The Coily App Takes The Guesswork Out Of Caring For Your Hair
It's no secret that shopping for new hair products isn't always an easy task. With so many different brands and products hitting the market, it can be hard to figure out what will actually work on our hair. Whenever I visit my local drugstore or beauty supply store, I spend so much time scrounging the internet for reviews and texting my girlfriends for advice before committing to purchasing a product. But, finally, a solution exists that makes haircare shopping more efficient for Black women everywhere.
Meet: the Coily app.
Founded by tech entrepreneur Asha Christian, Coily is a one-stop-shop for product reviews, product recommendations, and hairstyle inspiration. "After spending money on edge gels that didn't work, moisturizers that left flakes, or wigs that didn't last that long, I just got frustrated and decided to pair my background in technology with my passion for hair and create Coily," Christian says.
After beta testing the app in Guyana in 2019, Coily made its official U.S. debut in February of this year. One of the app's most enticing features is its barcode scanner. "You can walk into a store and scan a barcode on a hair product or even scan a product you have in your home and see product reviews for it," Christian says. "You can see image results of women who use the product on their own hairstyles. You can also sort those reviews and styles by your unique hair type."
To make your experience more personalized on the app, you can fill out Coily's hair quiz– a brief survey that asks questions about your hair texture and hair goals. Filling out the assessment unlocks your ability to receive curated product and hairstyle recommendations in the app.
Christian says that the community-focused features of the app have also received positive feedback. Coily users can upload hairstyle recipes, share product reviews, bookmark hairstyles, and build community with other haircare lovers on the app. One of Coily's standout elements is its hair type percentage match feature. You can visit any users' profile on the app and see how similar their hair type is to yours. "I know, it's been exciting for [users] to click on a profile and see that they have like a 60% match or an 85% match, and then be able to see how exactly they match up," Christian says. "They can see if they both style their hair a certain way, if they both have a certain hair texture, or even if they both have dyed their hair in the past six months."
As she maps out the future of Coily, Christian has her sights set on growing the platform into the largest and smartest black, black haircare marketplace in the world. Her next move? Brand partnerships. "Some of the coolest feedback we've gotten is that once they discover their products, they wish they could buy it right then and there on the platform," she explains. "So, we've spent the last month creating brand partnerships so that we can begin selling products on the platform this month." In line with her mission to encompass the Black haircare system from end to end, Christian also plans to add hairstylist booking to the app so you can easily browse and book appointments with stylists in your area.
You can download Coily in the App Store and stay connected with the brand on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Featured image by Shutterstock
Olivia Hancock is a writer who can constantly be found putting pen to paper or typing away at her keyboard. The transplant ATLien is currently working on her undergraduate degree in Journalism and roots for all things #BlackGirlMagic. Connect with her on Twitter and Instagram at @oliviahancock_.
Black women are not a monolith. We all are deserving of healing and wholeness despite what we've been through, how much money we have in the bank, or what we look like. Most importantly, we are enough—even when we are not working, earning, or serving.
Welcome to Black Girl Whole, your space to find the wellness routine that aligns with you! This brand-new marketplace by xoNecole is a safe space for Black women to activate their healing, find the inspiration to rest, and receive reassurance that we are one small act away from finding our happiness.
Want to discover where you are on your wellness journey? You don't have to look far. In partnership with European Wax Center, we're bringing you a customized wellness quiz to help you up your wellness game. Answer our short series of questions to figure out which type of wellness lover you are, what you need to bring more balance into your life, and then go deeper by shopping products geared towards clearing your mind, healing your body, and soothing your spirit.
Ready to get whole? Take our quiz now!
Method Man Shares What He Considers The ‘Sexiest Thing’ While Discussing His Sex Symbol Status And Self-Love
Veteran rapper and actor Clifford "Method Man" Smith Jr. is shedding light on the experience of being a sex symbol, what he finds genuinely captivating about people, and the significance of self-love.
The 52-year-old's journey to fame began in the 1990s when he joined the legendary hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan alongside RZA, GZA, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and the late rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard. Despite the group releasing their highly acclaimed debut album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) in 1993, Smith continued to achieve
success after going solo the following year to focus on other musical and acting endeavors.
To date, Smith has starred in various series and films, his most popular being Starz's Power Book II: Ghost. In addition to acting, the father of three dropped seven solo studio albums and has professionally collaborated with the Wu-Tang Clan members on numerous projects over the years.
Throughout his thirty-year career, Smith has always generated attention from fans because of his talent. But in recent years, with Smith taking care of his health and maintaining his physical appearance by regularly going to the gym, he has attracted a new set of admirers.
On the cover story of Men's Health magazine, in honor of the 50th anniversary of Hip-Hop, Smith shares why he doesn't consider himself to be a sex symbol, what he finds sexy about people and aging, and why he feels self-love is a fundamental part of living a happy life.
Method Man On Being A Sex Symbol And What He Considers The Sexiest Thing
In the August interview, the Soul Plane star revealed that he doesn't take the sex symbol label too seriously because he is not doing anything out of the ordinary to have earned that title.
"I'm not a sex symbol. That's the whole f--king point, man," he told the publication. "Put the words together. Sex and symbol. What's the symbol? I'm not doing anything. So what's the symbol?"
Further into the interview, Smith explained that although he doesn't consider himself a sex symbol, he does enjoy the attention he has received lately. Even with the newfound recognition, Smith added that what he generally finds sexy is someone authentically being themselves and not caring about what other people may think.
"I'm not going to lie, I love every freaking minute of it, but I don't want to be that guy that, when the clock starts winding down, he's still trying to be that sexy," he said while mentioning how Smokey Robinson's appeal has span decades with the singer becoming more comfortable with himself as he aged.
"I mean, Smokey Robinson is always going to be sexy to somebody. I'm not using him as an example; I'm just saying that with where Smokey is right now if Smokey was still at the same time he was back then, it would look ridiculous. And Smokey knew he was a sexy motherfucker. You get to a certain age where you just stop caring, and I think that's the sexiest thing in the world right there."
Method Man On Self-Love
Also, in the interview, Smith opened up about the steps he took to become his own "biggest fan" rather than his worst critic, something he claims all boiled down to self-love.
"Self-love, it's simple as that. Looking yourself in the mirror and honestly saying that you love yourself,” he stated. "But it's one thing to say and then another to go and do it. Show that you love yourself. That's all I've been doing. What people see now is just happiness."
Let’s make things inbox official! Sign up for the xoNecole newsletter for daily love, wellness, career, and exclusive content delivered straight to your inbox.
Feature image by Leon Bennett/Getty Images for the Critics Choice Association
