In the world of haircare, Gabrielle Zalina stands out as a beacon of empowerment and self-love. With her brand, En Love, she celebrates the beauty and versatility of naturally textured hair. In this interview, we delve into the heart of En Love’s ethos, exploring its origins, core values, and vision for the future.
OTC: Can you share the inspiration behind starting En Love and what motivated you to focus specifically on hair care products for curls?
Gabrielle: Our inspiration for starting En Love began from the deep love and reemergence of Naturally kinky, curly hair – returning to women all over the globe. In the salon, I’ve transitioned thousands of women from relaxed to their natural texture and we all needed plant-infused products that fit right into our daily hair habits. I’ve personally been relaxer-free since 2008, when I made that decision, I knew someday I wanted to formulate my own products for myself, family, and clients. Now we make them for everyone!
OTC: Your bio mentions your upbringing and the influence of family beauty rituals. How have those experiences shaped the ethos and vision of En Love?
Gabrielle: To this day, my mom is a beauty queen! She still is in my ear like “do this, try that”. Beauty is such a huge factor for me especially being one of five daughters and having three daughters of my own. Each one of us has naturally textured hair, I mean who better to formulate for us than me, a 20-year Textured Hair Pro. My family is definitely my inspiration every step along the way.
OTC: Aloe vera is a prominent ingredient in your products. Could you elaborate on why you chose aloe vera as the primary ingredient and its benefits for curly hair?
Gabrielle: Aloe vera is an essential to total body wellness and utilizing it as a base for all our products provides the perfect pH environment for curly hair to thrive. Aloe Vera releases anthraquinones perfect for cell regeneration and preserving elasticity.
OTC: En Love emphasizes the use of natural ingredients. How do these ingredients contribute to the overall health and beauty of curls, and what sets your products apart from others in the market?
Gabrielle: Formulating products with ingredients our bodies happily process is principle #1. The ratio of our ingredients makes our formulations sustainable and rare in the market today.
OTC: Your mission statement emphasizes promoting self-love and self-care through hair rituals. How do you envision these rituals impacting women’s lives beyond just hair care?
Gabrielle: Self-love and rituals actually shape our world. What we do consistently becomes ritual for us and the time we pour into nourishing ourselves can only magnify in the world as more beauty, health and love for ourselves in a positive way. We designed En Love to be apart of those moments we make for ourselves that become like meditation and affirmation. We look forward to expanding more into this in the future with our brand.
OTC: The Knot Ever Detangler is highlighted as a family-friendly product. How does En Love cater to diverse hair types?
Gabrielle: Our products can work with all hair types, it’s all in the application. A dime size amount of Knot Ever Detangler could easily be used on Naturally Straight hair as a softening, frizz reducing agent for blow drying. All our products can be used on the full range of straight, wavy to kinky, curly hair.
OTC: Edge control is featured as a convenient on-the-go product. What considerations go into designing products for ease of use and portability without compromising effectiveness?
Gabrielle: We want the size to be attractive when hair is on the go. As my teenage daughter mentioned, sometimes you just need to freshen your edges during a long day. So we placed as much holding punch in our Edge Control while also maintaining proper moisture in a convenient purse size for anytime glow ups.
OTC: Looking ahead, what future developments or expansions do you envision for En Love, both in terms of product offerings and the brand’s impact on the community of curly-haired individuals?
Gabrielle: We envision the continued expansion of our Moisture Crush line along with more styling products and further development of our newest Strength & Length line, specifically for increased hair growth and sustainability. It’s our goal to deepen self care empowerment as a main facet in supporting the curly hair community not only with great products but also with varying educational and philanthropic efforts.
