Skylar Wilson sat in a stylist chair in Diversity Gallery, her mother Leslie Christian-Wilson’s shop, with the biggest grin on her face. Her mother had just finished generously massaging products from Skylar’s Skylarlicious Naturals product line from her scalp to her ends.
The fourth grader at Meramec Elementary in the Clayton School District has tight curls that fall halfway to her waist. They are so dense that the hair seems to bend over as opposed to simply hanging down.
“She embraces her hair, her curl pattern and her texture, and I’m proud of her for that,” Christian-Wilson said. “She doesn’t try to assimilate in that way, and that’s a good thing.”
Skylar ran her hands down each side of her hair, still smiling, as she talked about why she loves the product she created with her mother.
She loves the texture and length of her hair, but the process of detangling was frustrating, painful and caused breakage. When she turned six, she started working with her mother to develop products that would make maintaining her hair less daunting.
Both Skylar and her mother are pleased with the results of Skylarlcious Naturals.
“At first, I used to feel like, ‘my hair is a mess,’” Skylar said. “Now I really like my hair because I have my products and it feels really manageable. Getting my hair done used to hurt. I would be like, ‘I do not want to get my hair done today.’ I want hair combing to be fun time – and not just for me, but for everybody.”
This mother-daughter moment had a bit different outcome than what was the reality for Christian-Wilson when she was Skylar’s age.
“We grew up with pressing combs and creamy crack” (slang for chemical hair relaxers), Leslie said. “But for her I wanted something that made her hair more manageable as it is – we didn’t want to manipulate through heat and chemicals.”
The bond that comes during beauty shop conversations and the connection between a mother or grandmother and a young girl as she is getting her hair styled is real. But so is the trauma (sometimes including actual physical pain) of being forced to beat kinks, coils and curls into submission socially acceptable for Eurocentric beauty standards through hot combs, curlers and chemicals. Until the natural hair movement in the past decade or so, black folks lacked products and processes to manage the hair that grows from our heads naturally.
As a natural hair stylist and owner of a boutique that has sold natural hair products for the past 20 years, Christian-Wilson gave Skylar the gift of loving her hair. Skylar was inspired by her mother to find a solution to her hair woes and meet the needs of others as well.
“My hair is really thick, so we decided to come up with a formula to do my hair, but then I thought, ‘Let me put it out into the world for other people,’” Skylar said. “I was looking for my hair to be less tangled and I wanted the ingredients to be all natural, which it is. It’s not going to do any damage to your hair or your body or anything like that.”
Shea butter, coconut oil, olive oil and avocado are some of the main ingredients for Skylarlicious Naturals.
“Everybody’s hair is different, but our product goes the extra mile by being something that can be used by all hair types,” Skylar said. “There are a bunch of different hair types in the world, and we wanted something that can maintain everybody’s hair.”
In addition to the hair products, her line includes soap, bath bombs and lip balm. They have spent the past four years developing the line, and this year have become more aggressive about marketing Skylarlicious Naturals.
“She’s embracing it, she wants to do this,” Leslie said. “She wants to get out there and show people about their natural hair and embracing it. I’m proud, and it makes it worth it. And it motivates me.”
They have managed booths at events like the 2nd Annual All Girls Expo and Resource Fair this summer and GirlPreneur event last month.
“Sometimes, it’s really hard – having to go to these events set up and take everything back to the car when it’s over,” Skylar said. “Sometimes, I have to miss fun activities for it. But most of the time I enjoy doing it. I mean, missing those activities, I will be a little disappointed, but I know I’m doing it for a good cause.”
Skylar wanted to be clear that while her mother helped her create the formula and is her right-hand woman as far as logistics, she is not sitting back and leaving Mom to handle the business.
“If my name is on it, it’s not my mom’s job to work with my product,” Skylar said. “It’s my job to do my product.”
Christian-Wilson is thrilled that Skylar found something that she loves and is so passionate about that she was ready to become an entrepreneur before she became a teenager.
“This is a great product that she can use herself and be a platform for her to help other girls,” Christian-Wilson said. “I want to show girl empowerment and that her voice matters – and that you have a choice in your life, and the choice to dream big.”
Skylarlicious Naturals falls in line with the legacy Christian-Wilson hoped to provide through Diversity Gallery, but builds up the foundation of her business.
“You know how some families might have a cleaner’s business, but the child might not want to be a cleaner?” Leslie said. “I want her to be the greatest she can be, just like my mom did for me. It’s like another generation that’s trying to pass down that energy, that self-esteem, that motivation, that dedication.”
Skylarlicious Natural is available at Diversity Gallery, 1010 N. Sarah St. St. Louis, MO 63113. For store hours, call (314) 721-3361 or www.diversitygallerystl.com. For more information, visit www.Skylarlicious.com.
