By Iman Milner
Ceci Kurzman has worn many hats throughout her career and now she’s taking on the task of merging technology with the needs of the textured hair community through her new platform OurX.
The former music executive, Revlon board member and private investor believes the data-tech platform is the answer to oft-ignored hair needs of women of color.
“Presently, hair care remains segregated in the beauty and personal care industry, with solutions for those with textured hair remaining separate and unequal,” she said in a statement. “While celebrating the many powerful brands already shaping this category, OurX endeavors to use proven data to combat an oversimplified, one-size-fits-all view of the textured hair consumer.”
The company’s mission is to bring “personalized, high-performance innovation to the underserved textured hair consumer” and with the help of a seed round funded by Reign Ventures and other angel investors, OurX is entering the market at a time where Kurzman believes its needed the most, according to AfroTech.
“As an investor and Black woman in business, I was frustrated by some of the industry’s best practices not reaching the textured hair market, and the absence of reliable data to support those within it. As a consumer, I knew I wasn’t alone in my personal experience of spending a lot of time, money, and energy on my hair and not getting the results I was looking for,” Kurzman said.
For the founder, OurX stands to push back against ideas that textured hair does not need specialized care and attention; as well as providing factual evidence to support the power of consumers in this community.
“I feel like haircare is that last frontier of segregation in beauty because it really is separate,” she said. “How it’s developed, how it’s marketed, how it’s funded, how it’s distributed, and we go back to separate and not so equal because the brands, whether they’re indie brands or actually part of larger corporations, are not getting the same access. A lot of that comes down to just an age-old perception that somehow it’s a niche audience. It’s an audience that’s broke. It’s an audience that cares more about efficacy than it does about healthy ingredients.”
OurX will provide users with a personalized hair assessment before curating a customized regimen for optimal scalp and hair wellness including a comprehensive breakdown of suggested product usage.
