The NaturallyCurly Leaders in Curl interview series highlights the people and the brands that are redefining the beauty industry – one curl at a time.
When Dr. Omoye Phillips started noticing hair loss in her younger children, after a series of trial and error, she decided to create her own solution. She sought out the highest quality fabrics that would help protect delicate and finely textured hair that often develops with younger children and landed on mulberry silk. As the CEO and founder of Omo Silk, Omoye seeks to provide comfort, quality, and confidence to her customers with a hypoallergenic product that is gentle for all textures. Her products are especially formulated for newborns and features a wide array of options like crib sleeves, headbands, pillow cases, and wig caps. The brand prides itself as being built on positive affirmations and and helping protect and reduce hair loss. We’re so excited to talk with Omoye about her amazing brand and how she built it based around her children.
Have you ever experienced hair loss like your children had growing up?
Not really, I was fortunate as I never had eczema or any condition that would cause me to lose hair when I was a child.
Did you go through a lot of trial and error before deciding to create your own products?
Yes I did. Although hair loss is common in babies my kids experienced significant hair loss that was exacerbated by eczema and cradle cap. I was looking for non-medicinal options to help my kids’ hair and skin thrive. I dabbled with several fabrics, satin included, but since it is not hypoallergenic, it wasn’t a viable option for my kids who suffered from many different allergies as well. So after tons of research and trial and error with the different fabrics, mulberry silk provided the best results for my kids. Its hypoallergenic nature was perfect for my kids. It is also a breathable, natural fabric that retains moisture, no tugging of hair and prevents flyaways.
After I learned that silk worked, the next problem was that I searched everywhere and couldn’t find any silk products for babies and so I decided to find my own solution. Another important call out is the elastic bands used in our products. They are engineered for comfortability.I was able to create our first omosilk product which was a pure silk headband for my daughters. It boasted comfortability, provided a thriving hair and skin environment and felt luxurious. They enjoyed wearing their headbands and sometimes fell asleep without taking them off.
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Did you use silk products or accessories growing up and what was that experience like?
While growing up, I did not because I did not know much about healthy hair maintenance. I lost my mum at a very young age of 10 and my dad did not know much about hair. So I kept my hair short and washed and let it air dry on a weekly basis and that was it.
How does your culture influence your brand?
Our brand name, Omosilk, stems from the Edo/ Bini tribe in Nigeria where I am from originally with Omo” meaning child, the inspiration for this brand.
How do you choose the color swatches for your products?
I started with colors that my kids and I liked. My 4 year old son helped pick the colors for our first launch. I told him to go for colors that ignited excitement and happiness for him.
What are the benefits of using Mulberry Silk for your products?
Mulberry silk provides a healthy environment for hair and skin to thrive. It is 100% natural, hypoallergenic, reduces friction and prevents drying of hair and skin. It is also breathable and highly recommended by dermatologists for all hair and skin types. Omosilk uses the highest grade 6A of mulberry silk too. Silk fiber comes in varying lengths, ranging from short (1A Grade”> to long (6A Grade”>. Omosilk products boast of using 6A Grade silk which is made from the longest silk fibers available. This makes the material and quality more durable and luxurious than lower grade silks.
What are the best practices for encouraging children to wear hair accessories?
Some best practices to encourage kid to wear hair accessories are:
- Provide exciting colors that make it fun to wear and bring out their personality
- Fashionable so they look stylish and it compliments their outfits
- Let them know it will help their hair grow
- Make it comfortable that they don’t even know it’s on.
Omosilk products have great prints and colors that would excite kids and adults alike. Each product is built on positive affirmations which ignite emotions like love, power, curiosity, care and more. So when I tell my daughter to wear the “Adura” headband which ignites love and power or the “Zahra” scrunchie which ignites confidence and playfulness, she always opts to wear her omosilk accessories. Additionally, the elastic specifications on each headband is engineered with a smooth appearance and does not become narrower as it stretches to ensure long-lasting comfort when worn. The reviews from both kids and adults so far have been awesome!
What can we look forward to from Omosilk in 2023?
Since our launch in June 2022, we have gained some good traction with our Los Angeles community. We started with headbands and Scrunchies and recently launched our adjustable bonnets, pillowcases, scarves, crib sleeves and wig caps. All items are available for newborns, kids and adults. In 2023, we are looking to expand and have some B2B partnerships and to launch some more hair products. We do understand the need to raise capital for the business to continue to flourish and so we plan to do some fundraising as well. 2023 should be an exciting and eventful year with more variety of colors, prints and more products in general.
