Ouidad, The Curl Experts

*This post is brought to you in collaboration with Ouidad. As always, all opinions are my own. 

Last week I had the pleasure of attending the Grand Opening of Ouidad’s Fort Lauderdale Flagship salon. Before the event started, I met the owners, Chadwick and Igor along with their super cool staff and the woman who started it all, Ouidad! As you can see above, they even helped a girl out and styled my [very sad looking] hair, making me feel fab!

[side note: my hair is naturally very wavy, but I didn’t have time for them to wash it and style it that way. I literally showed up with four day old greasy hair and they were able to make it look great! Whether your hair is curly, wavy, or straight, you need this Mongongo Oil in your life! It’s amazing and completely transformed my dried out ends! Also, the flexible-hold hairspray is a new favorite! I can’t wait to go back to see how they style my natural hair!]

For those of you not familiar, Ouidad is the pioneer of the curly hair industry.  In 1984, it was the first salon in the country catering exclusively to curly hair. Since then the “trademarked cutting and styling techniques and line of award-winning curl optimizing products, have changed the lives of curly and wavy-haired people everywhere.” [source]

Meeting Ouidad herself and hearing her story was really touching. She said that everyone from beauty editors to bankers told her she was crazy and pretty much laughed in her face when she tried to get the company started. Now 32 years later, she has 3 flagship stores [NYC, Santa Monica, Fort Lauderdale], hundreds of Ouidad trained and certified stylists, a plethora of specially formulated products, and thousands of happy curly haired people! She’s truly lived the American Dream! Not only is Ouidad so inspiring, but she’s a cool, funny, sassy, and kind woman.

With my new bestie, Ouidad 🙂

I know I’ve mentioned this before, but my sister, Samantha is a hairstylist. It’s rare that I “cheat on her” and get my hair done elsewhere, but when she heard I had an opportunity to collaborate with Ouidad, her response was, “Their products are awesome. You should totally do it!” Also, one of my best friends who has super curly, kinky hair has been using Ouidad since our high school days, so that’s 13-17 years ago! Oh my goodness, that makes me feel old. Like really really old. Wow.

I highly recommend making a visit to a Ouidad Certified Salon, and of course one of the flagship locations if you live in the NYC, Fort Lauderdale, or Santa Monica areas. You can find their products online, at any Ouidad Certified Salon, and at retail stores like Ulta. For my South Florida peeps, I’m giving away a $200 Gift Card to two lucky people to get serviced at Chadwick and Igor’s Ouidad Flagship Store in Fort Lauderdale! To enter the giveaway, click here and read the instructions.

see below for outfit details

Jacket [UNDER $25!!!]  //  Jeans c/o [Currently On Sale for UNDER $35!!!]  //  Bag  //  Shoes  //  Sunnies  //  Necklace c/o