Robyn Atwater has lost count of how many times her haircare brand CurlDaze has gone viral. The first time was back in 2021 when she filmed a 13-second TikTok video starring her cousin Neil Bailey showing off CurlDaze’s Creamy Curl Styler. It racked up 2 million views. A 19-second video posted in February this year again featuring Bailey garnered 6 million views while a reply video addressing a skeptical commenter earned CurlDaze 17 million more.
The brand’s virality has led the hashtag #CurlDaze to accumulate 140 million views, and overall it’s closing in on 500 million views. The TikTok splash has sparked notice outside of the social media network. CurlDaze, which is available at Target, Walmart and CVS, is ranked seventh on machine intelligence platform Spate’s recent list of top emerging beauty brands by year-over-year Google search growth in the United States
“Going viral is such a blessing, but it can be very stressful,” says Atwater, a haircare influencer-turned-beauty entrepreneur. “You have to make sure that the quality is there so that your brand has a great reputation to the masses. It goes fast, and you don’t have time to fix things.”Ahead, we chat with her about how CurlDaze has been successful on TikTok without spending a single dollar for creators or advertisements on it.
What inspired CurlDaze’s hero product, Creamy Curl Styler?
When I created the product in July of 2020, I had to focus on really what I could afford. I said, “I can’t afford a whole line right now, I’m really bootstrapping.” Based on being an influencer and talking to people—What is the need right now? What do people want? What’s the demand for?—from all of my research, it was for stylers. So, instead of coming out with a whole line, I’m just going to start with three products that include two stylers.
I know that wash-and-gos, braid-outs and twist-outs are very popular in the natural hair community. I said, “What can I come out with to help people with those styles in particular?” I know some girls are gel girls, some girls are cream girls, so I said, “Let me give them a moisturizing product that they can use with both of my stylers,” which is my Ultra Moisture Cream, and then give the gel girls their gel, which is the Glossy Shine Gel, and then give my cream girls their cream, which is the Creamy Curl Styler. To this day, stylers are the No. 1 thing that drive our sales.
How long did it take to develop Creamy Curl Styler?
It took me five years to develop three products because I’m very, very particular when it comes to ingredients and the quality of my products. They can’t be watered down. They have to be effective, and I had to have time to test them on other people and myself. I went through a variety of chemists and manufacturers, and the majority of it was research. It took a long time for me to research ingredients, what should I put in here, what should I absolutely not.
I was able to meet a lot of chemists along the way that taught me so much about ingredients and how things work together and what you should absolutely not put in your products based on things that are currently on the market. Once you get your ingredients together, you learn that every manufacturer is not going to be a good fit for you. It took me a while to find the people that I wanted to lock in with.
Were there hiccups along the way?
Some of it was funding, being able to save. I had monthly living expenses, and I would try to put some to the side to save for this line. Or I just didn’t get along with the manufacturer. They weren’t understanding what I was trying to do in terms of quality.
A lot of times they’d say, “Well, that’s going to be very expensive if you put all of these ingredients in there.” I’m like, “That’s OK because, if I have to have a smaller run with better quality, I’ll do that. Don’t water my product down looking out for my pockets, I want quality for my consumer.”
We had a lot of setbacks in those five years, which is why it took so long, but I think finding the right team of people that understand your vision is more important than speed to market.
How did you come across the Kukui oil that’s in the product?
I found out about the Kukui nut when I went on my honeymoon back in 2012. My husband took me to Hawaii. It was his first time, my first time. We were so in love with Hawaii when we got there, and I’m like, everyone’s hair is just so luscious and long. What are they using? The sun shines different out there.
I’m a researcher by nature and found out that the Kukui oil was used on skin a lot and helps with any kind of skin irritation. I always knew that, when I created my line, I would want to use Kukui oil in some way or fashion, and I didn’t see it on the market. It’s not readily available for people to use, so why not bring it to the consumer?
When the Creamy Curl Styler launched in 2020, what was the social media strategy for it?
Since we were in lockdown, there wasn’t much I could do. I couldn’t go out and tell people about it, I couldn’t do expos. I literally sat in my office in my home, I did all the content for the products. I did my own hair tutorials. I did product photography. I’ve never done product photography in my life, but it was a necessity.
I was a hair influencer for many years, and I gained a lot of friends in the industry. So, when I actually launched, from day one, my influencer friends tapped in. They bought it with their own money. They didn’t even tell me. They shared it. They gave honest opinions. The influencer community really stepped up and really helped me out. That made it take off super, super fast
It was also a time when Black Lives Matter was very strong, and we were all rallying around Black-owned businesses. So, that influx of support from my community really helped to launch the brand in the beginning.
What happened to create CurlDaze’s first viral TikTok moment in 2021?
I had my cousin come over, and we just did a video in the living room. He loved the product. He would call me and say, “Look, my hair loves this stuff.” I said, “Well, come on over, and let’s just shoot a video in my living room,” and we did that. It went super viral on TikTok, over 2 million views.
That’s what changed the course of my life. Not just the business, but the course of my life. Everyone started reaching out, and it was honestly mind-blowing. In just a few hours, we sold out of the Creamy Curl Styler online. We sold everything on our website in less than 24 hours. It was a mad house.
I just took that formula and repeated it—and here we are today. We’re a small business, so we can’t really afford to pay tens of thousands of dollars to influencers to have them review the product. We’ve been relying on honest feedback, from influencers, our customers doing their own videos.
Then, I have doubled down on working with my cousin because we have so much fun together. It’s just so genuine. We always say when we film, “If we’re not laughing, we’re not doing it,” and it turns into good content.
Were you prepared for the virality early on? Has it gotten easier?
We were not as prepared the first time because we weren’t in any stores. We’re sitting here with thousands of orders, and it’s just a couple of us in the living room trying to pack orders. I knew I wanted to take this into retail. So, by the next time that we went viral, we were able to sell out of Walmart, we were able to sell out of Target, and we were able to spread our products nationwide.
I’m glad put that in place because I think, if you go viral one time, the likelihood of you doing it again is very high because you know how to do it, and you know how to reach your consumer. Preparation is key. If I just kept putting out viral videos, and I didn’t have the products, it could have really shut my business down. I’ve seen that happen to other businesses. They get overwhelmed, and they can’t handle it.
@curldaze Yesss!🔥 The before and after is crazy @neilbailey__!😍 #curldazehaircare #curldaze #beforeandafter #fyp
What other marketing strategies have been successful for CurlDaze?
I’ve taken my G-Wagon and wrapped it in the CurlDaze colors, and we drive it around Atlanta. We’re able to attract so many people to us and get so many honest stories about how CurlDaze has saved their hair by being out in the community and word of mouth.
Word of mouth has been the No. 2 strategy for CurlDaze. People are asking each other, what are you doing to your hair? Our products add a sheen to your hair that grabs people’s attention in real life. I find that, when virality meets quality, it’s something that nobody can really replicate. It is a genuine growth that we have been blessed to have.
Have you put any investment into TikTok?
I have never paid for a post on TikTok, which is so cool. That’s where our largest following is and where we get the most views, and I’ve never spent a dime. We do run Facebook ads because that helps get a different kind of audience, but, on TikTok, where the majority of our consumer base lies, it’s been all genuine grassroots growth.
Who’s the CurlDaze customer?
Gen Z has really been fueling this fire. At first I thought it was just going to be the Gen Z female, but bringing Neil, my cousin, into the equation, it’s really opened up our consumer base to all genders and all races, honestly. He doesn’t look like what you would typically see in a hair ad, so everyone is intrigued by seeing someone that looks like him.
They’re like, “Well, he is not conventional, if it works for him, it might work for me.” That’s really what catches your eye. And that’s what really sets us apart and has allowed it to grow internationally. It’s just a different way of marketing.
“When virality meets quality, it’s something that nobody can really replicate.”
How has your relationship to social media evolved over the years?
It’s changed a lot because I have more responsibilities now. When I started, I did not have a kid. Now, I’m a mom, and I’m a business owner. Before I had a 9-to-5, so I was able to stop my day at 5 and spend the rest of the evening working on social media. I do not have that luxury anymore.
I have to pick up my kid, I have to go to games, I have to attend meetings, and I have to be on Zooms and run a business, make sure the operations are going smoothly. I don’t have as much time to spend on social media as I used to, and I think that’s why I was more keen to throw somebody else out there instead of myself because I don’t have the time to commit to it.
When I started, we weren’t called influencers. We were just social media personalities sharing what we knew. You didn’t get paid to post on YouTube. It was just a genuine love for sharing your knowledge. That has shifted. Everybody wants to get wealthy off of a video, and I think that the genuineness has been taken out.
The way that I’ve gone about doing it is staying true to what I know about social media. We’re just going to have fun with this, and we’re not going to try to throw a bunch of money at people that don’t honestly love the product. I want people to be genuine and share it if you love it. That has really been working for us, and I think that will help us in the long run to have longevity in the space.
Have you explored TikTok Shop?
There is a beauty supply company that has put our products up, but I do not personally have a TikTok Shop. I know that would be very beneficial. TikTok has reached out multiple times to get us on TikTok Shop, but we have so much going on with our retailers currently. I’m trying to just focus on that, and we’ll probably get to TikTok Shop a little later.
If you could have anyone pick up the Creamy Curl product, who would that person be?
When I first started this, my goal was never to really go the celebrity route. My dream consumer is the young girl that used to hate her curls and used to always want to wear her hair straight that has used CurlDaze and says, “Wow, I’ve never seen my hair like this, I think I’m going to wear my hair curly again.”
That was once me. There was a time where I didn’t wear my curls, and I wasn’t proud of my curls. I always had a fresh silk press every Friday. I know that disconnect from who we are naturally can be very detrimental to how we see ourselves, so I always wanted to create something that could assist someone that might not naturally love who they are. That has always been my dream customer.
What long-term goals do you have for CurlDaze?
This is just the beginning. We’ve grown so much in such a short amount of time, but we’re only scratching the surface. If we’re not in every household, we haven’t completed the task. We plan on continuing to expand our lines, create new lines, and just spread the awareness that you can have beautiful curls, you can have quality products, you don’t have to settle for anything less than your hair deserves.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.