and organic ingredients into our formulations.
“We don’t believe in bad hair, just bad hair care,” says Mariel. “Our mission is to help people enjoy and feel confident about their curls.”
Healing hair care journey to get your natural hair back
Coming from a Dominican-American background and born and raised in the Bronx, NY, getting hair relaxers or “perms” were the norm for Mariel growing up. After years of using relaxers from the age of 11, she found herself left with brittle, dry hair from all the damage caused by chemicals and heat.
Mariel felt extremely insecure about her damaged hair and decided that she was going to try the natural route. Like many girls transitioning back to natural hair she soon found that nothing from the local beauty supply store was working to truly revive her curls. These products only held a style for a short time but once the hair was fully dry, it was back to being dull and lifeless.
Determined to find a solution, Mariel began experimenting with butters like Shea, Mango and Cocoa and oils like Avocado, Grapeseed and Castor, to try to bring to her hair what it needed most; moisture.
By whipping up an assortment of organic ingredients together in her mother’s kitchen, she created her very first product, a curl enhancer, which would not only just hold a style but repair damage, control frizz and add shine.
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Avocado Oil is rich in healthy fats and is sourced with vitamins A, D, and E. This lightweight oil allows for easy penetration of the hair shaft producing maximum moisture and protection against breakage. Baobab Protein is a vegetable protein produced from the seeds of Adansonia Digitata, the upside-down tree from Africa. It fights frizz, repairs hair damage, improves manageability, and acts as a natural alternative to silicone for that super-smooth feel. This lotion is packed with ingredients that will take your curls to the next level.
After creating this first product, she continued on her hair journey with only using the formulas she created, she began to see a dramatic difference in the texture of her hair. It was softer, defined, manageable, and most important of all, growing!
“I eventually launched Pink Root Products in 2019 as my passion project and left my corporate job shortly after that to work on the beauty brand full time.
6 Tips to get perfect natural curls
Swipe through the Instagram post below to get Mariel’s tips to achieving perfect, moisturized, spring-y curls for the warmer months. It’s time to get your hair back and heal from heat and chemical damage!
View this post on Instagram
As a first-generation Afro-Latina business owner, Mariel encountered many obstacles launching her business but the work has been worthwhile.
“My access to tools like capital and manufacturing resources has been quite limited which is why Pink Root Products is completely bootstrapped. But even without the hundreds of thousands of dollars to get a head start, we’ve managed to accomplish quite a lot,” she says.
Pink Root Products has since been featured widely in publications like Byrdie, Covetuer, Popsugar, and on prime time television on Univision’s Despierta America.
“It really just goes to show that when you have an idea and you are passionate about it, where there is a will there is a way and so we’ve kept going all this time and will continue to push the needle forward.”
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“I would advise other minority women who are looking to start their own business to take their time in the planning phase. Do extensive market research, get to know your customer, identify your target audience and meet them where they are,” Mariel says.
Today, more than ever, customers really value an authentic founder especially on social media platforms.
“Show up as your authentic self when promoting your business as this will reflect well on your company because more than ever, today’s consumers are expecting us to show face. Worry less about spending ad dollars and focus more on creating meaningful relationships with your audience.”
Mariel is all about owning your authentic self, starting with your hair! If you’re ready to get your natural hair back and heal from heat and chemical damage, now’s the time to start!
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