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How Bouclème’s innovative approach has changed haircare for women with curls, and why founder Michele Scott-Lynch partnered with Clearpay.

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As a teenager, Michele Scott-Lynch tried everything to tame her curls. She experimented with chemical straightening and trialled product after product to smooth her unruly hair.It was only in her thirties that Scott-Lynch came to appreciate the beauty of her curly hair: “I decided to embrace what was unique about me and embrace my curls…”Once she became a mother, Scott-Lynch was determined to ensure that her daughter felt similarly confident about her hair, and so she began formulating natural haircare products in her kitchen that would help them to look and feel their best.

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As a holistic health practitioner, she used essential oils to formulate the products, and eventually approached a cosmetic chemist in the West Country about manufacturing them in bulk.&nbsp;Nearly a decade later, the brand that began in Scott-Lynch’s kitchen –<a href="https://www.boucleme.co.uk/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </a><a href="https://www.boucleme.co.uk/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(5, 99, 193);">Bouclème</a> – has become a £3m business and is this year looking to expand into the US.<h2>Daring to do things differently</h2>Scott-Lynch puts Bouclème’s success down to a constant drive to innovate, and a willingness to take a fresh approach. “I purposefully created a curl-specific haircare brand and that in itself was different to what was already available in the UK market when we launched. This set Bouclème apart from other products and allowed us to stand out.”

Her innovative approach also extended to marketing. When Scott-Lynch first started creating products, for example, she was determined to get the formula just right. That meant testing them on friends and family – and even strangers on the street. “I literally approached people in the street and asked them if they wanted to become one of our ‘curlies’ – a panel of 20 ‘real’ people who tested the products.“That was a really unusual thing to do back then but has now become common practice with cosmetic companies. It was also a great way of getting our brand name out there as those people spread the word.”<h2>Learning the value of PR</h2>A stroke of luck in November 2014 helped propel Bouclème to even more success.One of Scott-Lynch’s friends had written a press release for the brand that landed on the desk of influential journalist and natural beauty pioneer Imelda Burke. Burke was writing for The Telegraph at the time, and she featured Bouclème in a round-up of the Best British Beauty Brands in the newspaper.

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“That was a turning point for the business."

“That was a turning point for the business, and we started to increase our orders substantially; we were then stocked in Imelda’s store [<a href="https://www.contentbeautywellbeing.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193); background-color: transparent;">Content Wellbeing &amp; Beauty</a>], which further increased our profile,” Scott-Lynch explains.&nbsp;<h2>A drive to succeed</h2>Although the business employs 10 people now, Scott-Lynch says she effectively ran it single-handedly for the first two years.&nbsp;It was only in 2014 that she employed two freelancers to create the website and packaging. “I still had no budget for advertising or marketing. Until the website launched all my orders were coming word-of-mouth and through the usual social media channels, Instagram and Facebook.”

Later that year, she was approached with an offer to help with social media and packing orders. “That person, Gemma, still works with me now. As the orders grew and grew, I realised the importance of having a good team around me.”Innovating with paymentsIt was in November 2019 that Bouclème decided to partner with Clearpay.“Just before Black Friday in 2019, we set some high sales goals for the company, and it just felt right to get another payment channel on board.

"Spreading payments means our products are affordable to everyone."

“We didn’t know of course that a global pandemic was just around the corner, but when COVID-19 hit and everyone started buying everything online, our sales grew astronomically, and it was clear people loved paying via Clearpay. [Plus], spreading payments mean [our products] are affordable to everyone.”Scott-Lynch adds that offering Clearpay helps ensure Bouclème remains competitive, too:&nbsp;“There are so many places to shop online – you have to be able to compete and Clearpay allows us to do that.”

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All references to any registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Clearpay does not endorse or recommend any one particular supplier and the information provided is for educational purposes only.

How Bouclème’s innovative approach has changed haircare for women with curls, and why founder Michele Scott-Lynch partnered with Clearpay.

Bouclème: From kitchen-table business to £3m haircare brand

Hairdresser Rumbie Mutsiwa on how Afterpay has helped grow sales.

Rumbie Mutsiwa began offering Afterpay soon after launching her business six years ago – and it quickly proved to be popular. “Some people will call ahead just to make sure we do have Afterpay.”Mutsiwa runs<a href="https://www.rumbie.co/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent;"> Rumbie &amp; Co</a>, a hairdressing salon in inner-city Sydney catering to Afro, textured and wavy hair. She offers Afterpay instore and online, where the business sells haircare products.For her, offering Afterpay is simply a matter of providing customers with options. “It’s important to give people choice. Everyone’s life is different and how people run their finances is different.”

It's important to give people choice. Everyone's life is different.

“I think it’s really important to focus on customer experience… and Afterpay minimises the uncomfortable part of the transaction when someone feels as though they can’t afford it all upfront or that it isn’t something they can prioritise right now.”&nbsp;It’s a payments solution that’s helped Rumbie &amp; Co grow, too. During Afterpay Day Sale in 2021, Rumbie &amp; Co saw basket size double among customers who shopped with Afterpay. Overall, Rumbie &amp; Co experienced a 583 per cent in sales from Afterpay Day.Offering Afterpay also helps with cross-selling when clients come to pay after their hair cut or treatment and are considering buying haircare products to take home.“You’ll find that some people might come in having budgeted for their hair and then when they see how [well] the products work, they’re like “Can I get them all” And then when they see the price, they say maybe I can Afterpay this.“I think Afterpay is brilliant. It’s genius."

Rumbie & Co founder Rumbie Mutsiwa on how Afterpay has helped grow her business.

Rumbie & Co founder Rumbie Mutsiwa on how Afterpay has helped grow her business by doubling basket size and driving leads

"Afterpay doubled our basket size": Rumbie & Co

Rumbie testimonial

When hairdresser Rumbie Mutsiwa launched her salon, she wanted to creative an inclusive and empowering space for women with Afro and textured hair.

Step inside <a href="https://www.rumbie.co/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent;">Rumbie &amp; Co</a> hairdressing salon in Sydney’s inner-city suburb of Chippendale, and the atmosphere is warm and welcoming – and that’s exactly the way founder Rumbie Mutsiwa wants it.Mutsiwa founded the business in 2014 after discovering how few Sydney salons catered to Afro and textured hair – and after being turned away from several salons because of her hair type.“[Hairdressers] would actually say: ‘We don’t work with your hair texture.’ And the more I experienced this [reaction] the more frustrated I became.”That frustration eventually led to the launch of Rumbie &amp; Co, and today, the business employs two hairdressers, offers a haircare range and works with thousands of clients from a bustling inner-city salon.

<h2>Make it expert</h2>Mutsiwa never set out to be a hairdresser. Originally from Zimbabwe, she migrated to Australia in her teens and studied nursing. But, a few years into her career, her sister began struggling with hair loss due to stress.It was only after she searched, and eventually failed to find a hair specialist who could help, that Mutiswa realised there was a gap in the market.&nbsp;“Eventually, I just thought: you know what? I’ll just do it. It can’t be rocket science.”So, in the evenings after her nursing shifts, Mutsiwa taught herself hairdressing and soon became fascinated by the complexities of Afro, textured and wavy hair. “I just discovered myself in that space. I became a hair nerd,” she says.

I just discovered myself in that space. I became a hair nerd.

<h2>Make it my way</h2>For Mutsiwa, switching from nursing to hairdressing meant breaking with her family’s expectations. “My family convinced me to study nursing,” she says. “My career path was actually discussions with other people.” But after plenty of soul-searching, she decided to forge her own path as a hairdresser.

<h2>Make it inclusive</h2>From the beginning, Mutsiwa was determined to creative an inclusive space that represented the best of Western and African cultures.“Hair is such a huge part of [African] culture. In most African cultures, you usually [devote] a specific day – like Sundays – to hair, where kids get their hair done to look presentable for school. It’s massive. And in most African salons, you’ll find there’s always a lot of people laughing, talking, sharing stories.”<h2>Make it transformative</h2>Mutsiwa admits that the early days of the business were challenging – and, at first, she struggled to set boundaries around her time. “Someone would call me at midnight and say, ‘I need to get my hair done for a wedding tomorrow!” and I’d say, ‘Okay what time? It was an emotional rollercoaster.”But she loves helping women look and feel their best. “I really believe in the transformational power of [good] hair. Our purpose is to build confidence in individuals.&nbsp;

“My favourite thing is those moments where [customers] look at themselves.. and their demeanour changes. I love hearing stories of people feeling more confident, more sexy, more beautiful.<h2>Make it with Afterpay</h2>&nbsp;When Mutsiwa spotted billboards advertising Afterpay, and researched the platform, she immediately realised she wanted it for her customers.&nbsp;

“Afterpay allows us to give our clients more options, so they can get what they need now.” Frequently, she says, clients will budget for their haircut – and then realise they’d like to buy products as well “and then they’ll ask can I Afterpay this?”This year, Mutsiwa participated in Afterpay Day Sale for the first time and saw her average order value double from two products to four. “Afterpay is genius!”

When Rumbie Mutsiwa couldn't find a salon that catered to textured hair, she launched her own. 

When Rumbie Mutsiwa couldn't find a salon that catered to textured hair, she launched her own, and today Rumbie & Co is an inclusive, welcoming space.

Rumbie Mutsiwa: The hairdresser who cares about curls

Meet the hairdresser who cares about curls

Make it diverse: Rumbie Mutsiwa

On International Women’s Day 2021 we wanted to celebrate some of the incredible women behind our fantastic retailers.

Michele Scott-Lynch is one such woman making real change in the beauty world with <a href="https://www.boucleme.co.uk/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Bouclème</a>: a cruelty free haircare brand that offers a cleaner, more natural alternative to sulphate and silicone-based curl products.&nbsp;

In her twenties, Michele had battled against her own natural curls, trying to make her hair straight while damaging it in the process. But when she had her two beautiful daughters, her mindset changed. Michele wanted her girls to love and embrace their curls, using products that would improve their condition. It was here that the idea for Bouclème natural curl care was born.&nbsp;

We chatted to Michele to find out more about the Bouclème customer, how she’ll be celebrating International Women’s Day and women every day, and how the brand has stayed connected to its customers during the pandemic. Read more below--&nbsp;

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CLEARPAY: Can you tell us about when you launched Bouclème and what your mission is as a haircare brand?

MICHELE: “I launched Bouclème back in October 2014 out of personal need. My mission was to empower fellow curly girls and guys to embrace their natural curls. Having previously trained in holistic medicine, it was important to me that the products we created were plant based and kind to the hair as well as to the planet”.

CLEARPAY: Who is the Bouclème customer?

MICHELE: “The Bouclème customer is confident, proud and independent. They want to fall in love with their curls and want products that work for them that don’t cost the earth, literally. They’re conscious of the environment and like their products clean and natural”.

CLEARPAY: How are you celebrating International Women’s Day as a woman and a retailer?

MICHELE: “We are celebrating women throughout the month of March through our charitable partnership with Malaika. Malaika is a non-profit organisation who empowers girls and community through education in the Democratic Republic of Congo. For every order placed on our website we’ll be donating £1 to this incredible organisation”.

CLEARPAY: This month, you’re donating £1 from every order to Malaika. Can you tell us more about your relationship with the charity and what these donations will go towards?

MICHELE: “We have been working with Malaika for over a year now. The partnership started after an emotional lunch meeting I had with <a href="mailto:noella@malaika.org" rel="noopener noreferrer">Noella Coursaris Musunka</a> Malaika’s founder. What this organisation has been able to achieve in 12 years is amazing. In the village of Kalebuka they have created access to clean water by building wells, primary and secondary school education to over 365 girls and, in turn, affected an entire community. According to UNESCO 49.5 million girls in Sub Saharan Africa are out of school, so Malaika is literally transforming the futures of these girls and generations to come”.

CLEARPAY: “From using Fair-Trade ingredients, to committing to being cruelty free, you’re committed to sustainability. How important is it to you to maintain these standards and how do you communicate your values to customers?”

MICHELE: “Our aim is to be a conscious business. We want to empower our customers through the products we create without depleting the planet. It’s important to us to help effect change where we can by sourcing some of our actives from Fair Trade cooperatives in Africa, to reducing our production of plastic. We have a sustainability timeline with set goals of what we want to achieve by 2025; we share this regularly with our customers through email and socials. We also enable our customers to donate points they’ve generated through our loyalty program to our charitable partnerships with Malaika and Trees For The Future”.

CLEARPAY: Can you tell us more about Bouclème’s 30-day hair challenge?

MICHELE: “Our 30-day challenge kits were created to help people transition away from sulphate and silicone-based hair care systems to a clean plant-based one. We’ve curated kits for three different curl types: wavy, curly and coily as a simple starting point with a £10 saving on the usual RRP. The customer is supported on their journey by weekly emails sharing tips and tricks PLUS an email address where our curl experts are on hand to answer any questions that come up. The aim is to bring customers closer to healthier, more defined, stronger curls”.

CLEARPAY: What challenges have you faced during the pandemic and how have you worked to overcome them?

MICHELE: “We moved to a new warehouse back in April 2020 at the peak of the pandemic which coincided with our sales doubling. The warehouse was ill prepared and short staffed which meant the packing of orders was severely delayed resulting in some unhappy customers and weeks of sleepless nights for me and the team. It took about six weeks to get back on track but now our order processing is the best it’s ever been”.

CLEARPAY: How have you stayed connected to your customers during the pandemic?

MICHELE: “We’ve used lockdown as an opportunity to try to build a community and keep people connected by offering meditation, fitness, sound baths, indoor plant classes (to name a few) through our Instagram feed. It’s been a really interesting exercise”.

CLEARPAY: What are your goals as a business for 2021?

MICHELE: “For 2021 our focus is on expanding into the US. We’ve got a warehouse prepped and ready and we are super excited to see where this journey takes us”.

Find out how to join Clearpay as a merchant by scheduling a meeting with one of our Retailer Team Members today at sales@clearpay.co.uk

On International Women’s Day 2021 we wanted to celebrate some of the incredible women behind our fantastic retailers. 

International Women’s Day Retailer Spotlight: Michele Scott-Lynch, founder of Bouclème

Breakout success Sassy Shop Wax found its customers online and built loyalty through authentic connection

When Keely Parsons launched <a href="https://www.sassyshopwax.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sassy Shop Wax </a>on Instagram in 2017, she was confident that her wax melts – spheres of wax that release scent when heated – would be an immediate hit.But when her posts didn’t immediately gain traction and the orders didn’t flood in, she began to question her strategy.

It was only through trial and error that Parsons came to realise that her audience was on another platform entirely – <a href="https://influencermarketinghub.com/facebook-group-marketing/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Facebook Groups</a> – and it was then that her business took off. She discovered that wax melt enthusiasts had already formed their own group on Facebook and by joining them where they were – sharing their passion, advertising and offering giveaways – she was able to build her customer base. In time, she started her own Sassy Shop Wax community.&nbsp;

“It’s been really important to build solid relationships with customers who are loyal,” she explains of Facebook Groups.

Today, Sassy Shop Wax employs more than 20 staff and its 25-year-old founder oversees a multimillion-pound business in Bristol. The brand’s Facebook community now boasts a membership of 16,500 people.

<h2>A burning desire for business</h2>Parsons came up with the idea for Sassy Shop Wax when she left home at 18 and wanted to make her new space her own. She started making melts on her kitchen table in an attempt to create a wax melt that smelt like her favourite bath bomb. At the time she was heavily pregnant with her first son, Luca, who is now three.“The first year was extremely hard,” she remembers. “But making wax melts was a creative outlet and I just loved it. I’d spend a couple of hours a day making products alone while my mum looked after my son and then would put them on my website once a month. They’d sell out in 15 minutes. At that point, my mum would help me package products and my partner would help me ship them out.”Within nine months, she was able to start hiring staff – and today there’s no need to enlist her mother to help her package and send products; the Royal Mail truck collects the business’s orders, which number in the tens of thousands every month.

<h2>Harnessing a Facebook community&nbsp;</h2>Facebook Groups have been a key driver of growth for Sassy Shop Wax. Parsons found a responsive audience who would share their opinions and be honest about both her products and themselves. Through a mix of advertising, giveaways and creating genuine connections with wax melts enthusiasts, Parsons’ business started to thrive.The <a href="https://www.facebook.com/sassyshopwax/groups/?ref=page_internal" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sassy Shop Wax Facebook Group</a> is predominantly people sharing pictures of their melts, but members will also share when they are having a tough time as they frequently use Sassy Shop Wax melts to help create a relaxing environment or to provide escapism. “It’s a proper community with people sending support if they hear that a member is struggling,” Parsons says.“I’ve always been open and honest, and let people in on my personal life: when I’m working 10 hours a day on Sassy [Shop] Wax, then who better to talk to than people who love my business?” she continues. “I notice that we all have the same struggles: people want to feel like they belong and want to be heard. I put myself out there and share my struggles with anxiety.”Today, a community manager maintains those relationships and will often contact someone personally if she hears that they are having a hard time. “Our philosophy is always to give more than we take – and we do give away a lot of melts,” says Parsons.&nbsp;

“Our philosophy is always to give more than we take – and we do give away a lot of melts.”

<h2>Encouraging customer feedback</h2>As well as creating a sense of community, the Sassy Shop Wax page also acts as an informal consumer insights group.“We’re customer-led, so we ask people what flavours they want to see being sold before restocking twice a week,” Parsons says. “Customers feel heard and we can provide them with what they want. It’s a lean way of working for a startup; to be told within seconds what people would like to see is so powerful.”

Facebook Groups have been a key driver of growth for Sassy Shop Wax. Parsons found a responsive audience who would share their opinions and be honest about both her products and themselves. Through a mix of advertising, giveaways and creating genuine connections with wax melts enthusiasts, Parsons’ business started to thrive.

The Sassy Shop Wax page is predominantly people sharing pictures of their melts, but members will also share when they are having a tough time as they frequently use Sassy Shop Wax melts to help create a relaxing environment or to provide escapism. “It’s a proper community with people sending support if they hear that a member is struggling,” Parsons says.

“I’ve always been open and honest, and let people in on my personal life: when I’m working 10 hours a day on Sassy [Shop] Wax, then who better to talk to than people who love my business?” she continues. “I notice that we all have the same struggles: people want to feel like they belong and want to be heard. I put myself out there and share my struggles with anxiety.”

Today, a community manager maintains those relationships and will often contact someone personally if she hears that they are having a hard time. “Our philosophy is always to give more than we take – and we do give away a lot of melts,” says Parsons.&nbsp;

<h2>Learning to lead</h2>At just 25, Keely has learnt a huge amount about creating a company culture. “I feel a lot of pressure,” she admits. “We are a startup. It takes energy, passion, flexibility and tough skin to keep up, to hire the right people. I’m everyone’s sounding board, and if I come in and I’m looking worried or down, people pick up on it.”

She’s learnt how to lead a team, and spends 40 per cent of her time focused on people. “Leadership isn’t management. Creating an environment where people are genuinely happy, not a micromanagement culture, is key to success,” she says. And she’s learnt that it’s important to have a clear vision for the company: in her case, to create the world’s leading wax melts brand. [TO HERE]

<h2>Finding stockists</h2>While running a rapidly expanding business has its challenges, Parsons finds the upsides to be hugely rewarding.&nbsp;The brand was picked up by fashion retailer<a href="https://www.prettylittlething.com.au/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Pretty Little Things</a> in January 2021, which Keely describes as “incredible”.&nbsp;

“Going onto my favourite clothes website and seeing something I created on there is a dream come true,” she says. “And they’ve been a key part of our wholesale business growth.” This led to clothing brand <a href="https://www.boohoo.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Boohoo</a>, owned by the same parent company, approaching Sassy Shop Wax in May 2021 and stocking their melts, which Parsons says has helped them reach hundreds of new customers each month.&nbsp;

However, she says it’s the Sassy Shop Wax community that really motivates her.&nbsp;

“The best thing is building up the community and having people tell us what a difference it has made to our lives. Everyone deserves to experience that if they want to have it.”&nbsp;

<h2>Making Sassy Shop Wax accessible</h2>“We’d like Sassy to be accessible to and inclusive of everyone, so it gives people a chance to spread out their order costs, even if they can’t treat themselves very often,” Parsons says.&nbsp;

She believes it provides an option for customers who might feel that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford the products in these uncertain times. “Every day someone will tag me letting me know how Sassy [Shop] Wax has helped them, or been a place where they’ve been able to find friends,” she says.&nbsp;

All references to any registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Clearpay does not endorse or recommend any one particular supplier and the information provided is for educational purposes only.

Breakout success Sassy Shop Wax found its customers online and built loyalty through authentic connection.