May 12, 2022
The children of Trinidadian immigrants growing up in Montreal, Jamella Bailey, President, and Founder of Crüe Cosmetics, dreaded the hair maintenance process. It led her to spend many years hiding her hair under braids and protective styles. But her quest for a Beyoncé-like lace front cost her more than the expensive price tag for the wig. The stylist she visited glued the wig directly to her hairline, with traumatic results in hair loss, scalp irritation, and traction alopecia.
Jamella couldn't use most of the products she found in her pharmacy without additional irritation. This life-changing experience led her to research natural ingredients and start blending products in her kitchen, and she used friends and family as testers. She knew that she had found the right formula for her first product, a Growth Serum, when her testers started buying the product and asking for more. As a result, Crüe officially launched in 2016 with four hand-made formulas housed in amber glass jars.
Jamella initially thought her target audience would be other Black Canadian women with hair damage but quickly found that those issues attracted a much wider audience than she ever imagined. She shares the challenges Black beauty founders face in being pigeonholed in specific categories.
Jamella has honed her craft along the way, taking photochemistry courses to become a better formulator and recently being a certified trichologist. She also shares why she must consider regulatory rules if she expands her business beyond Canada.
However, in the meantime, she is expanding the Crüe Cosmetics line in the coming months to add shampoos and conditioners to complement her existing treatment line. And she plans to expand beyond her e-commerce model to include salons that can retail her products and use them in treatments.
And Jamella has plans to put her trichology certification to good use in the future.