By Danielle James ·May 27, 2021
When shopping for wig and extension options—there are so many. You can have Indian Remy, Brazilian waves, even curly Afros; however, when looking for loc options, the market is much smaller. Faux locs require your hair to be braided and then the braided hair to be wrapped —this carefully crafted > Boho Locs.
Entrepreneurship is not easy and your first business may not always be the one that makes you successful. Pierre can attest to this fact and shares, “Before I launched Boho Locs, I was struggling financially. I had published a book (Natural Haircare for Girls), but I wasn’t able to provide an income that I could live on and also support my young daughter.” Her low moment happened one winter when her car stopped working and she didn’t have the money to get it fixed. When she asked her father for help, to her surprise, he said no. She reveals her dad told her this: “Lou, you have a brain inside that head so it’s time to get out and use it. You can think a way out of this, so do it.” She recalls it wasn’t easy—“I remember heating up my daughter’s car seat with a hot water bottle before we went out and wrapping her in blankets before we left the house.” It was this time that really pushed Pierre to start her business, she states, “I really got the determination to achieve from that situation.”
Boho Locs was founded in 2016 as a result of a Brazilian blow out gone wrong. The treatment left Pierre with “a limp, lifeless afro,” and a different curl pattern. If you’ve experienced heat damage, you know there is no fix minus growing it out. Pierre knew she would have to turn to a protective style, but felt stuck. She says, “I knew I didn’t want sew-in, clip-ins, or braids because none of these options felt like ‘me.’ That’s when I discovered faux locs—they looked very natural and the philosophy was part of who I really was.”
Locs have always been worn in Pierre’s family, so it felt like the most authentic option to wear. However, she wasn’t a fan of the products on the market, “All the options that I could find were either too shiny, heavy, springy, or uniform. I decided to roll up my sleeves and create something that actually worked. I found a base loc that I liked and then I hand customized them to innovate something unique and beautiful.” She posted a picture to her personal Instagram page and the social media gods showed favor. Pierre divulges, “I had so much demand for locs that looked like mine and I held my first sale—I spent hours shaping each loc by hand so that no two orders look the same.” Her locs were in such high demand and after posting, she’d sell out in a matter of days. Pierre garnered customers from around the world, and with all the love and support, she made it official and founded Boho Locs as a company.
Representation is important and we’ve heard countless stories about Black people being suspended from school or not getting jobs because of their decision to wear their hair in locs. Even with legislation like The Crown Act, barring discrimination of African-American hair> a U.S. court ruled a dreadlock ban in the workplace is legal and not racial discrimination. While some people detest the world “dreadlocks,” for Pierre, growing up in the UK it was used a lot in the vernacular and she sees it as anything but dreadful.
She elaborates, “I personally do not hold a negative association with the term since I only associate it with my mom. However, I do prefer to use the word locs and that is the term I use in my business.” For Pierre, locs are a way to illustrate our individuality—“What I love most about locs is how no two locs are the same. I have the freedom to craft locs with my own twists, curls, and color blends and they allow me to express myself and my creativity.”
Pierre is not just the CEO, she’s also a customer, stating, “I understand that the look, touch, and feel of the hair has to be natural for us. It has to let our own hair breathe and protect our natural tresses. It has to make heads turn.” Her pieces, which you can crochet into your hair in about 2 hours come in bobs, longer options, mixed with curls, varied sizes, textures, and more. She plans to continue to expand her business into new categories and markets. Pierre admits, “Entrepreneurship is hard and at times, exhausting. It can be really tricky learning to find the right balance between work and personal life—especially as the business begins to pick up. I have put my entire heart and soul into Boho Locs and have made a commitment to not only myself, but to our customers, to continue to give this business my all.”
Nevertheless, she knows it’s about more than just the product, it’s about her purpose. She adds, “As a Black woman, hair is important—it’s cultural, historical, and political, but Boho Locs is so much more than that. This is a business created for us, by us. We’re helping our customers look and feel their best by providing them with the finest locs so they can express themselves freely through a variety of protective hairstyles.”
The post A Brazilian Blowout Gone Wrong Led Lulu Pierre To Found Boho Locs appeared first on Essence.
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