New hair alert: Intense Beaute

Founder of Intense Beaute Atiyah McDaniels tells us what it takes to set up a hair company and what hair texture she would wear for the rest of her life

There are many hair companies out there that offer high quality, virgin hair extensions, so what makes Intense Beaute stand out?
I’ve developed Intense Beaute on four principles I strongly believe makes up a successful hair company:

Customer Service
Authenticity
Product Knowledge
Woman Empowerment

I like that people have a level of respect for Intense Beaute as a company but I also like my customers to feel as if they are apart of Intense Beaute and not like the whole buying process is just a business deal. Through the Intense Beaute instagram (@intensebeaute) we love to interact, reply to comments and answer questions, because without my customers there would be no Intense Beaute.

What was your biggest challenge creating a hair company?
My biggest challenge creating Intense Beauté would have been finances. I am the type of person that if I can’t do something to perfection how I envision it then I won’t do it at all. When it came to Intense Beauté I exhausted a lot of my funds, funds I am still paying back a year later believe it or not. Even though I could have done things differently, I would not change any steps I took to launch Intense Beauté because those steps have gotten me where I am today.

You produced an ebook called, “MtrlGirl’s Guide To Longer, Healthier Hair”. What’s your No.1 tip for natural hair growth?
My number one tip is to let your hair be as it grows. Even though this tip you may say is not a real legitimate tip – it actually is. Many African American woman suffer from gaining little to none when it comes to hair growth and I relate this issue to the fact that we manipulate and style our hair too much. If we practice the act of leaving our hair to grow as it pleases under a healthy protective style, we would see a big difference in the length we retain.

Are you a sew-ins or wigs fan? I am definitely a wig girl lol. I can not stand being committed to one hair style for a long period of time like you have to be with a sew in, nor can I stand the whole sew in process! I am very, very tender headed and if the stylist is doing my hair too tightly, I am the customer to tell them to stop because they are hurting me and I will stop the entire process lol. I remember one time I went to a braiding shop to get the poetic justice braids Janet Jackson wore in the movie Poetic Justice. They were so nice, but when they were done they were soooo heavy on my head. I sported them for a week, even after numerous compliments, but on the seventh day I took them out. They were just too tight and I could not stand them lol. $100 plus dollars wasted but no amount of money would have kept them in my head.

We love the names of your hair extensions! Raw Indie, Straight BO$$, Slay–Cation and Mamita. What do these titles represent?
The titles of my hair textures (excluding the names of my raw collection) represent the attitude or action each Mtrlgirl should embody when they are wearing each texture, like an alter ego. My personal favorite texture is Straight B0$$ of course. Long straight hair has always made me feel queen-like, and when you’re the queen you basically run the show, so I named the texture Straight B0$$. I replaced the dollar signs for the traditional ‘S’ for emphases on “boss”.

What hair extensions do MtrlGirls keep raving on about?
Both collections are in high demand but the texture the tops it all is Beauté Curl. Beauté Curl sales are always the highest. Second runner up is now my Coil Crush texture.

If you had to choose one hair extension from the Intense Beaute collection to wear for the rest of your life, what would it be?
I would have to go with Straight B0$$. I do 80% of the time love to wear my hair curly but if I had to go a life time with only one texture I would have to choose Straight B0$$.

How will Intense Beaute be slaying our hair in the future? Intense Beauté is only beginning. I have so many things coming up in the future I don’t want to spoil the surprise just yet but just know Intense Beauté aims to top its competitors.