 I'm an everyday woman, woman, woman, in every way. Live from Los Angeles, here's Everyway Woman. Welcome to Everyway Woman, and today we are going to be talking about natural hair. We have Denise Kopepper, who is the creator of Christmas Natural Hair. Hi, Denise, welcome. Hi, thank you. How did you get, well first I want to say, is that your hair girl? Yes, it's all mine. All mine. How did you get started on your natural journey? Well, my natural journey started when my daughter Alicia was born. She was born with a head full of hair, and I wanted to know what can I use on it. I was already using different products that were considered really good products, and once I started using products on her hair, I noticed that the products were too heavy, and they were building up on the hair. It was hard to wash infant's hair forever in the sink, and I needed something that would be water soluble. So I created a Christmas Natural Hair Care line, but I started not with these bottles, I started in my kitchen from a humble beginning, and I was mixing different ingredients and different things of that nature, and I started coming up with different things, and I started off with a transformation gel, which is the soft-toed hair. This was the original product that I started off with, and what I noticed is that I could style her hair without the build-up. I could rinse it off, wash it off. What's the transformation gel? Transformation means that it's actually going to help smooth the cuticle of the hair. So the hair, maybe bushy or unmanageable, what I wanted to do was be able to smooth their hair into ponytails and actually make it last throughout the day. This may seem like a stupid question, but I naturally have curly hair, as curly as yours, but it's naturally curly. Right now it's straight. But I was looking for something that I could spray in it real fast. I was like, can I just crunch it up and just let it dry so it'll be curly? And I couldn't find anything, so I find myself standing with all of the colored hair. Well, we have exactly what you need. It's not that there's not that many products. There's like a whole line, aisle and a half of other products, and then there's this little section right here. You said the colored hair section? Yes. That's where you're going to find it at, for your hair. Well, I was looking for it in there, but then I'm looking for it, but I didn't know. I was like, I don't know what to get because everything was about straightening. Right. I couldn't find anything for it to keep curl. Right, but Denise, I know that with natural hair, because I'm going through my own personal natural hair journey, I was thinning a lot. And so I know we struggle through that because a lot of stress comes through our scalp. Exactly. What are some of the best products we can use for thinning and balding and all that stuff? Without staying away from all those chemicals. Right. Because every product out there has some kind of fragrance, something to kind of... Yes. Well, you definitely want to use something that's natural-based in its beginning. And plant-based products are the best. That's what Chrysalis is all about. This logo is here, the butterfly. We took our whole concept from the story of the cocoon with the caterpillar resting the cocoon. The cocoon and the butterfly actually rest on its leaf. And that's what we took it from. We said we're going to use plant-based, just as the cocoon and the caterpillar rest. Our hair should be resting. Our hair shouldn't be in a state of shock. And you've seen it before. People's hair looks like it's just screaming for help. The product is to help the hair rest. And not only just the hair, but we focus on the scalp. Without a healthy scalp, you will not have healthy hair. So, Denise, you're about hair care. Hair care. And not hair styling. That's right. We have styling aids, though. We cover it all. How did you become such a hair expert? Are you a cosmetologist by the way? Yes. I am a licensed cosmetologist. I've been in the business for over 20 years. Wow. And using different products as well. But I couldn't find anything, like you said. Even as a professional, there were things that I struggled with with products. And they were either too heavy, too gooey, or they were not water soluble. It's very important that your products can wash off. See, I've never heard that before. That the product needs to be water soluble. Yes. Because your hair and your scalp needs to breathe. Is that any type of hair? Is this for just women of color? This product, as you'll see. Yes. And that was another thing. My clientele is multicultural. And I wanted to create a universal product line. So it was important to me when I talked to my chemist that he understood that, yes, I'm an African American woman, and I want a product that can work on my hair, but also work on anybody's hair. Because hair at the end of the day is hair. Everybody has it. And what I want to express is, didn't you say that you guys recently just got approved by the whole food store? What happened? Oh, really? Yes. So now you can find them in the whole food store. It's a very strict policy when it comes to approving products. So we passed the test. Okay. Because you know the misnomer is natural hair tends to be for women of color. But like, natural hair is for anybody. It's just natural hair care products. Can you talk a little bit about hair growth? Sure. We were talking about how important that is for a lot of people. Hair growth, as we said, is significant to a healthy scalp. You can't have healthy hair growth if your scalp is in poor condition. So you really want to take the time to nourish the scalp. This is what chrysalis is all about. From shampooing your hair and conditioning treatment, you need to be focused on the scalp. Your applications with chrysalis mostly are to the scalp. You'll see with the directions where to apply the product. Where can people find you, though, really briefly? You can find me at chrysalis.biz. And to that, how did... Well, we'll come back, because I want to ask you about how did you get this business plan started? Because it's phenomenal. Well... When we come back... We can talk about thinning and balding all day. But we'll have more. Stay tuned on Every Way Woman. Yeah, because I love to find out how you got started. What do you mean thinning and balding? Yeah. What are you talking about? Are you an every way woman? We're back, and I cannot believe it, that there's a controversy with natural hair. So we have with us Denise, of course. And can you just tell us what are some of the controversies as far as having natural hair? Well, there's a lot of controversy. And there is. Especially when you're talking about women of color, transitioning, going from a traditional straight style that's more socially acceptable to natural hair. See, I find it surprising that you would say there's a controversy because I hear natural hair, and I would never think that there'd be a controversy about it. Well, Stacey, we would have this conversation. Quickly, my daughters one day came out with afros. And I'm honest, I was appalled. I was appalled that they would walk out like that for about five minutes. I was like, oh my God, they can't walk out like that. That doesn't look good for a minute. And then I had to check myself because I raised them to be independent women. You know I was appalled because I thought what other people were going to say about how they looked and they didn't look put together. Right? So it is. There is this misnomer out there about if you wear your hair natural or wild or whatever, that there's something wrong with you. Absolutely. Stacey, as far as on the job, though, do you think it's a little difficult to have what they would call ethnic hair on the job? Absolutely. I've been in work environments where women of color are told not to wear braids. Don't walk in here with an afro because you need to look like the place. Absolutely. That's surprising. That's surprising for me to hear, but I do work in television. I work in news and we can't get fancy with hair. Your hair is all thick. My hair is all thick. These are all clip ins. I was going to ask you if that's even healthy for me to be wearing not every day because I do want to grow out my hair. But yeah, just in the workplace, that's shocking. Just to... I'm sure you've heard stories like that too. I have my own personal stories. What is it? Well, it had to motivate you to start this product. Yes. Just even now, I wear my hair basically any way I want to. And I'm very proud of my hair. And I raised my daughter to be the same way. And beautiful. Thank you. Thank you. But I've had people, women of color, actually come up to me and call me Buckwheat. What? No. Absolutely. Well, how do I make you feel like Buckwheat? Well, if I were self-conscious about myself and my hair, I would have probably felt pretty bad. But I took the time to educate the woman. And I don't know if she... Like you slapped her around. I didn't wet her out for a second. But it's sad because actually, historically, women, brown skin women have been told that you shouldn't wear your hair and it's natural texture. It's bad hair. It's not going to look right. You're not going to be accepted. And that people treat you differently. And so there's a history behind that. We don't have time for that show. But there is a history behind, especially African-American women transitioning to wear their hair natural. Do you think that we're scared to wear our hair natural? With the social... Well, with comments. Yes. With people looking at you different. Exactly. And people making comments to you that way. Yes. Some people are. We'll be going. But you know what? We're biased on both sides. Because if you wear your hair natural, for those who don't wear their hair natural, you talk about them. But if you wear a weave, then we talk about the people who wear their hair natural. So we're biased on both sides. When Rachel Meadow came out with her braids as an anchor, there was a whole controversy about a woman of color wearing braids on primetime TV. But she was beautiful. And she still wears them. Right. I don't know. Maybe if we can embrace it more, then we can kind of accept how we look. But I think corporate needs to accept how we look. Yes. I think Stacy's right. First, we have to accept. We have to. For me, I'm on the outside looking in because I never knew there was a controversy. Because I'm just surprised. You're not a woman of color. I don't mean an offensive, but you wouldn't understand. No. You're right. You're right. I wouldn't understand. There's a long history. Right. I didn't even know that you say. Well, we wear natural hair. It goes even deeper. I didn't know. It goes deep because hundreds of years ago when there was slavery in this world, there was a time that the more accepted people were like skin, they had wavy hair. A lot of those things came to be that it was a matter of life and death. That's how serious it is. And so, you know, you have different age groups of how they respond to you. I've had older ladies, they're panicked because in their world to wear your hair this way was offensive. And that was my point. I always thought it was just a choice of fashion. But that was my point. My daughter's because when they came out with that afro, I was afraid what their environment was going to say. And I know what I'm going to say about it. It is. As a woman with an afro. And so I'm thinking. And we're in 2014. And this mom is still thinking because it's been passed down generational. We come off looking very militant. I have a niece who's biracial. And she has really natural curly hair. We style her hair straight. My sister styles her straight and she does it, but she doesn't like to brush. And so it's not something that I really understand. I feel like when I have my afro, I come off as, oh, she must be strong, militant. And it's really like, no. That's just how you want to wear it. That's how I want to wear my hair. So let me just say something. For my daughters, it was they had a, and one of your models said they had huge afros that just wasn't colored. You know what? You have a lot. We can go on and on. Whether you have a huge afro. Whether you have a huge afro or thinning hair or whatever. More conversations on every way woman. I want Natasha's hair. You and every way woman. We're back with every way woman and we're here with Miss Denise. Now I'm trying to grow my hair back. I even learned how to do my own braids on YouTube. I've been trying to learn a regimen. What can I do to grow my hair back? I want my hair like Miss Natasha here. Okay. Well, you need a routine and you need a product line. Okay. Priscilla's is a system. So you don't want to mix products. You don't want to mix a bunch of ingredients. We weren't all born to be chemists. So we need to leave that part alone. But we've done it for you through Priscilla's. It's a simple system. It's five steps of treating your hair and your scalp. No harsh chemicals? No harsh chemicals. This is a natural. And I think you told me you were using. This is a natural plant base product line. Okay. So there's no chemical that's going to damage your hair. It's going to enhance your natural texture and it's going to give you the healthy scalp that you need. And Denise, your two models kind of have us. Yeah. I want my hair. Okay. I want my hair. Can you tell us what they did to their hair? This is to get to where they are today. And this is Miss Ashley. I'll talk to you about Miss Natasha first. She came to me with damaged hair. It was relaxed and it also had color on it. And she had about six inches of hair. I had to cut off at least three inches of it in order to get rid of the damaged ends. So I'm going to tell you about that. And I'm going to tell you about that. I'm going to tell you about the damaged ends. The problem is when you're growing your hair out, if you have damaged hair, it's very challenging because the hair is going to continue to break. And the split ends go all the way up to the scalp. Well, she has a color in her hair right now. She does have color. Did you do that or did you buy some of the store? I did this product. You did? You made this product? Well, her hair color is a semi-permanent color. And I add. So is that less damaging? It's less damaging. And I also use my product line in the colors. Wow. Yes. Now, Ashley, I know you said you colored your hair at the ends. Red and then Wonderbra. Now what happens? Because I wouldn't think she would have any damage. Well, she is using the Chrysalis product line as well. As you can see, it's a universal product line so anybody can use it. You look so happy. Was it really? Was it really bad Denise? Was her hair very badly damaged? So when I first met Ashley, she was all natural, no color, no nothing. She's much younger, she just had a head full of curly hair. When I met her, she decided on her own, you know, teens are, teens will experiment. And she decided to put color on the ends of her hair. You know, that's the style. And unfortunately, we know that color can be damaged, especially if it's permanent. In order to get it to a certain color or lighting, you have to use bleach sometimes. And it's very damaging. So by putting it on the ends, which are the weakest part of the hair, you have to create a havoc of just dead hair. So really quick, because this is my child here. And she doesn't never want to get her hair washed. Never. So what can I do to kind of make it soft and, you know, moist? You need the chrysalis products. I want her hair to look like, you know, to stay healthy like, you know, your skin. Treating her hair with this product line will make all the difference. You'll see a difference in the texture of her hair, the manageability, which is the same thing that would not have her running away from me with the cones. I need to comb her hair. So you need something to do it. And do you think your two models are kind of a testimony to how important hair is for women? It is. Look at them. They're seeing my way. And no matter what they say. If you have healthy hair, you're like healthy, you know, all around. Because you want people to say, oh, your hair looks loveliest. Even if it's like short, you just want healthy hair. So what to do from A, B and C? Look at what I do. So I use your products. Do I use it every other day? Do I use it on Fridays? You're going to use it. Do you know that wash day? When we talk about our wash day is once a week. So you pick your wash day. My wash day is Friday. Every Friday I'm going to use my shampoo. And I'm one of those people that why? Is that a special day? Because it's once a week. Some people's wash day is on Saturday, Monday or Tuesday. So if you're going to use your shampoo, it goes direct to your scalp. This is a treatment. So it's nothing like it out there and it's in the product world right now. Our special ingredient is hydrolyzed chitin. And we talked about this logo, the butterfly. It's the same thing that makes up the cocoon. And it is medically researched to use for bandages that are biodegradable, that you don't have to take off because they break down. And that's the same thing that's in these products, in every one of these products. And it has been proven to heal the skin faster. So when I keep talking about scalp care and the treatment straight to the scalp, we want a healthy scalp. And you have to have the product line. Where can I find you real quick? I'm at chrysalis.biz. Chrysalis.biz. And for someone impatient like me, how long does it normally take? You know, you're cutting your hair and then you're starting this new routine. Well, what you need to do is be patient. And it does take time. You're probably looking at with the chrysalis products about two months. And you're going to start seeing the growth. Yeah, because I know I was having a few thinning and so I just started really just using essential oils. And that's what's in our product line. Really? Okay, well, you can learn so much about this product. You can go to chrysalis.biz Stay tuned for more Everyway Woman. Are you an Everyway Woman? We're back with more Everyway Woman. And today, we are featuring Ms. Chrysalis Couture, bold and sassy fall line-up for 2014. Thank you for your wonderful being a host. Wonderful host. We have our first model, Ms. Natasha. She is ready for a fun night out on the town. Right. You will definitely make a statement as you enter her room. The vest is paired with our gray and black reptile leggings. Thank you, Ms. Natasha. Beautiful. I love those shoes. This is the Chrysalis Couture 2014. Here is Ms. Lily. She is modeling our Chrysalis hand-painted convertible vest. Work it, Lily. Yes. Show them how to adjust this vest. Wow. Each vest is uniquely created in its own work of art. Okay. And no two pieces are exactly the same. Wow. So these are unique pieces. You could take the tights off right now. Give them to me. They are cute. Blouse underneath is a nylon mesh and it's cool and you can wear it any time in the season. Thank you, Ms. Lily. Wow. It's a sassy cropped lace jacket with bold accent colors. It is a fun piece to add in your collection and it can be warm for any occasion paired with our popular reptile textured leggings and they're all in black. Thank you. It's gorgeous. Thank you. Now we have models Ashley, Shirley and Ms. Anika. Come on out, ladies. Let's show them what you're working with. Our natural brown colored vests and Ms. Shirley is modeling our multi-colored vests and these are in a nice rabbit. Very soft. Oh, wow. A nice rabbit. Beautiful. Wow. Yes. Beautiful designs. Thank you, ladies. Ms. Natasha is back and she's modeling our chrysalis couture three-quarter length animal print coat. Work it, ladies. Let's show leggings with the gray and if you can open the front, please, and show them. There's a zipper front. Oh, wow. Very comfortable. Fully line. Thank you, Ms. Natasha. Next, we have Ms. Shirley. Thank you, Ms. Shirley. She's back and she's working our Asian clothing. So, I'm going to come back and you can show them how they come together. And you notice if you can turn toward the camera, there's a nice detail in the back of Ms. Shirley's jacket. So, it's very detailed and we have a rabbit trim. All right. And it keeps you warm and cozy on those cold winter nights. Very versatile. Thank you so much. And last Thank you man. They are walking their natural styles, their natural chrysalis styles. And Mr. Tim, if you can just turn around and show them the back of your shirt. And Mr. Titus, the back of your sweater there. Nice and clean. Definitely an urban look. And on back of Tim's shirt, if you turn towards the camera, please. His shirt says, Walking for Wishes. Chrysalis is about giving back to the community. And every year we do a walk-a-thon with Make-A-Wish. We partner with them in order to raise funds for children who have life-threatening illnesses. So this is something that we're all about. We're beyond fashion and hair, but we love to give back to our people. Thank you so much, guys. Yes, alright. You guys can stay. Thank you so much. Models, come on out. Let's show them these wonderful Chrysalis couture. And we have so much to see here. Come on out. Thank you so much. Now, Denise, is this something that you always wanted to do, or did you just strictly wanted to do hair, or did you want to do clothes as well? Well, actually fashion was my first passion. Okay, wow. This is something I always wanted to do. So I added the collection this year, the Chrysalis couture, and we're just excited to do more. And this is kind of like a personal question. Why now? Well, why not? That's awesome. So you're like a one-shop woman, okay? You do the hair, and you got the clothing line. I'm going to take home the red vest and a couple items. So do you have your own shop? Yes, I do. I'm located in the city of Walnut, and anybody can reach me there. And can people order the stuff? Yes, they can. Okay, and just let us know. Let the viewers know where they can find you. Okay, well, you can reach me at www.chrysalis.biz, and you can leave an email message, and it will be returned. Okay. Yes. Well, thank you guys so much for watching EveryWay Woman. You guys look fantastic. I'm keeping the menu. Stay tuned for EveryWay Woman.