- 17 hours ago
On this week's episode of Shop Essence Live in partnership with New Voices Family, we feature Ceata Lash found and inventor of PuffCuff, an amazing curly hair tool designed to achieve stylish looks without stressing curly hair or causing pain from pulling and tension. Not only is Ceata the mind behind the PuffCuff, but she is also the first African American woman to hold three U.S. patents for a natural hair accessory. After her own natural hair journey, Ceata became a champion for self-love and self-acceptance for everyone- male or female- with thick, curly, or textured hair.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00We are back with another episode of Shop Essence Live. I am Noni, Vice President of Branded Content
00:05and Video here at Essence and we have another incredible groundbreaking Black-owned business
00:12to shop tonight. We are going to be joined with Ciara Lash who is the founder of The Puff Cuff
00:20and they have, I interviewed them in 2019 when I tell you they have so many incredible products to
00:27get our natural hair together. I currently have one on right now. So I'm going to add her to this
00:32stream and we're going to shop these incredible products. I do see you. Let's go live.
00:41Hey girl. Hey. And remember this is live. So if you have any questions, please do put it in the chat.
00:47Hello. Beautiful. How are you? I am amazing. How are you doing? Girl, I'm here. I'm standing.
00:55Right. You know what? I'm on this side of the ground. So it's a blessing.
00:59So good. So you guys have been up to quite a bit over the past few years. I was just going through
01:06your long list of products of what you offer now. And it is just so incredible. So I want to get into
01:13your story. It is so inspiring and how you created this incredible product. And then we'll start to get
01:20into demoing them. All right, Stephanie. So what happened was
01:26back in 2003, you know, early 2000s, I decided to stop chemically straightening my hair. It wasn't
01:38because I was having an awakening experience or discovering myself or anything like that.
01:42I literally had just been gone. I went longer between touch-ups and I was like a four to six
01:49week relaxer girl. And when I went longer and it literally, it was because I couldn't get in the
01:54chair, not because I had made this decision to go longer between touch-ups. Oh, you couldn't get an
01:58appointment. I couldn't get in it. Right. Couldn't get in. Okay. So I went longer between touch-ups was
02:04like, I didn't feel like doing it myself, but I'm so glad I didn't because what happened was
02:09all the dandruff and psoriasis and dermatitis and all that in eczema, all that in my scalp and hair
02:17just went away. Like, and I realized my body said, you know what, I've been waiting for you to stop.
02:25So please don't go back to putting those chemicals on your body. And then just like Ahima, I had been
02:32suffering from fibroids also. I do been preaching this for years that there is a connection between
02:37all the chemicals that black women have been seduced to putting on their bodies and, you know,
02:44cancer, fibroids, all of that. There is some type of connection there, but anyway,
02:49a whole nother podcast or a whole nother. So, um, at that point I just decided I would never go back
02:55to chemically straightening my hair, but this was before the Google, before beautiful influencers like
03:01you, before the natural hair movement, all of that stuff. And I didn't know what to do with the hair
03:08growing out of my head. You know, my, my, my, the senior members, my mother, grandmother, all of them,
03:15all of us had known straight hair. Right. I was like, Oh my God, I don't know what I'm going to do.
03:20Don't know what I'm going to, what's going to grow out of my scalp. Don't know if I'm going to like
03:25myself all the above. So I decided that the way that I could feel comfortable in my own skin was
03:34to put my hair up in a single puff, you know, I was literally one of those people who was,
03:41I didn't do the pantyhose. I tried the elastic band and you know how you wrap it around your neck
03:46so many times and try to bring it up in the middle of the day or whatever. My go-to was a
03:55shoestring. I would get the shoestring too. That was my go-to and you, you pull it up. And what
04:03happened was at that time we were living in Chicago and I had a hour commute both ways.
04:09By the time the end of the day came, I would have a blazing hair. Yeah. I knew you were going to-
04:17Right. Blazing. Oh yeah.
04:20And some kind of wife, mother to twins, our- Oh wow.
04:25You know, some type of human that was not like this ugly and hangry acting by the time
04:30I got home. And I'm like, this is ridiculous that I have to suffer in order to style my hair.
04:36Yeah. Also with pulling, what people don't realize, with pulling that hair up with something else,
04:42those edges are precious edges. Are very precious and fragile.
04:47Fragile. I was steadily thinning. I would take my hair up. So I was like, you know what?
04:54Got to be a better way. Basically, I did not find anything. So I had the concept in my head
05:01of a clip that most of you guys probably have already seen. I think it's called a pony comb
05:08in the Caribbean. But Goody made a clip that was like about this big.
05:12I remember that, the little banana thing.
05:15Right. Well, not the banana thing. This was actually round. The banana thing is kind of like it,
05:19but the banana clip is shaped like a banana.
05:22Got it. Got it. Okay.
05:23Round, but it had teeth like all the way through and it was tortoiseshell.
05:27I'm pretty sure everybody has seen this. I could come up with something like that,
05:32but not a much larger scale, but didn't have the teeth going all the way through. So it wouldn't
05:37try to penetrate my hair, but it would just hold my hair in place. Right.
05:42It would make sense that it would work. So to fast forward the story at that time,
05:48when I came up with the idea and I'll be, I'll be a hundred percent transparent,
05:53which my husband says, sometimes I'm a little too transparent.
05:56No, it's safe space with essence.
05:58Right.
05:58Give us the tea.
06:00It took me, it took me almost seven, six, seven years to actually get enough gumption,
06:09what the folks used to say, to decide that, you know what, I could possibly bring this thing
06:15to market. I figured I ain't got no money, which none of us have any money. Let's just,
06:20you know, majority of us don't have any money. I was like, I have no money.
06:23I don't know if I'm hard enough. I don't know if I have the connections,
06:27all the above of talking myself out of it. But when I would go to like Walmart, Walgreens or
06:33whatever, I'd look down the hair aisle and be like, somebody's got to figure this out.
06:37And it was never anything there. And I would look when Alibaba was just like Alibaba,
06:43you know, this is before the Google wasn't what it is. I just couldn't find it.
06:48And if I had found it, I probably would have been pissed because, you know, I had the idea.
06:53Right, right. Of course.
06:55And never, no one brought it to market. So I was like, okay, God,
06:59I know you've given this to me. And at that time, when I decided to do it, we had two very,
07:06very, very, very significant happenings in my family. One was I was charged with taking care
07:14of my 99-year-old grandmother in her last days because she had been diagnosed with congestive
07:20heart failure. And then also we had been on the list to adopt our third child, which I'm a,
07:27I am a total advocate of African-American families adopting children.
07:31It's a dream of ours, but it just so happened that these two, these two places in time
07:38coincided. So I did, my husband and I, not I, my husband and I decided that, you know,
07:45bringing my grandmother into my home, into our home was going to be a serious undertaking
07:51and that maybe we should take our names off the, off the adoption list until we got through
07:56that season. God had different plans. I had arranged for my grandmother to come live with
08:04me moving from Indianapolis to Chicago on like a, a Sunday, like the following Sunday. And
08:14then I, that Monday prior, I got a call from my adoption counselor from her personal cell phone
08:21and I'm like, Oh, I bet you, we just got chosen. And I remember cause I was at Kohl's buying bedding
08:28for my grandmother's new room for her before she arrived. She, my adoption counselor was like,
08:36when I answered, she's like, you just got chosen. So not only did we get my grandmother,
08:42I got a new baby that same weekend. So I went from my day to you're going to be a new, you and your
08:49husband are going to be new parents. We need you to come meet the baby on Tuesday, meet the birth
08:53mother on Wednesday. You're going to take the baby home on Friday and you're going to get your
08:56grandmother on Sunday. Literally. It was like a lot, but the Lord does not ask you what you can handle.
09:07He just gives it to you because he knows you're stronger than what you think. And after that, I was
09:12like, you've given me this idea. I do not want to waste it. And I don't want to regret not doing
09:23anything with the gift that you've given me. Yeah. That's where the idea came from. I know that was
09:29the long of it, but that was, I mean, if there's anything that puts the urgency under you, right.
09:37And I think that that's even, even that in itself is so inspiring. You had this idea and, and maybe
09:45you didn't have everything right in front of you right at that moment to make it happen, but it was
09:50something that just kept calling you. And I think there might be a lot of people that are watching
09:54right now that have had an idea in their head for years. Um, and it just keeps calling at them and
10:01you might be watching this right now for a reason. This is a message for you. I do want to, I do want
10:07to get into all these products. Yes. So that people try to put stuff in their car. I think something
10:12sold out already. I would love if we can, what, what would you like to showcase first? Okay. So let's
10:20do the puff cuff first. So we have the original puff cuff. So you are, you're holding the junior and I'm
10:28holding the original. So the biggest one and which was the flagship product, there you go,
10:33was the original. So the original is five inches. And the way that you use it is you gather your hair
10:40first. Always gather your hair first. Do not use the puff cuff to gather your hair because it's not
10:48a banana clip. It's not good to fly through. It's just meant to hold your hair in place. So you put one
10:54arm in the other arm in overlap, the hooks and chapal. That's it. I got a little gel in my hair
11:04right here. So if y'all see a little crispiness, it's just my gel. So that's it. And so what the
11:09puff cuff does, it nearly holds your hair. It doesn't squeeze. So there will not be any headaches.
11:17There will not be any tension. We're saving edges one natural at a time. And it's, and it's also not
11:24going to disrupt your curl patterns. You see, like right now, you know, if I had put that rubber band
11:29in my head and wore it all day, I'm going to have that ring. Right. Oh my God. The ring, the ring,
11:36the black women don't take our hair down once it's up, once it's up, it's up. So you don't see us no
11:40more. But what I found out was white women or women of non-African descent, they equally hate
11:49rubber bands and, and, and all, and banana clips and all the crease because it makes that crease.
11:57A lady come up to me and she was like, Oh, and she was not black. She was like, Oh,
12:01I get it. That eliminate the crimp. And I'm like, baby, I don't know what the crimp is.
12:05But once she explained it to me, it was like, yes, but black women never take our hair down
12:13once it's wet. And we know the deal. So we don't know nothing about that. Yes. It's a wrap. But with
12:20that, you can even take your puff cup out and it's not going to disturb your work. Look, look at this.
12:28Look at this. Yes. Yes. Yes. So incredible. And then I have a little one here. Yes. So you're
12:34like, if you want to do part of your hair, you don't want to put all of your hair up. If you
12:39want to do multiple puffs, if you want to do a frohawk, same thing. We have puff cuffs in smaller
12:44sizes that way, depending on how much your hair, your, how much hair you're trying to gather. Like
12:51I'm going to use the little, you have a teeny, I have a, but that's fine. That's fine. Yes. So
12:59basically the way you decide what size puff cuff you're going to use is the size of your fist
13:07when you gather your hair. So when I'm good tip that, you know, the, it's probably about
13:14this big, my, you know, the base of my, um, this. So that way I'm going to do make sense.
13:20Makes perfect sense. And remember we're live. If you're watching with us live, please do
13:26send in your questions. Cause I'm watching the comments. If you have any, there is one
13:30person that asked, uh, if this is something that can be used with dreads.
13:34Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. That's even on the packaging.
13:40That was from Noble Lux Creative Studios. You can use it with dreads. Okay. Yes. It works
13:46with locks, twists. If you got your extra hair in with your, your braids, your protective
13:52style, it works with that. That's why we space the teeth further apart. Locks and everything
13:59could put, could be held up, but they're not being squished. Got it. Yeah. Locks, braids,
14:06twists. As long as your hair has texture and curl, it will work. If it does not have texture
14:13and curl, we have a product coming out for you soon. Yes. For those with the silk, silkier,
14:20silkier textures, the puff cuff right now will just slide right out. But yeah, you know, I,
14:28I'm going to toot my own horn. I don't usually do this because it makes me feel weird, but I have
14:35four pattens and my third one. Yeah, I have four. I have two on the original puff cuff, that design.
14:41And I have a third one on another puff cuff that, like I said, is for those silkier textures
14:46that the teeth are specially designed to give it a little bit of extra grip. So it won't slide out
14:53because those with a little bit of wave or those big cylindrical curls that are, they equally hate
15:03rubber bands. Everybody hates them. Yep. So this will be for them. And then I have fourth patent on my,
15:11my edge brush maps to you. Okay. I need one of those that I'm still using the trial size.
15:21So I need to get one of those, but I don't want to, I don't want to skip over this. Right. Cause
15:26somebody in the comments was like four patents. Wow. This is like record breaking, right? Weren't you
15:31the first black woman to have two patents in the, uh, black hair accessories? Like that is a big deal
15:39in itself. So everybody snaps in the comments for her or is it snaps in the comments? That's
15:46incredible. Um, somebody, okay. Pump for my journey. What tip would you give someone that is starting
15:52their journey of creating their first business? Don't think you're don't work in a silo. You're not
16:00alone. You're not as big as your network. Talk about it. Get yourself in those different
16:08atmospheres and those own, those entrepreneurial communities, because you need people that speak
16:13your language. People that don't are, first of all, this ain't for the faint of heart. This ain't,
16:20this ain't no joke. And we don't have a lot of resources of people who are doing the same thing.
16:27So when you find someone that has that business or whatever that you
16:33feel you want to gravitate towards, have that conversation with them. You'll know in the
16:42beginning if they're giving it up or not. I'm one of those. I'm totally transparent. I say it again,
16:46totally transparent because people weren't transparent with me. I felt like a total fish out
16:50of water, but I had to put myself in different atmospheres, different galaxies in order to
16:59find my tribe. Put it that way. Yeah. That's so good. And speaking of tribe,
17:05you're part of the New Voices family, which is an incredible tribe of black owned businesses,
17:11the lip blar, slutty vegan, black girl sunscreen, sweet kiwi that we just talked to. Tell, tell us a little
17:18bit about what it's been like for you to be a part of that community.
17:22Freaking amazing. Freaking amazing. Like I was on the outside looking in for so long and I'm like,
17:29and I think this was like in the beginning, you kind of heard like a little bit of rustling of
17:33New Voices and a little bit of that whole, what, what is New Voices? What is that foundation? What is,
17:43so I had been seeing like the lip bar and, um, Oh, um, Luna magic. Oh, Luna magic. Yeah. I had, um,
17:56and other, other people of the family, like, how do you get in the family? So what I did was I, I,
18:02I, I signed up for their newsletter. And once I signed up for the newsletter, I applied for every
18:08freaking grant, every grant they offered, even stuff that wasn't necessarily pertinent to me.
18:14I was like, I'm gonna get in. I don't know what, how I am, but I'm going to get in. But what ended
18:19up happening is I ended up winning a grant between New Voices and Barefoot Wine. Amazing.
18:25Um, $10,000 grant, which was so on time. Um, like two years ago. And I actually didn't realize,
18:33to be honest with you, um, how that was going to get me into the family, that that was getting
18:39me into the New Voices. And then I also got a $20,000, um, Facebook ad credit from the McBride
18:46sisters. So I, and you know, I'm up here like so, so starstruck because I'm like barefoot wine. Yeah.
18:56My mother-in-law drinks that all the time. And then with the McBride sisters, I was like,
19:03that is some straight black girl magic. Like literally, you see how I did that black girl
19:06magic. So with those two things that got me in, but as of the last two years, I've really,
19:17really can feel being in the family. This was our first time participating in Essence Fest.
19:26And that had been a bucket list of mine for years, bucket list items. And you could see
19:36that every move they make is black magic. And it's very intentional. It's very. And once
19:43you're in, man, baby, are you in, where have y'all been all my lives? This is a new thing.
19:53It's a fairly new thing, but it makes black wellness, not wellness, wellness and wealth.
20:02Right. I'm up here fangirling on everybody that was, that was in the new voices family and,
20:15and at Essence. And it was, I'm, I'm here, you know, I'm sitting at the table with Marie of new
20:26voices, the leader of the foundation. I'm sitting at the table with Melissa Bradley,
20:29somebody who sits on the board of the foundation. I'm just like, this, they are not just talking
20:34it. They are doing it and walking it. And consistently and year round, not when it's
20:40just a friend for black home business month. Right. Like others will do. It's not just
20:46black history month. Or not just when, you know, someone tragically gets recorded and, and of their
20:55demise on, on television. It is all the time and what they say they do. Right. That's it.
21:06I see people in the comments. What is the new voices? They are in the comments right now is an
21:11incredible foundation. There's mentoring. You have this incredible community that you can kind of tap
21:19into. As she mentioned the community that she, and then access to the Essence ecosystem. You know,
21:25you could be considered as being a guest on a future episode of Shop Essence Live. I did see somebody
21:30say any tips for, um, how to get your hair in coils. Cause it's only like that when it's wet. Now you
21:41sent me an incredible mousse. Yes. Our mousse. So I was like, I didn't know, you know, a slaying curls
21:50too. So yes. Yes. So what we did was after we, you know, the puff cuffs were, first of all,
21:59I made the puff cuffs. I tried to make the puff cuffs, a item that was an investment. In other
22:05words, I got tired of throwing away stuff that eventually didn't work or visually broke or blah,
22:10blah, blah, blah, blah. So the puff cuffs, there's a lot of people who've had their, including myself,
22:14who've had their puff cuffs for five or six years. So we can create an investment. Um, and plus as a
22:21lifetime warranty, which I picked that up from another entrepreneur brand, but I'm like, no, I'm going to do,
22:26I'm another, um, Brown owned black girl brand. I'm like, I'm gonna do the same thing because I'd
22:32rather keep you as a customer than let you down, disappoint you in any way. So good. Lifetime
22:37warranty on all puff cuffs. But what we did was we decided to create a whole curly hair experience.
22:44So we have a line of consumable products and you know what we say to each other when your girl,
22:50when your girl's hair is laid, that's what the name of the consumable products are.
22:56So smart.
22:58Laid. So we have styling products to go with the puff that compliment the puff cup. So if you want
23:05your curls on, you know, get that definition out of the shower. Look, we can do it. You can do it with
23:12our products. Yeah. See, look, look, see, right before your eyes. They're right. We do the Glock
23:20method, not the lock, but the Glock. So it is a little different, but you use an oil. Then you use
23:27a, so good too. Then a gel and then the mousse. And then you diffuse, you know, everybody who got
23:35that big old giant thing on your hairdryer and you had no clue what it would work. That is for our
23:40curls. So it'll dry your hair without messing up the curl pattern. So our edge control, we have the
23:50argon gel. We have the detangling brush, everything you need for your curly hair routine and our edge
23:59master. And our edge master, it's a three in one. We have silicone bristles.
24:10So you can rinse that nasty crap out that we all have. Oh, I would just, I usually just throw it
24:17away. So that's great. The earth by throwing it away. You can't throw it away. You're right.
24:25You're completely right. I got to do better. I'm going to get one of those. Yes.
24:30I'm using my. It parts. You have the spatula. When you know how to do your edges with the spatula,
24:35it's like magic. Wait a minute. How do you do your edges with the spatula?
24:39Let's go look up on YouTube. I did it the first time. Well, you take that gel. Let me see if I
24:44can do it right quick. Like a cooking spatula? Yeah. So this end right here, when you see all
24:50those girls with this whoopty whoopty whoops. Oh yeah. I can't get that. I draw the line. I do
24:56a lot of times the spatula. It's the spatula doing that. Okay. You see, can you see it? I can't see
25:06my. That's a lot of comments. This is as fancy as we get. Right. But I, I just love the gel. First
25:18of all, it stays in place so beautifully, but it doesn't have like that white residue or anything
25:24on your skin that you would find at other products. And I won't, I won't listen. A black
25:30girl chemist, black girl chemist made these. Oh, black girl chemist. My ministry is, and I
25:37know I'm not a chemist. Sorry. You know, I stay, I barely got past science in college. Like
25:42I passed it with a D and was thankful. So yes, black girl chemist makes these.
25:50These are so incredible. So yeah, you guys, these are pinned to Essence's store. If you
25:56go straight to the puff cuffs page, you can see their full range of products. Remember at
26:02shop essence live, when you're shopping at this show, you are contributing directly to these
26:07companies. Nothing is going to Essence or me. This is to shop and scale these black owned
26:13businesses. And when I tell you, and you got more and you're developing a line for people that have
26:19straight hair. Yep. Yep. And then we should say that we're giving 20% off today just for the Essence
26:26live shop. We hook you up. You know, we like a good deal. We love a good deal. And then, so that's
26:33just for today, be clear. So if you're watching live or you're watching on Thursday, the 20th,
26:39you get, how much was it? 20% off. 20% off. So make sure that you are turning these wishlist
26:48things into actual purchases, or you're missing out on a really, really great deal. Start to fulfill
26:54your Christmas lists. All right. Don't, don't wait like everybody else. Don't be out in them streets
26:59for Black Friday. You can start to fulfill on the Christmas list. I know you have some natural
27:04hair girls in your life. You're a curl friends, your sisters, your mothers. It's a black girl
27:12invention, but we're not necessarily a black brand. This brand is for all curly hair. And as you guys
27:18too, check out our mail site because we have PCMale, the PC mail. All your men's is out there. We have
27:29puff cuffs for you too, as well as skin and beard products. Wow. Okay. So she's got a whole
27:39supermarket full of products that you guys can purchase. And it's really great. Like the mousse,
27:46it's just, it's so fragrant. It's like, I absolutely love the mousse and it's really effective
27:53and it works instantly and beautifully. So to that person earlier that asked any tips on,
27:59how to keep your coils. Cause it's only like that when it's wet laid, she's laying and slaying the
28:06curls. Um, and this incredible styling gel. So, so great. And you are so you're such an inspiration.
28:15Um, first woman ever to have two patents for black hair accessories. And it's not just black hair. It is,
28:22uh, across the board. I am so, so inspired and impressed. I'd love for you to, um, just leave
28:30us with a positive note, right? You said that you had this thought and it was seven years before you
28:36took the leap. What was the thing that kept you going? And I know even at that seven year mark,
28:43it wasn't easy and it just happened overnight either. So I would love to hear from you. Um,
28:48if there's any other aspiring entrepreneurs or entrepreneurs that are watching and need a little
28:52word of encouragement of what would you say to them? My word of encouragement would be, um,
28:59um, if God gave it to you, don't ignore his, don't ignore what he has for you. This is a,
29:08excuse me, a scary ass ride. My whole family works for puff cup. My husband is my CEO. My children
29:16manage my warehouse, manage our, our retail in perimeter mall. My, my 10 year old is a model, but
29:23seriously, if, if, if God has given it to you, he has ordained for you to move forward with it.
29:32Do not talk yourself out of it. None of us have any money to start in the beginning, but if it's his
29:38will, it will happen. And what keeps me motivated is, um, I'm doing this for my family, doing this for
29:45me and my family. Cause I'm ready to, and I also want to be an inspiration to other small businesses.
29:50My goal is to eventually sell this company for crazy amounts of dollars. Cause black people
30:00do that. I was like, I want to be like him. So that's the goal. And then I want to, I want to have
30:12that money to be able to help other people that are doing the same thing that just need that look
30:18like me that come from the kind of same background that just need, that don't have that rich uncle
30:23that you can go borrow million dollars from, but you just need that extra little financial push and
30:30advice that that's, that's what, that's my passion. That is. Listen to this woman, follow the puff cup.
30:40Um, and you, you post a lot of content on that page as well. Make sure you go to their store where
30:47you can see the full range of products. I want to remind everyone, she's given us a 20% discount just
30:52for today, right? So if you're watching live, if you're watching on the replay, um, on Thursday,
30:58on the 20th, you have the opportunity to buy and get a 20% discount. Buy up. She's got a full range for men,
31:07women, um, across probably all curl pattern textures and more to come.
31:14Two C to four C. Two C to four C. So good. Well, it's been such a, such a pleasure having you
31:21on this week's show and I cannot wait to see what is in store for the puff cup.
31:27Thank you loves. Thank you so much. My, the sun has gone down. So my little light is only doing
31:31one. It's perfect timing. It's okay. Thank you so much. All right. Thank you. Take care, sis. Bye.
31:39Bye-bye.
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