CLEVELAND — So many Americans are tasked with hair maintenance day in and day out. And often times, the key to a successful style depends on what products you use.
Back in 2012, New York native, Laura Manning began a hair care journey of her own.
"During that time, my hair was falling out because I kept relaxing. It, and so I decided to go natural with my friends," explained Manning.
In search of new products, Manning turned to local beauty supply stores for help, but was disappointed to find that many of the products on the shelves contained harmful ingredients.
"I'm just like, there is really a deficit in the holistic nature of a lot of products on the market," said Manning.
So she decided to create her own line of hair care products called LajAshley, a combination of her first, middle, and last names.
"Lajashley is a 100% natural hair and skin care line for all hair and skin types," said Manning. "So the first product was my lemon meringue shampoo, and then the next product was my papaya surprise conditioner. The third product was my strawberry hair moisturizer. And then the fourth product was my chemical chai, dry hair elixir."
Since her initial launch over ten years ago with just 4 products, Laura has expanded her line to include 19 products with more on the way.
"Now, those products were more catered to Afrocentric hair, and I had friends that had straighter hair types or of other ethnicities, and they needed different types of products," said Manning about what led to her business expansion.
With a background in Chemistry, Manning thought making her own products would come naturally, but developing natural products is a complex process. He first batches, not her best work.
"It didn't really smell too good and it wasn't shelf stable," explained Manning.
Through trial and error, she continued to evolve her recipes. However, it turns out she was ahead of the game, forced to wait on suppliers and customers to buy in.
" I did not want to compromise on the quality of ingredients by going the other out because it wasn't readily available," said Manning. "I just kind of waited for the times to change and people to understand that, like we can have great products and it be plant based and holistic."
Despite a textured journey, Manning feels that things continue to work out in her favor.
"Everything has its time and its place. And I just feel like right now the timing couldn't be any more perfect for me to continue the scale and grow my business and gain more partnerships," said Manning.
The unique products have allowed her to connect with people from all races, ethnicities and backgrounds.
"We specialize in products that help with the healing and repairing of the scalp, skin and hair, but providing that all-natural solution.
Her business pursuits aside, Laura says that the calling to help warn people of the harmful chemicals in products makes her long day worth it.
"It's also teaching people why it's beneficial to use natural products and the harmful dangers of chemicals in some of the common products like lip balms to avoid," said Manning.
For more information on Lajashley Products, you can click here to visit their website or check them out on social media.
Black Light is a series created by 3News Reporter Kierra Cotton aimed at exposing the hidden talent within Northeast Ohio’s Black community. If you'd like to suggest a feature to Kierra, you can connect with her via email at kcotton@wkyc.com.
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