Jessicurl

Please vote for Jessicurl in NaturallyCurly.com’s Best of the Best!

2009-05-07T13:18:00.000-07:00

Vote Now!

Everybody’s favorite curly hair website www.NaturallyCurly.com is hosting a survey for curly heads to vote for their favorite products in the first ever Best Of The Best contest. Categories include Best curly brand, best second day product, best cleanser, best daily conditioner and many more. If you feel that Jessicurl IS the Best of the Best, please vote for us! You’ll be entered to win free stuff from NaturallyCurly.com! :-)

You can go vote at this link: http://questionpro.com/akira/TakeSurvey?id=1200106

Also, if you’re on Facebook, become a fan of Jessicurl here:http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Jessicurl/45994673092?ref=ts

Thanks for all of your support and votes curlies. :-) You rock. :)

Tune in to my new radio show on KHUM, Global Grooves.

2009-02-16T11:21:00.000-08:00

Yep, you read that right! Next Wednesday, Feb. 25, my new World Music show debuts on KHUM radio at 6pm Pacific time. Global Grooves will air every Wednesday night from 6-8pm and I’ll play all sorts of great tunes from all over the world. Since the first show airs the day after Carnival ends I’ll pay special attention to Caribbean, Calypso and other booty-shakin’ party music. (Feb. 25 also happens to be my 33rd birthday, so this will be an awesome birthday for sure! :) )

For those of you who don’t know, KHUM, aka “Radio Without The Rules” is THE COOLEST radio station ever. One of the last free-form stations around, they play awesome music that you won’t hear everywhere and all of the air staff is SUPER passionate about what they do. I’ve been a fan since moving to Humboldt 5 years ago and am really stoked to get the chance to do this show. The best part is that they have a free web stream at www.KHUM.com so no matter where you are on the planet, you can tune in. For you locals, you can find it on the dial at 104.3 and 104.7

Global Grooves is sponsored by Good Relations, Plaza Design and Fire and Light, all of whom are awesome local businesses that I really admire. So whether you’re driving home or making dinner, tune in to Global Grooves Wednesdays from 6-8pm. It’s the music that holds the world together!

Big news at Jessicurl

2009-01-22T11:27:00.000-08:00

There’s some really huge news here at Jessicurl that I’m excited to tell you about!

As you know, I started Jessicurl in September 2002 and sometime in the spring of 2003 my partner Dave joined me and we ran the business together from then on. Two years ago Dave and I split up, but continued to own and operate Jessicurl together. We both agree that we did pretty well growing the business during that time even though our personal relationship had ended, but our mutual goal was for Dave to stop working here eventually. Since Jessicurl is a corporation of which we each owned 50%, it was no simple feat to achieve that goal. However, recently I acquired a loan that allowed me to buy Dave’s half of the business and now I’m 100% owner of Jessicurl, Inc.

Dave has served Jessicurl very well and we appreciate all that he’s done for the company. We of course wish him well in whatever he does next. As a customer of Jessicurl this change won’t affect you, but of course I thought you would like to know. And not to worry, we’ll be making your favorite hair products for a long long time to come!

I'm also proud to let you know that Jessicurl has been voted Small Business Of The Year by the Arcata Chamber of Commerce. Their Board of Directors chose 3 candidates and then the Chamber members voted a week or so ago to award it to Jessicurl. It's always wonderful to be recognized by your peers for a job well done, so I'm feeling pretty good about the way 2009 has started out. :-)

New Jessicurl ad on KHUM Radio.

2008-12-19T14:38:00.000-08:00

I know most people don't go around TRYING to listen to commercials, but this one is actually funny! :) Jessicurl recently started sponsoring the Cocktail Hour on KHUM (awesome local radio station) and had a new commercial made to go along with it. It's hella funny, thanks to our awesome ad rep Mo and Larry the DJ. Check it out at this link, it's only a minute long:

http://www.jessicurlvideos.com/mp3/KHUMBusinessBuzzspot.mp3

Cool story about Island Fantasy scent.

2008-11-21T08:06:00.001-08:00

Here’s something cool that’s never happened before. Last night I was at the Jambalaya seeing a band, (ok, THAT part has happened before :-) and there was this girl standing next to me. When she moved her head I smelled a very familiar scent – the Island Fantasy scent of my products. It’s a pretty distinctive fragrance, and since I created it myself, I’m pretty familiar with it. So I asked her, “What hair products do you use?” and she said “Jessicurl!” I replied, “that’s my company!!” and she got all excited and said it was an honor to meet me and how much she loves my products. She didn’t even have curly hair! :-) (But like I’ve said many times, the shampoo and conditioner are great for any hair type.)

What’s even funnier than that experience is that JUST that morning I was thinking of how that’s never happened – recognizing the scent of my products in someone’s hair and finding out they use it. (I’ve had lots of situations where someone recognizes me and tells me they love my products, or I compliment someone's curls and find out they use Jessicurl, but never this particular scenario.) So that’s even weirder, eh? :-)

Video from my Rotary presentation

2008-11-13T00:00:00.000-08:00

I did my presentation to the Eureka Rotary on Friday and it went really well. My flapper costume was a hit and everybody there was really nice to me. I recorded it and edited somewhat to end up with a 16 minute video. The editing is kind of choppy, since it's my first attempt, but I imagine I'll get better over time. You can see it below. If it doesn’t work for you please let me know – I’m new to this video blogging thing and imagine there might be some things yet to work out. :) Here’s a picture of my costume, including the totally awesome garter flask my friend Sara made me. :)

Here’s the video:

I have lots of groovy stuff to tell you this time! :)

2008-11-10T14:26:00.000-08:00

First off, I’m excited to let you know that the November 10th copy of Women’s World Magazine rates Jessicurl Hair Cleansing Cream as its #1 pick for curly hair shampoos! (page 10, if you have a copy of it)

I’m thrilled that Woman’s World has recognized that the benefits of Hair Cleansing Cream come from including natural ingredients such as avocado oil, and the absence of sulfates which make so many traditional shampoos too drying for curly hair. Hopefully this article will educate other curlies about how best to care for their hair! You can see it at this link: https://www.jessicurl.com/wwghs-p-41.html

There’s also a great new article up at NaturallyCurly.com about Jessicurl that highlights some of the philanthropy we’re involved in. You can read that here:
http://www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/spotlight/jessicurls-business-is-more-than-skin-deep

I’m also stoked about our newest international distributor, Fitjar Soap, located in Norway. The website is http://www.fitjarsoap.no/ so if you have any friends in Norway, let them know they can get Jessicurl there now! :)

And, I’ve FINALLY updated my hair routine on my website. :) I got my hair cut several months ago so of course my routine changed, and I kept forgetting to update it. :) So thank you to those of you who gently reminded me. You can find it by going to the following link and clicking on My Hair Routine: http://www.jessicurl.com/Meet-Jess-p-7.html

My blog is going to get a whole lot cooler!

2008-10-30T19:19:00.000-07:00

The other day I got a new digital camcorder so I can do video blogs!! :-) I'm pretty stoked. I have some groovy ideas for videos I want to post, but what I really want is input from you all about what kind of videos you'd like to see.
So please, leave comments letting me know what you would find helpful, interesting, just plain weird...whatever! :-) (well, you know, within reason of course. :-)

My presentation to the Eureka Rotary is tomorrow and I plan to use my new camera to film that. I'll post some or all of it once I figure out the editing, etc. I'll be in my costume and they're said to be the "rowdiest" Rotary club
in the area, so it should be fun.

Speaking of Halloween, I decided on my costume and went with the flapper idea I posted about a few weeks ago. I enjoyed hearing all of your ideas and think some of them were really cool, but between the blog and email comments, as well as input from people I know, the clear winner was the flapper. So I got the dress, fake pearls, the fake cigarette holder, the headband and some shoes and I'm all set! :-) AND, to make the costume even more authentic and awesome, my
super talented crafty friend Sara custom made me a garter flask holder! :-) (Women often had them during prohibition.) I got a small 2.5oz flask, picked out the fabric, and Sara sewed the cutest little pouch onto a black garter. (Not to worry - it will be empty when I speak to the Rotary! :-)

Here's a picture of that, and I'll post more pics and some video after I do the presentation.

Oh, and here's a link to Sara's blog. She makes some REALLY cute stuff! :-)
http://rainydaycraftsbysara.blogspot.com

Great trip to Canada and Boston, plus a pic of some Jessicurl curlies I met!

2008-10-22T15:39:00.000-07:00

Great trip to Canada and Boston, plus a pic of some Jessicurl curlies I met!
I've been gone for the past 2 weeks and am really glad to be home. (though I had a GREAT trip, as you'll see in a sec.) But being away from home for 2 weeks really makes me appreciate how wonderful Humboldt County is!(even though, really, there are worse places to visit than Northern Ontario and Boston in the fall! :) )

I spent a week in Canada with my dad, and that was great. We visited a bunch of old family friends and had a great time overall. Here's a cute pic of me and dad at his house:

After being in Canada for a week I flew from Toronto to Boston where I spent another full week. I was in Boston to attend Natural Products Expo East, a trade show aimed at the natural products industry. I didn't present at it, rather, I attended as a means of learning about the whole experience of presenting at a trade show so that in the next 6-8 months I can go to one and actually have a booth. I feel like I learned a lot about how it all works and am eager to find a trade show I can actually present at next time.

I went to college in Boston, so I have lots of friends there I haven't seen in 12 years. I stayed with my friend Heather and had a great time spending time with her and her ADORABLE little son Harry. He's 3 and right now he's ALL ABOUT Scooby Doo. :) One day I was wearing a dark blue wrap-style shirt that had purple trim, along with a skirt and brown boots. That is when he started calling me "Daph" after Daphne in Scooby Doo. :) I guess he decided I looked like her. :) (I'm sure the red hair didn't hurt either...) So all day it was, "Do you like this song Daph?" and "Are you ready for lunch Daph?" It was SO CUTE! Here's some pics of me and Harry, with me in my "Daphne" outfit. :)

His mom wanted one of me holding up the Daphne action figure. :)

One night when I was in Boston several of my Jessicurl customers came out and had some drinks with me and my friend Anna. I've known Anna since I was 6 and she lives in Boston,
so while she doesn't have curly hair, we thought it was only fitting that she come out for drinks too! :) We had a GREAT time. One lovely lady took the train all the way up from Providence, RI and another drove up from Cape Cod!!! Those are not short trips! So I was totally stoked to meet these 4 lovely curlies and was very flattered that they came from so far! We had a great time; they were all super nice and we had a lot of laughs. Here's a pic from the curly gathering:

I don't have any pics from the trade show, but I don't imagine you'd be TOO interested in that anyway. :) On Saturday night my old college friends and I all went out for a few drinks and had a GREAT time. I hadn't seen these folks in 12 years so it was SO great to re-connect and find out about their current lives, jobs, families, kids, etc. Here are a few pics from that night:

Here's me with my good friends Maria and Heather:

Here's one with just me and Maria. Jeez I sure do laugh a lot, even in pictures.

Here's a great one of my gals Rene, Heather and Maria.

OH!!!!! That totally reminds me of a great story! I was at the trade show and this woman was working a booth that featured herbal supplements. She had great curls. BUT, before I could tell her that, she said to me, "You have great curls, what products do you use?" Before I could even answer her, she said, "Have you ever heard of Jessicurl?" I said, "Yes, actually, that's what I use every day." I had every intention of telling her I AM Jessicurl, but before I could even do that she said, "Oh good, I wanted to make sure you knew about it because it's the best stuff I've found yet." So that's when I said, "Well, actually, that's my business...I make that stuff...I am Jessicurl..."

She buys my stuff from NaturallyCurly.com so she hadn't been to my site and didn't know what I looked like I guess. :) I thought that was SO AWESOME!! This random curly in Boston selling me on my own stuff!!! :) That was for sure the highlight of my trade show experience! :)

So all in all I had a GREAT time away, but I'm really really ready to be home now and keep selling that Jessicurl stuff! :)! (2 weeks is a LONG time to be gone! )

Thank goodness for my awesome staff who keeps things under control when I'm gone. So in that vein, I'd like to shout out to Dave, Matt, Steve, Doug, Drew and "the other Matt" for being such awesome employees!!! Really y'all, these dudes rock! :) I'm really lucky to have such great guys working for me. :)

New bumper stickers!!

2008-09-30T16:37:00.000-07:00

If you've made a purchase at Jessicurl.com in the last month or two you may have noticed the option to add a free bumper sticker to your order, and a ton of you have!

Those stickers are now gone, but we've just gotten in our shipment of brand NEW bumper stickers. But don't worry, they're still free. Here's a picture of what it looks like. (the actual size is 10x3)

Just like before, you can opt to get a free one with your order. And you don't just have to put it on your bumper! (but of course I had one on my bumper about 2 minutes after the box arrived. :) )

Please help me decide on a Halloween costume

2008-09-25T15:31:00.000-07:00

As a successful local business owner who’s not afraid of public speaking, I’m often asked to speak to local Rotary clubs, university classes and other various conferences. I always have a great time and I tend to get pretty good feedback. A few days ago I got a call from one of the Rotary clubs in Eureka asking me to be their speaker for their meeting on Halloween.

The woman said they specifically asked me to be their speaker on Halloween because, as she put it, “They’re a pretty rowdy bunch, and well, it’s Halloween, so I couldn’t very well schedule some stuffy old guy.” So, she asked me. :) I get it – I’m not old OR stuffy, and it was at a different Rotary speech that I was finally convinced to start doing stand-up comedy. :)

She also made it very clear that a costume is NOT optional. She said the last time they met on Halloween, they charged anybody NOT in costume $5. But, since I’m being asked to talk about my business, I feel like any costume I pick has to allow me to wear my hair the way I normally do – down and curly. I’m having a hard time coming up with costume ideas that will go well with short red curly hair. :) The one that I keep coming back to is a flapper from the 20s. Back when I had short BLONDE curly hair I had a blast dressing up as Marilyn Monroe, and when it was long red curly hair my Jessica Rabbit costume was a hit.

SO, I’m looking for your input on what would be a good costume. I found this flapper costume online and think it’s totally cute:

If you have pictures of yourself in your favorite costume that you want me to put in my blog, email them to me at Jess@Jessicurl.com and I’ll post them in the blog where I let you know which costume I decide on. Thanks in advance for your input! I’m totally excited for this speech! :)

Surgery update and other life stuff

2008-09-23T20:20:00.001-07:00

First off, thank you all so much for all your good wishes and thoughts when I had my surgery last month. :) I had it on Aug. 13 and I'm glad to say I didn't have to get a pacemaker after all! :)

The procedure was about 6.5 hours long and my doctor really thinks he fixed me this time. (It was my 4th.) At the end of it he gave me adrenaline, and that didn't even make my heart go fast, so he deemed it a success. So thank you again for all the good vibes!! :)

I'm fully recovered now and have been having a good end to my summer. A few weeks ago a band that I really love from Bellingham, WA, called Yogoman Burning Band, came to town and played at The Jambalaya in Arcata. (Remember, that's the place in town that has the Jessicurl Island Fantasy drink on their drink menu! :) You can read about that in my previous blog about it here:
http://www.jessicurl.com/blog/2008/03/random-fun-updates.html

The lead singer of Yogoman had gotten in touch with me through MySpace a few months ago and asked if I knew anybody at the Jambalaya and to see if I could help get them a gig there. I had never met him, I guess he just found me through his friends list on MySpace, I'm not sure. Either way, I was super happy to help! This band is super fun and I'd been loving their cd for months after hearing them on our awesome local radio station KHUM. Since I DO happen to know people at the Jambalaya, it was all too easy to get the gig booked. They played about a week and a half ago and it was AWESOME. There were a bunch of them, and hotels get expensive for touring bands, so I also hooked them up with places to stay. :) Some of them stayed at my house and some stayed with a friend of mine. It was great getting to know them all better that way and they were stoked for the hospitality. :) I took some pics so I'll paste them here.

Here is the whole band, after the show.

Here's one of me with Joel, the trumpet player.

I love this one of Jordan, Mars, Thomas and Joel totally rockin' out. :)

This is me and Robert the guitar player. The red hat was loaned to me by Joel. :)

The next day I left for a 3 day music festival called Earthdance. My SUPER favorite band, Spearhead, was the headliner, so I was totally excited to see them. Once again, I was lucky enough to get my picture taken with the lead singer, Michael Franti. (If you've checked out the Public Service section of my site, you know what an inspiration he's been to me and the donation program we have. You can read about that here: http://www.jessicurl.com/Public-Service-p-3.html)

Here's the picture of me with Michael Franti.

The festival was awesome and a great way to end the summer. Three days of camping and hanging out in the sun is good for you! :) (Yes, I wore lots of sun screen. It was HOT out there!) Not to mention, I was very thankful to be well and feel like dancing!

I'm really really going to try to blog more often, because I do have some other things I want to bring up. Feel free to give me a friendly reminder if you think it's been too long. :)

More thoughts, one week after the cut.

2008-07-24T19:03:00.000-07:00

It's been almost a week now since I did the big cut, and I'm slowly getting more used to it. The reactions have been ... interesting. Some people genuinely seem to really like it and prefer it for various reasons. Others say something like "it's cute" and move on, making me wonder if they really mean that. Others are a little more blunt - one friend looked at me in shock and said "what have you done to your beautiful hair?" :-) None of this really matters, because what's done is done, it was for good reasons, I do like the cut and it will grow back. But it's just interesting to see all the different reactions people have when someone does a major hair cut. :)

I don't have any more recent pictures, but I'm still having success using Too Shea for in-shower conditioning, not using any leave in, and styling with Gelebration and Confident Coils. I've also been using the Oil Blend a lot, as it makes it nice and soft without being over conditioned and cotton candy-looking, and it's useful as a way of smoothing the curls out a bit. Now don't get me wrong - you KNOW I think that when it comes to curls, the curlier the better! :) But, my hair is SO much curlier now, and so short, I'm liking that I can smooth them out just a bit. It has the added bonus of seeming to define them even more and adds a bit of nice shine.

One positive "side effect" of having this shorter hair is that I can't put it up. I know I said before the cut that I wanted to still be able to, but since I can't, I decided to find the positive aspects of that. :) When my hair was long, it would take a while to blow dry, wash, etc. So there were LOTS of days I just wore it up in a bun or a braid. Pretty boring for someone who owns a hair company! :) So now that I can't wear it up, I'm wearing my hair curly every day and, well, that just makes more sense! :)

I also plan on playing around and seeing if I can wash and style it with one hand. (read my former post about how I might not be able to do my own hair for a month due to possibly getting a pacemaker:
http://www.jessicurl.com/blog/2008/07/impulsive-decision-well-kinda.html

I have 3 weeks until my surgery so I'm going to give that a shot, just to see. :)

Playing around with products and amounts.

2008-07-21T23:08:00.001-07:00

So I'm having some fun figuring out what combo of Jessicurl products works best for this new short cut. I'm finding that if I use my old standby combo of RR + CCSS, I get SUPER curly hair. Which typically would be good! :) But since I'm feeling this cut is a little shorter than I'd hoped, I'm now aiming to elongate the curls a bit to get a little more length.

On Monday, I didn't wash it, I just conditioned with Too Shea. I used a little Aloeba as a leave in and styled with RR and CCSS, scrunched with towel and diffused for 5-8 minutes. Once it dried and I had scrunched out the crunch, I smoothed a little Oil Blend over and scrunched it in a little to soften it up and add some shine. My hair was kind of fluffy but very soft. I don't think I need as much conditioning as I did with my longer hair, so I'm guessing the leave in was not necessary, and I might be better off using Aloeba as my daily rinse out for a while. I LOVE my Too Shea, but maybe it's just too conditioning for my now super healhty hair. It was SUPER curly, thus making it really short. It was nice and shiny though, which I attribute to the Oil Blend, but over all pretty much looked like the last pic I posted.

Today I tried a different tactic. I washed with Hair Cleansing Cream and conditioned with Aloeba. I didn't use a leave in and instead of RR, I used Gelebration Spray, since it's lighter and thus, less curl enhancing. I scrunched into wet hair about a quarter sized puddle of CCSS and sprayed all over with Gelebration Spray. I scrunched with the microfiber towel and diffused. Once it dried and I scrunched out the (very little) crunch, I again smoothed over some Oil Blend. This time I didn't scrunch after adding the Oil Blend, I kind of just smoothed it all over. I think I like this better. It SEEMS a little longer and less curly, but obviously, still VERY curly and well defined, which I love. I wonder what your perception is - is there actually a difference, or is it all in my head? :-) Here's a pic, and I welcome your input. I will say, I'm loving how SHINY it seems. Again, I think that is because of the Oil Blend. It doesn't feel greasy to the touch, just nice and soft, but SO shiny.

Hair cut, take 2

2008-07-19T18:45:00.000-07:00

I was really feeling like the cut from yesterday was too round, so I went back today and had her do some re-shaping. I like it a LOT better. Here’s a pic:

I’m REALLY liking how much faster it is to do my hair now! I used two quarter sized puddles of RR, a nickel sized puddle of CCSS and diffused for about 5 minutes then let it air dry the rest of the way. Showers are faster, hair styling is faster – I’m diggin’ it! :-)

This cut is going to take some getting used to.

2008-07-19T09:19:00.000-07:00

Yesterday after getting the cut I went home later and re-did my hair. I had a fundraiser to participate in later that night for the community currency project. I set up my Joke Box! :) That is so fun. You can see the pics in my Fotki album – it looks like a juke box, but instead of playing music when you put money in, I tell you a joke! :) It was really fun and everybody at the event really enjoyed it.

Anyway, when I first re-did my hair, I totally liked it. But then, as the night progressed, it seemed to just get rounder and rounder, and after a while I didn’t like it anymore. I think today I’m going to try just using Confident Coils and not Rockin’ Ringlets, and I’m going to try air drying and not using the hair dryer. Maybe those two changes will elongate the curls a little and keep it from getting quite so round. We’ll see. And maybe this “roundess” problem is all in my head. (ha, or ON it.) I want your honest input here people! :) I mean, if you actually like it, then sure, tell me. But if you agree that it’s pretty darn round, lemmie know your thoughts on what I can do to fix that. It’s been 5 years since I’ve had short hair, so maybe it’s just that I’m more used to the weight of my long hair pulling it down, and I just need to get used to it. I’m hesitant to ask my stylist to re-shape it, because I don’t want it to end up any shorter than it already is. Ah well, at least I know someone will get to use the hair I cut for a wig! :)

Here's a a pic I took from inside the Joke Box of how round it got:

Here’s my fotki link again if you want to see the pics from the Joke Box. http://public.fotki.com/Jessicurl/the-big-chop/

I'll keep updating the blog as I figure this all out. :)

It's done. I now have short hair!

2008-07-18T14:39:00.000-07:00

Well, it’s done! I’m a little in shock and it’s going to take a few days to get used to it, but it’s a good cut. Just shorter than I’d hoped. Oh well. Like I said, hair is a renewable resource! :)

Below are a few pics from the process, but I added a few more to my fotki album here:
http://public.fotki.com/Jessicurl/the-big-chop/

I knew the hair needed to be clean and dry, so that morning I washed it twice with Gentle Lather Shampoo, conditioned with Weekly Deep Conditioning Treatment, let it air dry and put it in a braid. This pic is in the salon, right before she re-braided it and chopped it off.

This is after she re-braided it and cut it:

This is Noelle, my stylist, making the first big cut. She looks a little too into it, don't you think? :-)

This is after the first cut and before she re-wet it and did the shaping portion of the cut:

This is after I styled it myself at the salon:

I had NO idea how much Rockin’ Ringlets and Confident Coils to use, because, as you can see, it’s SO MUCH SHORTER! :-) So the final pic in this posting is when it was still a little wet and without the right amount of product. Over the next week or so I’ll post updates as I learn how best to style this new short do I have! :-)

Impulsive decision – well, kinda.

2008-07-17T17:55:00.000-07:00

You may know that since Sep of 2003 I've been growing out my hair to donate it to Locks of Love or some other worthy organization that makes wigs for kids and women with medical hair loss. I first thought I'd do it Jan 2007…well that date obviously came and went. Then I thought I'd do it last Spring. Well, I obviously didn't do that either.

BUT. Today I called and made an appointment to have it done TOMORROW!! I have to have more heart surgery next month and this time they will likely give me a pacemaker. If that happens, I'm not going to be allowed to lift my arm above my head for a MONTH! That means, GASP, no washing of my own hair! How difficult is THAT going to be??? (answer: VERY ) So I figured, if I'm going to have to be asking friends to help me wash my hair, it might be nice for them to have less of it to deal with. :-) Like, 11 inches less. :-) So that's that. Tomorrow at noon I'm doing the Big Chop. I'm totally excited, and a little nervous too. I'm not sure how much hair that will leave me with, but I figure it will at least be long enough to still put up, and that's all that really matters.

Just for comparison purposes, here is a pic of where it was when I started growing it out in 2003. (That's pretty much my natural color.)

Here's what it's like now (please excuse the super shiny face. :-) )

And I HOPE I'm left with at LEAST this much when she's done tomorrow:

(That's me with one of my favorite musicians, Michael Franti, in 2005)

I'll of course post pics after it's done. Eeek! I'm stoked and nervous at the same time. :) But hey, hair is a renewable resource, right? I'll just start the process all over again and do another donation in a few years. If you have any suggestions of other organizations besides Locks of Love who accept hair donations, let me know. :)

Check it out, I’m in a commercial!

2008-04-03T14:17:00.000-07:00

I’m pretty stoked about this actually. I’ve never been in a commercial before. But when Cliff from KHUM asked me to be in the new TV commercial for the radio station, I said SURE! Everybody knows what a fan I am of KHUM and all they do for our community, so I was happy to do it. Not only are they awesome with supporting local charities and keeping the public updated on what’s going on around here, they also play totally awesome music! They’re one of the last free-form stations around, which means they can play basically whatever they want and are staffed by actual local people. They have a webstream available at www.KHUM.com so YOU TOO can listen to the best radio station ever, if you're into that kinda thing. :) Anyway, you can check out the commercial at YouTube here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3Fh73nsCg0

In my last blog I mentioned that I’ll be doing standup comedy this coming Saturday night at the Jambalaya in Arcata. I was stoked to see that they put me on the poster for the show! (Yes, people just call me Jessicurl these days. :) )

I am going to have someone record the audio for it, so I’ll post what I can here. :-) Have a great day curlies!! :-)
Jess

Random fun updates

2008-03-19T12:20:00.000-07:00

Now that it’s basically spring, things have really picked up here in Humboldt and I have some fun updates to fill you in on.

You may remember a few blogs ago I posted that the Jambalaya, my favorite bar/restaurant in Arcata had featured the Jessicurl Island Fantasy cocktail as their drink special for a few nights in December. (Here's a link to that post:
http://www.jessicurl.com/blog/2008_01_01_jessicurl_archive.html

Well, I’m excited to report that now it’s on the drink menu permanently. Below is a pic I took of the menu. It’s a little hard to read all the drinks, but the Jessicurl is near the bottom. I think this is SO cool. I go to the Jambalaya (the “Jam” as the locals call it) quite often, so I’m honored to have a drink named after me on their menu. It’s quite tasty too! :-) Here's a link to the pic:

As you also may know if you read my blog, I’m friends with a lot of the people who work at the groovy local radio station, KHUM. (I also listen to it pretty much all day, as they play awesome music. Their slogan is “Radio Without The Rules.”) The first weekend in March they do Women’s Weekend, where for the entire weekend they play music by only female artists and feature only female DJs. This year they asked me to guest DJ during the weekend, and I had a BLAST. I did 2 hours of co-djing with my good friend Lila during the day, so that was SUPER fun, then from 10-midnight that night I did 2 hours of my own. I had a lot of fun the whole time and was thrilled to have been asked. Last week I also was filmed to be in their upcoming TV commercial, so that was fun too. Here’s a pic from my guest DJing gig:

And now for something totally unrelated to shampoo flavored cocktails and guest DJing … stand up comedy! I picked up this little hobby a few years ago in an effort to get more comfortable with public speaking. My theory was, if I can comfortably do stand up comedy, I can talk to ANYBODY about ANYTHING. I was right. :) I have no problems speaking to the various university classes or Rotary clubs I’m asked to come talk to. What I WASN’T expecting was that I’d be any good at the stand up. :) Sure, I know I’m funny, but I’m funnier in conversation and the act of actually WRITING comedy is very difficult. Well, I guess other people around here think I’m not too bad at it, because lately I’ve been asked to do it for various reasons. Back in November I was asked to be the entertainment and do 30 minutes of comedy at a fundraiser for the Companion Animal Foundation, who provides low cost spay and neutering for local animals. I was shocked. I did it, but I was still shocked. It went well though, and people laughed, in a good way. :)

Then a few weeks ago I was at the Jambalaya (shock!) talking to a local musician friend of mine, and he was going to be doing a show with some other guys a few nights later at a different bar, and he asked me to “open” for them with 30 minutes of comedy. So I did. I was NERVOUS because I only had 2 days to prepare. BUT, the people were CRACKING up! So much so, that they asked me to do it AGAIN in April! So on April 5th I’ll be opening for those guys and some others with 30 minutes of comedy at … The Jambalaya! My favorite place in town! :) I’ve been carrying around a note book to keep track of the funny things that come into my head, and I’m feeling pretty good about the material I’ve come up with. It should be fun. Of course I’m still totally nervous, but it will still be fun. :) I’m going to see if maybe someone can record it this time, at least with audio, and if that happens I’ll post what I can in this blog. We’ll see. So that’s all been keeping life fun and interesting, for sure! :)

There are some other really exciting things coming up around here in Jessicurl land, but I’ll have to save that for another blog. Keep on laughing curlies, it’s the best medicine! :)
Jess

Had a great time on the Bob and Sheri show.

2008-02-19T11:06:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I did an interview on the Bob and Sheri radio show, and it was super fun. Bob and Sheri are so nice, and quite funny. Sheri has been using Jessicurl for over a year and seems to really love it. The interview is about 7 minutes long, and you can listen to it here:
http://www.jessicurlvideos.com/mp3/bobshericall21808.mp3

Their show is really entertaining, and since they podcast (and air it live on their webstream) I’m going to start listening more frequently. You can too, at their website:
http://www.BobandSheri.com

I'm going to be on the Bob and Sheri radio show.

2008-02-14T10:09:00.000-08:00

I'm stoked to let you know that coming up on Monday (2/18) morning at 9:10am ET (6:10am here in CA) I'll be a guest on the Bob and Sheri radio show. Sheri recently said she is "addicted" to Jessicurl, "the best curly hair products ever." They are syndicated on 60 stations around the country and I'll be answering hair questions from their listeners. Anybody can call in, even you! :-) Plus, if you're not in one of the cities where you can hear it on the radio you can still hear it through one of the following ways:

To listen live on the internet via the webstream, go here: http://1079thelink.com/page.cfm?ID=2

To listen anytime, anywhere, grab their podcast here: http://1079thelink.com/custom/podcast.cfm

The number to call the day of the show to ask questions is 1-888-BOB-SHERI.

I hope you're all having a good hair day! :)
Jess

Please don't drink your shampoo

2008-01-07T14:49:00.000-08:00

Hey y’all,
I know it’s been a long time since I’ve posted a blog. I’m really going to try to be more regular about it in the new year. I’ll call it a goal, not a resolution though. Less pressure that way. :-)

Over the years it’s become really obvious how much people LOVE the Island Fantasy scent that our products come in. People say they want to drink their shampoo because it smells good enough to eat. We don’t want you to do that, especially since now we’re offering Island Fantasy flavored white chocolate candy bars instead! Sounds strange, yes, but they’re SO YUMMY, and we donate twenty-cents from every candy bar to Food For People, the food bank of Humboldt County. So really, you’re doing a public service by buying and enjoying them. :-) You can find them on my site here:
http://www.jessicurl.com/Island-Fantasy-White-Chocolate-Bar-pr-688.html

AND, if you just need MORE Island Fantasy flavored goodness, you can make a yummy cocktail that tastes like it. In fact, The Jambalaya in Arcata, my personal favorite bar/restaurant, even recently made it their drink special! Here’s a picture of the special board:
The drinks on their drink menu are all named after local bands that have played there, and in the next few days they’re going to put the Jessicurl Island Fantasy on their permanent drink menu – even though I’m not a band! :) (but I SEE a lot of bands in there.) I think that’s pretty cool. Why SHOULDN’T people be able to enjoy a cocktail that tastes like their shampoo smells? :-)

Of course, I ask you to enjoy your shampoo flavored cocktails responsibly! Happy New Year!
Jess

Fun on the radio

2007-09-21T19:53:00.000-07:00

Humboldt County is a pretty small area, yet we’re blessed to have THE coolest radio station around, KHUM. Their slogan is “Radio without the rules” and as such they have the freedom to do whatever they want, even if it means playing the same song 3 times in a row just because the DJ wants to. :-) (luckily they play great music.) They’re ALSO very involved in the community, sponsoring all sorts of events, and they’re very into promoting local businesses. Since I’m always raising money for something, I end up on the air with them sometimes to promote it, and lots of it has been recorded in the recent months. So I thought it would be fun to put up some of the clips, just in case you felt like “tuning in”.

Over the spring I worked really hard as the Fundraising Co-Coordinator for the North Star Quest Girls Camp, a non-profit camp for adolescent girls. So most of the clips I have pertain to getting the word out about the camp and the various fundraisers we did.

Definitely the most FUN fundraiser I did was the Joke Box. :-) The deal was every time someone put $1 through the slot, I told them a clean joke, and for $5 I told them a dirty joke. :-) We had a lot of fun and raised some money, so that was great.
Here’s a picture of what it looked like:

www.jessicurlvideos.com/jess/JessInBox.JPG
In preparation for it, Larry the afternoon DJ at KHUM was kind enough to let me come on the air with him and tell some jokes for a while to get the word out about camp and the joke box. Well THAT was a ton of fun, of course, and since we recorded it I can share some clips of it with you here! These clips were from June 27.

This first one is pretty funny, as I totally surprised Larry with some random things he asked me to bring to him as a joke, and did he NOT expect me to actually bring them. It was by far the strangest scavenger hunt I’VE ever been on. And it was on the radio for all to hear. :-)
Gifts For Larry.

In the next clip I explain a bit about camp and the joke box, then tell a joke going into the commercial break:
Camp/Joke Box info plus a joke.

Here’s a really funny joke that I was a bit surprised I was allowed to tell. :-) (it’s not THAT bad though, but it WAS on the radio.)
Thought I might be pushing it with this joke.

This clip is just funny because the label on the Vitamin Water I was drinking was HILARIOUS (at least to me):
Vitamin Water is hilarious.

This was by far one of the strangest radio moments I’ve ever been involved in. Larry read pieces of the crime report from a town North of us called Trinidad, which has a population of about 300. So you can imagine how crazy their crime report is. ;-) So we alternated – he talked about crime and I told jokes. Yup, you gotta love Radio Without the Rules! There are actually some pretty funny jokes mixed into this one. :-)
Crime report and jokes - a natural pairing.

And here’s the final joke I told before leaving the station that day:
Last joke.

Here’s one that’s pretty funny. Mike, the mid-morning DJ at KHUM has called me the "Paris Hilton of Humboldt County" on the air a few times. I know he's just joking, but it's not exactly the most flattering thing ever said about me when there's no context for it. :-) So about 2 weeks ago I was down at the station and on the air with him, to talk about how Jessicurl was a sponsor of the Power to the Peaceful festival in San Francisco, and I took the opportunity to set the record straight. ;-) Check it out:
Jess is NOT like Paris Hilton!

So that was all just a blast. But some of the other DJs there were also super awesome to me in getting the word out about camp, and I have those interviews too. The one below is with Amy, the evening DJ (and co-founder of the station!) She’s also a friend of mine. This interview is all about the awesome camp and why I’m so passionate about it, as well as the fundraisers we were doing for it. Amy is such a wonderful woman!!
Amy teases me a bit when we start this interview.

Even though the message is basically the same, here’s one more. This one is with Craig from KWPT, which is the sister station of KHUM. Craig is super cool - he even uses my products on his wavy hair! :-)
Camp interview with Craig.

So obviously there’s a ton of clips there, but I thought, hey, what the hell, might as well put them up in my blog in case people need a good laugh once in a while! Most of them are pretty short. ;-)

5 Years Ago Yesterday

2007-09-05T12:55:00.000-07:00

Yep, it's that time of year again – Jessicurl's birthday! :-) Five years ago yesterday I got my business license and thus became official. CRAZY!

In some ways it feels like I've been doing this much longer than that, and in other ways that seems like a long time. It's weird. But all the business people say that the 5 year mark is really the point at which you know you'll succeed, for the most part. So many businesses fail in the first 5 years that I'm really thankful that we've been able to keep growing this whole time.

Of course it wouldn't have worked out if it weren't for our awesome customers, so thank you so much to all of you who have helped support Jessicurl over the years. I really appreciate it. It's been fun, hard, exciting, stressful and all sorts of other emotions, but I can't imagine doing anything else. Anyway, now I'm just rambling. So thank you all again for all of your support and encouragement. It really means a lot to me.

Please take my t-shirt survey

2007-08-27T12:02:00.000-07:00

I'm working on making Jessicurl T-Shirts available, as I’ve had a number of requests for them. Please click on the following link and take a moment to weigh in on your favorite style, size and color. At the end of the brief survey you can enter a drawing to win free Jessicurl stuff!

Take the survey here.

Back from North Star Quest Camp. OMG!!!!

2007-08-07T16:17:00.000-07:00

Ok, so those of you who know me in person know I'm pretty enthusiastic and once in a while I exaggerate things. But I am NOT exaggerating when I say that this week at camp was one of the most, if not THE most, amazing experiences I've ever had in my life. If I ever had any doubt that we can make a difference in this world, it has been cleared up.

The camp is for girls going into 6-8th grades, and we had 31 campers. The girls got there on Sunday and left Thursday, and the staff all got there Saturday. It was out in the redwoods, on the Matole River. Here's a picture of part of the main lodge and some of the grounds:

We had all sorts of workshops, including a 2 hour one on deconstructing the media. They cut out pictures from magazines of images of women they thought were and weren't realistic and pasted them on posters. We talked about the different things that made them feel that way and how they would LIKE to see women represented in the media. Then they each made a page for their dream magazine and we put them all together, so basically they all contributed to making their ideal magazine. It was really awesome.

Here are the posters they made during the workshop.

We also had a super fun clowning workshop (I took that one – SHOCK! :-), a woman from the Rape Crisis Center presented one on creating healthy relationships, we had one on discovering your true colors, along with belly dancing, west African dancing and all sorts of other really awesome topics. We also spent lots of time in the river, song a ton of songs and had a blast overall. Local singer/songwriter Extraordinaire Lila Nelson came down and played and stayed over so that was SUPER fun. The next day all the girls were walking around singing her songs. Also, each cabin wrote a skit that they performed for their parents on the last day. So cute!

The campfire we had on the final night was amazing. We all went around the circle and said what we got out of the experience. I can't tell you how hopeful it made me feel to hear a sweet 11 year old girl say, 'I learned that I'm beautiful just the way I am and that I don't have to look like the ladies in the magazines– even THEY don't really look like that!" Another girl said, "I learned that love is like confetti – you spread it all around and eventually you always get it back. I'm taking home all the love that you all have shown me." Another one said, "I'm taking home the knowledge that I am beautiful, because nobody ever tells me that in my regular life." Powerful stuff from such young girls, I tell ya.

It was really awesome to see some of them come out of their shells. One girl literally almost left when she got to camp because it was her first time away from home and she was scared. She decided to stay, so when she chose to read a poem at our talent show on the 3rd night, I really almost cried.

Every night we sang this song at the end of campfire:

How can anyone ever tell you
that you're anything less than beautiful
How can anyone ever tell you that you're less than whole.
How can anyone fail to notice
that your loving is a miracle
How deeply you're connected to my soul

It was all just wonderful. The other women who made up the staff were all amazing and I just feel SO lucky that I was able to be a part of something so awesome. There's NO way I'm not going back for as long as I can. :) As I've mentioned before, it's a non-profit camp that doesn't turn anyone away for inability to pay, which is why I spent the last 6 months working my butt off being the Fundraising Coordinator. But it was SO worth it.

And I’m touched and proud to say that we were able raise over $500 in donations through Jessicurl.com, so thank all of YOU for your support of this awesome camp! I really really appreciate it and can honestly say you have helped to change the world, one girl at a time. Thank you!

SO STOKED!!!

2007-06-21T19:32:00.000-07:00

OMG, maybe it's sad that this has me so excited, but whatever. This is my life. :-)

The company we get our Jessicurl labels from is now offering an environmentally friendly option!!! Check out this email we just got from them:

"Lightning Labels is delighted to announce the introduction of a new environmentally friendly label material for the digital label printing industry. Most film material, such as the popular white BOPP material, are made from petroleum. Now, there is an alternative – it is a material called EarthFirst PLA and it is made from corn, a renewable resource.

We have been testing this corn-based material here for some months now and we have found it to be quite durable. It is both waterproof and oilproof, and it has similar properties to our popular white BOPP material."

DUDE!!! I'm stoked. Being as environmentally friendly as possible is super important to me, so I'm thrilled that on our next order we can begin switching.
(I know that there are some issues with using corn for non-food options, but you gotta admit, this is better than the alternative.)

Now to get a better alternative to plastic bottles. :-)
(in the meantime PLEASE keep recycling them!)

I'm off to do the Happy Hippie Dance!!!! :-)

Love Jess

Back to blogging after mucho technical difficulties.

2007-05-31T12:18:00.000-07:00

I won’t get into all the crazy blog issues I’ve had lately, but you’ll notice it’s been a while since I posted a blog. It’s not because I’m lazy, I literally couldn’t log in for a while because of all the changes Blogger made to itself. Sorry ‘bout that.

SO. Anyway. Way back on April 2 I attempted to post the following blog and couldn’t. So here it is:

I sent a check to The Autism Acceptance Project today. I love doing that! :) I’m happy to say we raised $570 for them. Of course I always wish we could raise more, more MORE, but also know that every bit helps. Thanks SO much to all of you who donated to this awesome cause!

The new Featured Charity is the Camelot 4H Riding Program, which you can read more about here: http://www.jessicurl.com/Public-Service-p-3.html

We’re also currently raising money for an AMAZING girl’s camp that I’m the Fundraising Coordinator for this year, called the North Star Quest Camp. This is the COOLEST camp ever! It’s for 6-8th grade girls, and we focus on stuff like self esteem, body image, the media, family relationship, friendships, etc. AND we have a lot of fun too! It’s the kind of thing I wish I had available to me when I was a kid, which is why I’m so passionate about it now. We don’t turn any campers away for inability to pay, which is why we need to raise a ton of money. You can read more about it here: www.Jessicurl.com/camp

Jessicurl DVD now available! (oh, and liter pumps too!)

2007-03-28T14:12:00.001-07:00

You probably won't believe me when I say the DVD took, literally, YEARS to complete, but, well, it did. You'll believe me when you see how much SHORTER my hair was in the beginning of it. Anyway, it's finally done and ready for ya'll!

Here's the link to where it's available on the site:
http://www.jessicurl.com/The-Jessicurl-Educational-DVD-pr-677.html

Also, after mucho customer demand, the liters are now coming with pumps in them, to make it easier to get the product out. Groovy, eh?

Have a curly day! :-)

Jess

More curly makeovers

2007-03-09T12:15:00.000-08:00

There's this brewery in Eureka where I eat dinner WAY too often. Two of the servers there, Annie and Jenny, seemed to me like they MUST have some curls to their hair, but whenever I see them it's always straight. So one night I finally just asked them - "Hey you two, do you have curls that you straighten??" Annie said yes, she does have curls that she straightens every day because it's easier. Jenny, on the other hand, said, "No, I just have crazy wacky in between hair." I said, "Yeah, we'll see about that!" :-)

So I invited them over to my house a few Sundays ago to give them Jessicurl makeovers and see how curly their hair REALLY is. They were both really pleased with the results. Annie, who knew she was a curly, said her hair NEVER felt that soft and that the curls were way nicer than she'd ever been able to get them. Jenny, who just thought she had "poofy" hair, couldn't BELIEVE how curly her hair ended up. I lovedoing makeovers! Here are the pics from that day.

Here is Annie before:

And here she is after:

Here is Jenny before:

And here is Jenny in all her curly glory!

Wow, hair can grow a lot in a year.

2007-02-02T20:44:00.000-08:00

I realized today that I have a picture from New Years Eve '05 and one from
the recent '06 New Years Eve, so I thought I'd dig 'em out to see how much
my hair has grown in the past year. You may recall that I've been growing it
out for a few years now to donate it to Locks of Love. I've been getting
tiny little trims every 2-4 months and it's really been since I started
seeing my current stylist Noelle that it's REALLY begun to grow. (she rocks!
If you live in Humboldt, check her out at Sun in My Hair Designs in
Eureka!!)

So anyway, I was thrilled to see just HOW much longer my hair is this year
than last.

Here's a pic from Dec.31, 2005:

And here's one from Dec.31, 2006:

I'm so psyched to see that my diligence is paying off! :-) Sure, it takes
longer for it to dry these days, and I have to use more dye when I color my
hair, but it's all worth it. :) I plan on growing it out until NEXT January, at
which point I'll cut off 10 inches for Locks of Love. That should leave me
with more than a chin length bob, which is cool. :)

Ok, have a great weekend! :-)
Jess

Did another curly education event on Saturday!

2007-01-30T08:25:00.000-08:00

This one was a bit smaller than the one in Toronto though. :-) It was in Willow Creek, about an hour away from me, at a salon called Carol's Country
Curl. (How fitting, eh?)

The owner of the salon, Carol, is a really great lady who was quite excited
to have the Jessicurl event in her salon. She was eager to learn more about
the products and accessories, so I did one curly hair makeover, then she did
the next one. Both turned out really well and all the participants were
amazed at the difference.

Check out the before and after pictures of Vonnie, who I demonstrated on.

Here she is before:

And here she is after:

She was REALLY pleased with the results, and everyone else was amazed at how much curlier her hair was after. :-)

After the curly hair demos we just sat and chatted for a while and had a
great time laughing it up. We'll definitely do it again there, because
everyone agreed it was really fun and educational.

Here's a picture of Carol, the owner:

That's it for now, have a great day! :-)

Jess

Curly parties are so fun!!!

2007-01-07T11:13:00.000-08:00

Saturday was the day of the curl education event at The Curl Ambassadors in Toronto and we had SO MUCH FUN! :-) But how could a room full of 20 or so curlies NOT be fun? :-)

The owners of the salon, Betty and Caroline are even sweeter and nicer in person than they are on the phone and it was SO great to finally meet them. They provided yummy snacks and the salon has the most wonderful vibe to it - SUPER cute but very friendly, welcoming and laid back. Just what you'd want in a curly hair salon. :)

Here's a picture of me with Betty (on the right) and Caroline (on the left.)

The day started at 12 with a "meet and greet" that enabled all of us to sit and chat for a while and get to know each other while the guests filed in.

At around one I took the first demo model Nicky over to the sink to wash and condition her hair. Nicky had AMAZING curls so I was kind of thinking, "Uh, what exactly do you expect me to do to make them better??" :)

She's been using Jessicurl for a while and has been a member at Naturally Curly since I started it in my kitchen 4 years ago, so it was really great getting to meet her and she's SUPER nice. She told me she's a teacher, and she's EXACTLY the kind of person who you'd want to have teaching your kids. I then took her back out to the main room to style her hair while the others watched and asked questions. That was followed by a question and answer period to allow the guests to get all of their curly questions answered.

Here's Nicky after I did her hair. It looks a little damp still - you know how long curly hair can take to dry! :-) Her hair was SO soft and in such good condition. :-)

Then Betty did something I would never have thought of - a Jessicurl trivia game, and each person who answered a question correctly got a Jessicurl product as a prize! How fun, eh? And let me tell you - these ladies sure knew their Jessicurl trivia! I was amazed. The only question that stumped the crowd was "what town is Jessicurl located in?" That's understandable, as not many people have ever heard of Arcata, and I generally just say I live in Humboldt County anyway. But that was a really fun game and pretty much everybody won something. (I of course was ineligible. :)

Then it was time to take Leena back to the sink and wash her hair for the next demo. She also had BEAUTIFUL curls - nice and thick and curly. I'd say her hair was about a 3B, according to the hair type system found here:
http://www.naturallycurly.com/curl411/types.php

During this time, one of the stylists at the salon, named Patience, was giving a hair cut to one of the attendees, Aimee. Aimee had great curls that were about down to her waist, and had it cut to about shoulder length. Patience did an AMAZING job on that hair cut! So much that it made me start thinking, "Hmmm, I wonder if I could use a hair cut?" I didn't need one, and since I'm still growing it out to donate it to Locks of Love, I decided not to be compulsive. But MAN Patience does an amazing cut, so if you live in the Toronto area I would really recommend her. Not to mention she's SO friendly and just puts people at ease instantly. There is NO reason to be nervous about a hair cut at this place! :-)

Here is Aimee after her cut with Patience.

After that we did more question and answer, and a lovely curly named Cheryl was asking me what I thought would be good for her hair. We had extra time on the agenda, so I said, "Hey, you want to come back to the sink and let me do your hair?" She agreed, so I got to do another head of beautiful curls! :-)

Here is a picture of Cheryl after I did her hair:

After that we chatted some more while Caroline's ADORABLE curly daughter Bree passed around cheesecake and banana bread. How lucky is SHE to have a mom that owns a curly hair salon?? Bree has THE MOST AMAZING curls I've ever seen on an 8 year old, which makes sense, given her mom owns the place. Not only is she adorable, but she's just the sweetest more friendly kid and I was really happy to get to meet her. Here is a picture of Bree:

One highlight for me personally was that my cousin Lori came too! She lives about 40 or so minutes away and since I live in California I hardly EVER see her, so that was a real treat for me. My dad was there too, all decked out in a suit and one of his new Jerry Garcia ties that I gave him for Christmas. (that's all he ever wants for gifts anymore, since the ladies all seem to love the Jerry Garcia ties so he gets lots of compliments and attention. :) At one point I think it got to be a bit too much hair talk for a guy with such little hair, so he took off for about an hour to have a coffee and read the paper. I think that's pretty understandable, eh?

Here is a picture of me and my cousin Lori:

At around 4 things started winding down and the guests began to leave, so I packed up, hugged all my new friends goodbye, and Dad, Lori and I went out for a coffee before dad and I headed north to his home town of North Bay. (about 3.5 hours from Toronto) On the way there we stopped in Barrie to see ANOTHER of my cousins, Bill. (Geez, I sure have a lot of cousins up here! Well, we're Irish....)

Here's one last picture from the day, of me and my well dressed dad Moe. No resemblance there, eh? :-)

So all in all that was a GREAT day. I love doing those events because it's always so fun to meet so many curlies and talk about hair all day! :) I really want to thank Betty and Caroline (and Bree!!!) for being such wonderful hosts. If you're ever in Toronto, I HIGHLY recommend you go in there for a hair cut, a style, or just to say hi to some of the most friendly ladies you'll ever meet. :) I know my dad will be back in when he's in town. :)

Canada, eh?

2007-01-02T13:11:00.000-08:00

I flew up here on the 28th to Alberta where my Uncle Gord has a 2nd home in Canmore, which is right in the middle of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. It's INSANELY beautiful. Dad is here too, along with Gord, 2 of his kids, Scott and Somer, and Somer's boyfriend Dave. I also got to see my crazy cousin Kathleen who is a CLOWN - for real! But not the scary kind that make kids cry. :-) She's a riot.

Tomorrow Dad and I fly to Toronto where we'll spend 3 nights and on Saturday I'm doing a Jessicurl curly hair makeover event party thing at this new curly hair salon that opened in October. It will be fun. :) Then we'll go up to North Bay to my dad lives, and on Tuesday the 9th Dad and I are hosting a stand up comedy night were WE are the headliners! :-) No pressure, eh? :-) I have a bunch of material prepared, but I still have to memorize it better. Then I fly home on the 11th.

So here are some pics I've taken while here in Alberta. There will of course be more once we get to Toronto and do the curly party thing, which of course I'll post! :) We're going to record the comedy night (audio for sure, maybe video - not sure on that one.), so I'll see if I can upload portions of it here or something.

Here's the pics I've taken so far, mainly from New Years Eve and the Rocky Mountains.
http://public.fotki.com/JessicurlHairPics/new-years-in-canmor/

Attention Toronto Curlies!

2006-12-26T12:41:00.000-08:00

As you may know from reading my blog, there is a new curly-hair specific salon in Toronto that opened in October called The Curl Ambassadors. As you may NOT know, I’m originally from North Bay and thus have a ton of family in Ontario. (Including the Premier, Dalton. Let’s not hold that against me, eh? :-)

Anyway, I will be coming up to Ontario the first week in January and will be helping to present the first (of many!) Curl Education Workshops at the Curl Ambassadors.

The event will be from 12-4 PM on Saturday January 6th at The Curl Ambassadors, located at 159 Harbord Street in Toronto. The phone number is 416-922-2888.

The schedule will go as follows:

12:00 - 1:00 - Meet and Greet, snacks, drinks, etc.
1:00 - 2:00- 1st Curly Model Demo, done by me
2:00 - 2:30 – Break
2:30 – 3:30 – 2nd Curly Model Demo, done by me
3:30 – 4:00 – Question and Answer period

It should be a REALLY fun time, as the ladies who own the place are SUPER sweet and a lot of fun. Please come by for any portion of the event if you get the time – I’d love to meet you!

Have a curly day!

Jess

$5 flat rate shipping sale now in progress!!

2006-11-30T15:40:00.000-08:00

If you're subscribed to the Jessicurl.com newsletter, then you'll already know this. But I thought it would be good to mention it in the blog too,
just in case. :-)

This is the long-awaited return of the $5 flat-rate shipping sale! That's right, from now until Sunday December 3 at 5:00 PM Pacific time, all orders placed at Jessicurl.com will be charged only $5 for shipping, no matter how much you buy (offer good to US shipping addresses only). There are no special codes necessary to take advantage of this sale. Just go to our Shop Now section at the following link and have fun! :-)
http://www.jessicurl.com/Shop-Now-c-19.html

The more you buy the more you save, so it's a great opportunity to get some holiday shopping out of the way while picking up something for yourself at the same time. :-)
Have fun! :)

Jess
www.Jessicurl.com

Large microfiber towels - big enough for plunking!

2006-11-29T20:16:00.000-08:00

I'm really excited to let you know that we finally have larger microfiber towels, PERFECT for plunking! :-) Lots of people have asked for it, so I'm thrilled that we finally can offer them. It's available for sale here:

http://www.jessicurl.com/Microfiber-Plunking-Towel-pr-647.html

To make it even BETTER, one of our new Featured Specials is the towel combo - one smaller Scrunching towel and one larger Plunking towel for $20. You can find that deal here:
http://www.jessicurl.com/blog/2006/11/Towel-Combo-1-Scrunching-and-1-Plunking-pr-648.html

I have to admit I haven't tried the plunking towel yet, because I just keep forgetting to bring one home from the factory so I can use it! :-) I'll do that tomorrow and use it on Friday. :)

Also, we'll be sending a Jessicurl newsletter in the morning with some great info, so keep your eyes out for that. :-)

Have a curly day,

Jess
www.Jessicurl.com

New cut and color!

2006-11-17T20:16:00.000-08:00

Well, not TOTALLY new! :-) We'll call it a variation on a theme. :)

I'm still growing out my hair to donate it to Locks of Love, so all I
needed yesterday was a little trim and re-shaping. My hairstylist Noelle
does a great job and since I've been seeing her my hair has REALLY grown.
No more hairdressers sabotaging my efforts to grow out my hair! :-)

So yesterday while she was washing my hair she said, "Maybe one of these
days you'll let me do your color." I was like, "How 'bout right now?!"
I've been itching for some sort of change, but can't do any drastic cutting
until I do the big cut for LOL. I've also been wanting to go more red with
my color, but have shied away as I don't want to start messing around with
new shades of Robert Craig and end up with something I don't like. But
Noelle is great at color and I knew I could trust her to do it right and
make it look great. She uses a deposit only color that is no more damaging
than RC, so I was confident I wouldn't suffer any damage from it. She said
she'd make it a richer, deeper shade of red that would be more vibrant. I
was so excited! I loved the spur of the moment-ness of it, and I've never
had my color done professionally, so that was fun too.

So here are before and after pictures. The first one before is from Oct. 30,
so not too long ago. The second was taken today, and I got the color done yesterday.

I'm sure this new color might fade a bit, as red tends to do, but I love how much deeper it is. She even did my eyebrows to match, but it's hard to tell in the picture. :-).(and no, I didn't go blind.) :-)

Bigger microfiber towels coming soon!!

2006-11-16T11:50:00.000-08:00

We've gotten a lot of requests for bigger microfiber towels lately, as the
ones we carry are great for scrunching, but not big enough for plunking. I
just found a source for some that are 2 feet x 3 feet, and thus plenty big
for plunking. We placed the order and they should be here some time next
week. (I'm not 100% sure when they'll arrive yet, but it shouldn't be too
long.) We'll be sending out a newsletter when they go up for sale on the
website, but I thought I'd mention it here for now.

Ok, have a great day!

Jess

Silk pillowcases!

2006-11-12T13:36:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited about these new pillowcases! We're having them custom made, because it's so hard to find satin pillowcase that aren't polyester satin.

Now, I was raised to be a major fabric snob against polyester, and I STILL didn't realize what a difference it made. My mom wouldn't let me wear polyester because back in the 70's when she was a flight attendant, smoking was still allowed in airplanes. She said her polyester uniform went up in flames a number of times due to passenger's cigarettes. Yikes! As a result, she made all of my Halloween costumes, because pretty much ALL commercially made ones are polyester. :-)

So after the Rachael Ray show aired where I recommended people use satin pillow cases, she called me up and said, "Honey, why didn't you specify that it needs to be 100% SILK satin and not that crappy polyester satin?!?" I said, "You mean there's such a thing as polyester satin?!?" I honestly had no idea. I looked at my satin pillowcase that I got at Bed Bath and Beyond a few years ago, and sure enough, polyester. Who knew?

So luckily she told me that before we had actually ordered any pillowcases, because that's EXACTLY what we were about to order. I was able to switch our order to 100% silk, and the first shipment arrived last week, so I've used mine a number of times. OMG , it is SO much nicer than my old one! I had no idea. It's so much softer and not as hot, and I seriously feel like a PRINCESS when I use it! :-) You can see a picture of it here:
http://www.jessicurl.com/100-Silk-Pillowcases-pr-641.html

I gave one to my mom, and she said her flat, straight hair has tons more volume and is MUCH softer than when she was using cotton. :-) One of my employees also commented that her hairstyle lasts a lot better from one day to the next, since the cotton isn't pulling it and making it frizz. Yep, it's all about the silk pillowcases. :-) It makes me want to go take a nap! :-)
Ok, have a great Sunday everybody,

Jess

Been too busy to update my blog! :-)

2006-11-02T09:02:00.000-08:00

I’ve been meaning to update this since Monday when the Rachael Ray Show segment aired, but it’s been SO busy I haven’t had time! :-)

Since the show airs early in some places on the east coast, and I’m in California, by 7:00 am I was already getting a ton of email from people who had seen the show, and the orders just started FLOODING in. It’s been really exciting. All the staff is working really hard at getting them out, making more product, answering the phone, etc. :-)

I was really pleased with the way the segment turned out, and I’ve gotten emails from so many people who said the tips have already helped them with their hair! :-) Yay for that!

I’m really happy and thankful that this surge in orders will allow us to donate more to charity and non-profits, since that is something I always want to do more of but am not always able. It’s also created a number of new jobs at our factory, which is great, because that is something our area tends to lack.

Oh! And we’re going to start carrying satin pillowcases really soon! :-)

Ok have a great day everybody. I have to go do my hair and rush out the door because I’ve been asked to speak to a Business Ethics class at the university at 10 this morning. :-)

Jess

nov2

I know the airdate for the 2nd Rachael Ray show segment!

2006-10-24T18:34:00.000-07:00

They called me this morning and told me that the RR show segment I filmed in New York will be airing Monday Oct. 30.

The funny part is that SO MANY of you will get to see it a LOT earlier than I do, as it doesn’t come on here until 3 in the afternoon! :-) Maybe someone will be kind enough to let me know how it looks so I know if I should be nervous or not when I see it later that day. :-)

Ok, that’s it for now. Have a great day,
Jess

RR2

Air-date For 1st Rachael Ray Show Segment this thursday!!!

2006-10-23T10:54:00.000-07:00

They told me last week that the tentative air date for the segment we filmed at home (featuring Nickie my Curly Doggie!!!) is going to air this Thursday. They also said that could change, BUT I just checked the website for this week's schedule and I see a picture of myself in the montage for that day's show - so I'm PRETTY sure that means that one is a go! :-)

You can check it out here:
http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/?q=tvshow/week/2006-10-26

To find out when the show is on in your area, check here:
http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/?q=tvschedule

Still no word on the air date for the 2nd one that we filmed in NY, but I’ll post it here as soon as I know. Have a great day,

Jess

New site, new demo videos!

2006-10-21T14:31:00.000-07:00

If you’re reading this blog through my website then you already know about the new site design. :-)

But I also wanted to make you all aware of the awesome new product demo videos on the site. I’ve gotten a ton of great feedback on them and it sounds like a lot of you are getting great results from following the techniques shown in the videos. I’ll take a sec here to give huge kudos to Matt our Shipping Manager/Web Developer/Videographer who shot and edited the videos – and of course built the new site to show them on! Talk about a multi-talented employee! :-)

You can see the videos here:
http://www.jessicurl.com/Demo-Videos-p-6.html

For the first time watching them, I suggest the “Watch them all” option at the bottom of the page to see them all as one video.

I still don’t know the airdates for either of the Rachael Ray shows, but I promise to post them here as soon as I do!

Have a curly day!
Jess

Did the Rachael Ray show today!

2006-10-12T20:54:00.000-07:00

Ok, many people have asked me to give every detail of my Rachael Ray filming experience, so here I go! Grab a cup of tea or something, this is likely to be long.

I got to JFK airport at around 10:00 pm Wednesday and while I was waiting at baggage claim D, a producer from the RR show called my cell to make sure I got to town ok. He then said that A who works for the show is a HUGE fan of me and my products and is SO bummed that she wouldn’t be in the studio the day I was there because she had a prior commitment. It is this woman A who told the show they needed to have me on. Apparently she’d been using my products for quite a while and tells anybody who will listen about them. So D asks me if I’d mind saying hi to her on the phone because she really wants to talk to me. :) So that was extremely flattering and it was really great talking with her. She was super nice and was SO bummed she wasn’t going to be there to meet me the next day. So that was a great welcome to NY. :)

So my dad was waiting for me, along with the driver that the show sent, and we went to the hotel – the Le Parker Meridian right in the middle of Manhattan. Dad and I walked around and saw where Letterman is filmed and Dad had a grand ‘ol time singing “On Broadway…” while we were walking down Broadway. I’m sure he’s the first to ever do that,eh? :)

So that was fun, we were both just so excited for the next day. I couldn’t sleep until 2:30, and then woke up wide awake at 5:00 am! (Ok, I usually need 9 hours a night, so this is crazy!) But I wasn't tired all day. (am now though!)

The show was very particular about what they wanted us to wear. They said no black, no white, no logos nothing sleeveless and no crazy patterns and try to wear a bright color on top. So at 10:00 I went to Ann Taylor and got a really pretty cashmere sweater in a pretty sea foam green. (the shopping in my town isn't so great, so I found my way to Madison Ave.)

So I got ready, did my hair and the car picked us up to take us to the show around 12:30. Once at the show I met D and M, the two producers I’d been talking with and they are both SO nice. Everyone I met at that show was SO nice and friendly. D said, “You totally made A’s night last night by talking to her on the phone like that. She’s your biggest fan!” So that was cool!

M took me down to the set to run through what I would be doing, where to stand, etc. They got a curly headed woman and a straight haired woman, and the idea was I’d give various tips, some curly and some straight. She made a point of saying to be quick, concise yet thorough. Um, ok. :) But I understood what she meant and hoped I could stay within the 4 minutes allotted to the segment. That was the only part I was nervous about, since she also wanted me to be casual and chatty-like and I can’t really do that quickly. ;)

So Dad and the hair models and I hung out for a while, then it was time for makeup. I don’t think I’ve ever had my makeup professionally done, so that was fun. She and the other makeup guy/hair stylist were both SO friendly. My makeup lady said, “I would love to see how you do your hair! It's beautiful”, so I told her, "You can! Just check out the videos on my website!" Then she and the other hair stylist asked for samples, which of course I had. So that was cool.

So then the show started and the hair models and I watched from the green room. When it was time for us to do our segment, D and some other people walked us down to backstage, where the makeup lady gave us all a quick touch up.

So then we went on set and took our places. The audience was all there waiting while they adjusted the set, etc. My dad had a great seat right in the middle, so I could easily see him. That was cool.

I didn’t meet Rachael until the right when the filming began. So then Rachael starts her intro about me, saying basically, “Jessica sent in a tape with a great hair mask tip, and we asked her to come on the show.” Then she grabbed a handful of my hair and said, “LOOK at how gorgeous her hair is! Her specialty is curly hair and she started a business called Jessicurl making products for curly hair. So Jess, what curly hair tips do you have for us today?”

Earlier in the week they asked me to list ALL the tips I could think of and they picked which ones we’d use. So I started with stylig products should be applied to soaking wet hair to help reduce frizz. We had pre-wet the curly models hair backstage so I then scrunched in some Confident Coils Styling Solution. Then, and this was so cool … Rachael picked up the bottle and aimed it at the camera and said, “This is Jessicurl’s product’ or something like that, then she reads the label and goes, “You Have the Right to Remain Curly – how cute is that?!?! How’s that for a plug?” So that was just awesome.

So then I gave the tip about not using terrycloth, but microfiber instead, since terrycloth causes frizz. I scrunched the models hair with the microfiber towel to demonstrate that. Rachael asked me where one would get one, and I said on my website. Then I had the model demonstrate “plunking” while I explained it, a technique where you lower your curls down onto a towel and tie it behind your head. It keeps the curls held in “scrunch” formation and allows you to put on your makeup and get dressed without messing up your hair. It also speeds up drying time somewhat. (It’s so hard to explain – you can see a video of this on my site on this page – click on the “QuickTime” link under the one that says “Plunking”
http://jessicurl.com/Demo-Videos-p-6.html

So then we switched to straight hair. I told her that she can get beachy waves by using products with Epsom Salt, and also explained how you can just make a quick epsom salt spray yourself. Then I said you can get more volume if you rinse your hair upside down, since the water isn’t plastering your hair to your head, and that if you also blow dry upside down you could get even more volume.

Then Rachel said, “So Jess, do you have any tips that will work for EVERYONE?” And I said Sure! Lots of people sleep on cotton pillowcases, but satin is better because it lets the hair just glide over the pillow and not get snagged on the cotton. And Rachael was like, “I had NO idea, that is so cool!” My dad told me later that all throughout the segment the women behind him were like, “Oh, that IS a good idea, I’ve never heard of that one!” So that’s cool.

I have to say, doing the segment felt like an out of body experience for me. Like, I KNOW that was me doing it, but it sort of feels like it wasn’t too, or something. The whole day was just so surreal, and I guess that’s part of it. It's hard to explain.

So then we went back to the green room while they finished the show. M and D, the producers, both said we did great. M did say I went a little bit long, but they can do a little editing and it will be fine. She didn’t seem upset about that and said overall we did great. So that’s cool.

When the show ended my dad came back to the green room and said I did great and all that. I asked him what he thought could have been done differently to make it better and he said, actually, nothing. That’s probably somewhat biased though. :) He said “they asked you to do it a certain way and that’s exactly what you did, so rock on.”

So I gave some samples to the hair models who were VERY excited about that, and I gave them each a towel since I had brought several.

Then M and I talked for a minute. She asked if we had any “B Roll” footage of me doing any of the steps in the tips that they might use in the background or to interspurse or something. I said I could send her a DVD of all the videos on my website. So that’s cool. She said to call her Monday. So it wasn’t like, “Ok, thanks, it was fun, goodbye. Have a good life!”

So then my dad, my MIL, FIL and SIL all went to dinner around the corner. The In-laws live in Long Island so that’s was great. DH had to stay home.

So then the greatest thing happened. We were crossing the street after dinner and I hear, “OMG is that Jessicurl?? Hi, I’m A!” Yep, the very same A who was responsible for my BEING on the show basically! It was SO cool to meet her! I gave her a huge hug and said, “Thank you SO much!!” We chatted for a minute and I told her about how the show went and she again said how much she loves my products and tells anyone she can. It was awesome.

So, that’s it. Tomorrow at 1:00 a car will come to take me to the airport and I’ll go to Sebastopol for a friend’s wedding on Saturday.

So overall, the whole experience rocked, of course! My dad had such a blast too and the whole thing was way better having him with me. We always have fun, but this was just a whole new level.

They don’t know the air dates for either of the episodes, but say it’s usually a few weeks later and they will give me plenty of notice.

So. Maybe I’ll finally get some sleep tonight!

I’m going to be on the Rachael Ray Show!

2006-10-09T22:34:00.000-07:00

Initially they contacted me and asked me to film a segment in my kitchen demonstrating how to make something for your hair out of easy stuff you’d have around the house. So I made a hair mask/deep treatment out of avocado, coconut milk, olive oil, honey and banana. It’s a recipe I came up with years ago and have posted on NaturallyCurly.com a bunch of times. You blend it all up in the blender and pour it into an ice cube tray. When it’s time to do a deep treatment you just thaw out a cube or two and you’re there! So they thought that was a great idea, because it’s simple, it’s all food, and it’s different. So I filmed the segment in my kitchen and did it about 4 times through, like they asked, and they would do all the editing and air it on the show. We sent the tape in and they said they’d get back to me with an airdate. That was sometime last week.

So Monday morning they called and said they LOVED my tape and they wanted me to come to New York to be on the show and do a 4-minute segment with Rachael about hair tips! And they said I’d be flying to NY on WEDNESDAY. Yep, like 2 days away. :)

So I will be flying from Arcata to New York on Wednesday and we film the show on Thursday. I will spend Thursday night in NY and get a hotel so I can spend a little time with my in-laws and..... MY DAD!! He lives about 5 hours north of Toronto and I see him once a year and he’s my BEST buddy – and he’s dropping everything to fly to NY to be with me for this! HOW GREAT IS HE??

It gets even more interesting! :) I thought they were going to air the avocado hair mask segment on the same day as they air the stuff we’re filming on Thursday. Nope. They’re going to incorporate it into the show they’re taping tomorrow, because it fits in with whatever else they are doing on that show. Then Thursday we’ll film the show where I’m actually THERE, so basically, I’ll be on the show twice!! Both times we’ll have plenty of notice before the episode airs, and since they’re filming 2 days apart it seems likely they’ll air close together too. They said the shows usually air a few weeks after they're taped, and they'll give me plenty of notice about both of them so I can tell everyone and tape it and stuff.

So it’s all come about very quickly and of course I’m really excited! I will write again when I have more news. :)
Jess

4 new stores!!

2006-10-06T13:44:00.000-07:00

Once again I get to write my favorite kind of blog update – the kind where I tell you of all the new places where Jessicurl is now available!

Let’s start with Canada. Toronto curlies need to hightail it to the city’s newest curly salon, The Curl Ambassadors. Newly opened just this week, The Curl Ambassadors is a wonderful boutique type salon that specializes in curly hair and carries the full line of Jessicurl products. Owned by two WONDEFUL ladies, Betty and Caroline, The Curl Ambassadors will give you a great style while educating you about how to care for (and love!) your curls. The store is located at 159 Harbourd Street and can be reached by calling 416-922-2888.

Now let’s move south to Florida. Cynthia Cheslock, a stylist well known for her talent at cutting curly hair, has moved to a new salon, and she’s taken Jessicurl with her! Practically Frivolous is located at 4140 16th St. North, St. Petersburg, FL and the phone number is 727-528-2702.

The Salon and Boutique is the first salon in Illinois to carry Jessicurl. They are located at
1514 S. Main St. #3, Red Bud, IL and the phone number is 618-282-3870.

Finally, back to my home state of California. Luna Hair Studio is located at
4383 Tujunga Ave. suite C, Studio City, and the phone number is 818-505-8939. Say hi to Lisa if you stop in!

Most of these new stores and salons are a result of individual curlies like you asking for Jessicurl to be offered. Remember, if you give us a lead on a salon that ends up carrying the products, we’ll give you a free liter as a thank you!

In other news, our new website is *this close* to being finished and I can’t WAIT! It’s going to feature all new product demo videos that will really help you see what tips and techniques are best for enhancing curl and reducing frizz. I’m hoping we’ll have it up sometime next week, and of course I’ll update here when it does.

Ok, that’s it for now. Have a curly day!
Jess

2 more websites selling Jessicurl!

2006-09-18T13:17:00.000-07:00

These are the kinds of blogs I LOVE to post. :-) I’m happy to let you know that there are two more websites where Jessicurl is now available.

www.Baayo.com is located in France, so it’s a great option for curlies there, if you know any. :-)

Also, AfroKinks.com is now selling Jessicurl through their online shop. Here’s a link to their Jessicurl page: http://www.afrokinks.com/jessicurl.html

As always, if you refer a store or salon (physical or online!) that picks up the line, we’ll thank you with a free liter of the product of your choice! :-)

Have a great (hair) day! :-)

Jess

4 years ago

2006-09-06T14:16:00.000-07:00

4 years ago yesterday I got my business license, so it's basically Jessicurl's birthday. (the business, not me!) :-)

Wow. It's INSANE how much has changed in 4 years. I started this thing in my kitchen in Berkeley. Now we're in Arcata, CA with a 2000 sq.ft factory and employees. That is the hugest part to me - other people depend on me for their paycheck! It's awesome though. We moved here 3 years ago in order to grow the business, since the cost of living is less here, and it was the best decision ever!

A batch of conditioner used to make 6 bottles. Now the smallest batch of Aloeba we make is around 260 bottles, but we have the capacity to make about 3 times that much in a batch. I used to buy the flax seeds for Rockin' Ringlets in 1 pound quantities at the health food store, and that would lasta few weeks. Now we go through about 25 pounds a week. I used to print out the labels on my computer and tape them to the bottles. The ink would run in the shower and it looked totally crappy. Now we have them printed for us and buy thousands of them at a time. It's all just so crazy. And while, sure, I had a good idea and ran with it, it's our CUSTOMERS who are the reason why we are still in business. You guys are AMAZING. Begging your stylists to carry Jessicurl, bringing it in with you when you get your hair cut because you don't want anything else in your hair. Even when the ink ran off the labels in the shower, you guys bought it anyway! How cool is that?!? I'm so grateful to ALL of our customers, but especially those of you who were there in that first year while I figured it all out.

Anyway, sorry to get all nostalgic and whatnot, but I just totally appreciate you guys! Have a curly day! :-)

Jess

2 new retail locations

2006-07-18T14:18:00.000-07:00

I’m excited to let you all know that there are 2 new retail locations carrying Jessicurl.

Anni’s Hair Oasis is our first Canadian brick-and-mortar store to carry Jessicurl. Anni the owner is really sweet, so say hi from me if you go in there! :-) The address is 2657 Agricola St., Halifax, Nova Scotia, and the phone number is 902-446-6699.

The other new location is Studio Christopher James, located in St. Petersburg, FL. Cynthia is their curly hair specialist, so if you need a cut be sure to ask for her by name. The address is 2312 4th Street North, St. Petersburg, FL and the phone number is 727-490-2633.

Check out the flyer below to learn how you can get a free liter by letting us know about a store or salon in your area that you would like to see Jessicurl carried.

What a difference a comb makes!

2006-07-03T12:18:00.000-07:00

I’ve been growing out my hair for the past 3 years, all the while wondering if a time would come where my hair would get so long and heavy that the curls would be weighed down. I definitely see from pictures that the curls were somewhat tighter when my hair was shorter, but I do really like the length I’ve achieved, so I don't plan on cutting it just because of that. Last week I realized that if I use a really wide-tooth comb in my routine, the curls come out clumpier/fatter and looser. If I use a different comb with teeth that are closer together (but still not “fine tooth” in any sense), the curls get skinnier and tighter. It makes sense – the fatter the clumps, the heavier they are, thus the added weight affects the tightness of the curl. With skinnier clumps, the curls can spring up a bit more. I took some pictures to illustrate the difference. I did everything the same both days except for using different combs.

This picture was taken on a day where I used the wider comb. You can see how the curls are looser with less volume.

This picture was taken a few days later, on a day where I used the comb with the teeth that are closer together. You can see that it's curlier and has more volume.

New product demo videos coming soon!

2006-06-29T16:05:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited! We've been working on a major overhaul of the website for a while now, and it's really looking awesome! Along with it will be all new product demo videos, that we're going to shoot next friday night at Bella Dona Salon in Fortuna, CA.

It's so funny watching the current ones - they were shot almost 3 years ago and my hair was SO much shorter than it is now! :) I still hear from a lot of people that they really help them get the hang of things, but since it's me in the videos, I can't help by laugh. :-)

We've also introduced Confident Coils to the line since then, so it's not featured in the current videos. I think this time I'll include a portion on "plopping", the technique popular with curlies from NaturallyCurly.com for helping to dry curls faster and encourage curl formation. If you have NO idea what the heck I'm talking about, here's a link with instructions and a cute little diagram:
http://www.naturallycurly2.com/curlscene/articles.php?id=140

I've had great luck with this technique ever since my hair got long enough, and I know it's confusing to a lot of people. So I think including it in the new product demo videos will give curlies even MORE styling and drying options, which is always a good thing. :-) I may switch to calling it "plunking" in the video, just because. :) I do think it works better for longer hair. When my hair was really short it didn't work at ALL, but as my hair got longer I got better and better success with it, and now it's a regular part of my hair routine.

If you have ideas for other things that would go well in our product demo videos, let me know and maybe I'll include it. :)

If you haven't seen the current ones, you can do that here: www.Jessicurl.com/video.htm

You need QuickTime to view them, but there's a link taking you to a site where you can download it if you need it.

I hope you're having a good hair day. :-)
Jess

How to get a free liter of Jessicurl

2006-06-25T00:02:00.000-07:00

Haircut picture

2006-06-01T17:37:00.000-07:00

Here’s a picture of the haircut I got last week. Sorry for the delay. The layers are long, like I prefer, and overall I’m really happy with the shape and the amount she cut.

Strictly Curls by Nicole Siri

2006-05-30T19:44:00.000-07:00

I recently got a copy of this book, and I’m really eager to try some of the hairstyles in it. Now that my hair is longer, I can DO all the fun styles it shows! :) It’s a spiral bound book with step-by-step pictures for how to do the styles. I’m going to try one tomorrow night after work, so hopefully I’ll have an “after” picture to post. :) You can check it out at www.StrictlyCurls.com

Don’t fear the convertible! :-)

2006-05-29T16:25:00.000-07:00

All of my life I’ve been TERRIFIED of the wind, because of my hair, of course. So it was really a shock to all who know that when I got a convertible last year. (a 94 Miata) My mom was like, “YOU?? You HATE the wind. Do you ever plan on taking the top down??”

What I’ve found is that it really doesn’t mess up my hair too much if I don’t scrunch out the crunchiness prior to taking the drive, and the drive itself in effect “scrunches out the crunch”. (You can read about my hair routine here, if you want to know more about what I mean by that:
www.Jessicurl.com/routine.htm

Here’s a picture from this past Saturday. The amount of driving time was on the shorter end – maybe an hour total. Yeah, it did make my hair a bit frizzy, but nothing I was too embarrassed to be seen with.

This picture is from last year, after driving from my house in Eureka to San Francisco, about a 5 hour drive.

I would have thought that 5 hours with the top down, most of it on the open freeway, would have made my a TOTAL mess – but it really didn’t. Again, the trick was to not scrunch out the crunch as I normally would, and just let the wind do it for me. I did scrunch in some Awe Inspiraling Spray after to rejuvenate it, but that’s it.

So there you have it. There’s no reason to fear driving with the top down. :)

Yes, I use my products on my dog.

2006-05-26T19:48:00.000-07:00

But only the shampoo and conditioner, not the styling products. :) When I first got her I actually custom made her her own shampoo and conditioner, but then I realized that was excessive, even for me. (and I LOVE making random stuff, from hair products to note cards.) So now I wash her with Hair Cleansing Cream and condition her with Too Shea. Her coat is soft and shiny all the time, so it seems to be working. :)

I got Nickie in October 2005 when a family decided they couldn't keep her anymore. She's a 2 year old Cocker Spaniel and is the sweetest little dog ever. I wanted a dog SO badly before we finally got her and she fits in really well around here. :) It's amazing how much more time I spend outside now that we have her. There aren't any laws that say you can't go to the beach without a dog, but you wouldn't know it by my habits before! :) Now I take Nickie to the beach a few times a week when it's nice out. (which thankfully, it now is. It was a LONG rainy winter in these parts.) Of course she loves it. :) Dogs really do get you up and off your butt! :)

Hair cut today - May 24

2006-05-24T23:13:00.000-07:00

I got a hair cut today, my third with Noelle. She really does a great job cutting my hair, and for some reason, when she cuts my hair I can go twice as long between hair cuts. I appreciate that because I’m still trying to grow it out, and cutting my number of hair cuts in half has really helped with that process.

She never cuts a lot, so I basically always just need a trim and re-shaping. This time she did a bit more layering to help increase the volume. My hair gets really heavy when it gets long, so this is a good way to boost the curl. I love that she never cuts too much and I never feel like I’ve sacrificed a lot of hair. She has curly hair herself, so that’s a big reason why she’s so good at cutting it.

I’ll try to post a picture of the cut in a few days.