“Mielle has always been built upon kitchen logic,” Mielle President Omar Goff tells ESSENCE. Founder Monique Rodriguez whipped up the first formulas in her kitchen in Chicago—and the brand has stuck to its roots. From sea moss and rice water, to pomegranate and honey—the products are filled with ingredients you’d see on a grocery list.
As of today, however, Mielle is venturing out beyond the kitchen with their new Kalahari Melon & Aloe Vera line.
Not only that, the new collection is the brand’s first to be featured on a national television commercial. The 30-second commercial highlights the five new hydration-boosting products: Deep Hydration Shampoo, 2-Minute Deep Conditioner, Multi-Tasking Leave-In Conditioner, Curl Forming Glaze and a Weightless Oil. All of which promise up to five days of moisture—and no wash days in between.
Throughout the commercial, the brand aims to, “to challenge the stigma behind managing our four-type hair,” says director Sage East. After all, for many people with textured hair, “the number one pain point obviously is ‘my hair can’t keep moisture’,” Goff says. “So we started looking at what kind of ingredients would really help us deliver that benefit.”
Insert: Kalahari melon. This fruit is grown in the Kalahari Desert in Namibia, and is known as the ancestor of the common, sweet watermelon. Much like their descendant, the Kalahari melon has drought-resistant qualities despite the dry climate in which they grow—an impressive benefit for textured hair.
“A lot of people are not as familiar with Kalahari melon, but everybody knows aloe,” Goff says about the succulent, cactus-like plant. As the line’s second key ingredient, aloe vera has a number of well-known benefits—from hair growth and detangling coils, to reducing itchy scalp and, of course, boosting moisture.
But the question remains: will my curls survive through the week? The answer: “You have so much on your to-do list to think about. Your hair shouldn’t be one of them. This is going to help you check something off your plate,” Whitney Headen, CEO 19th & Park—the production company that Mielle worked with on the commercial—says. “The new line will give you freedom and autonomy. You won’t have to overthink about your hair. Allow the products to do the work for you.”
