from byrdie
The honey-infused hair care brand Gisou (which means golden hair lock in Persian) has caused a major buzz in the beauty industry over the past five years. Founded by beauty influencer Negin Mirsalehi, the luxury hair line has quickly developed a massive imprint in the industry – amassing over 295K followers on Instagram and garnering multi-million dollar investments. And now, the brand will be bringing its products stateside in a major way by partnering with Sephora, making them accessible across the United States in-store and online.
“When we first launched Gisou five years ago, launching at Sephora was something we dreamed of one day achieving, so we’re really excited and proud our dream has come true,” says Mirsalehi. “Aside from the business-related reasons, I’m a loyal Sephora customer. Whenever I visit the U.S., I never leave without stocking up on my favorite beauty products at Sephora. It’s truly my favorite and in my opinion the best beauty store in the world. I’m thrilled to join the Sephora family.”
For Mirsalehi, expanding Gisou’s footprint in the U.S. is a monumental move.”It means a lot to us as a small brand, and a lot to me and my family as well considering Gisou is based so much on my heritage,” she says. “The U.S. has always been a big business for us – nearly half – so it’s natural for us to launch at Sephora online and in stores.”
Gisou is the result of Mirsalehi’s mother’s love of DIY hair care and her father’s roots in beekeeping (which dates back six generations). “My mom instilled in me from a young age the importance of taking care of your hair and of giving it the nutrients it needs to stay healthy,” she says. “However, she was unimpressed with what the market had to offer in the way of hair care products back then. After she discovered the benefits of honey for the hair, she started experimenting with my father’s honey to come up with her own hair care solutions.”
Growing up, Mirsalehi quickly realized the benefits of using honey on hair – which include hydration and nourishment – and knew that she had to share her family’s homemade hair care secrets with the world. With her family’s background in beekeeping, Mirsalehi has been able to source honey for Gisou’s products in a way that is sustainable and cruelty-free. “Our bees are really at the core of our heritage and our company, so it’s really important to us that we give back to the bees – not just our own,” she says.
“In the Mirsalehi Bee Garden, we take a bee-centered approach, which means the bees guide our beekeeping practices. We only ever take surpluses of honey and base our production cycles on the harvesting cycle.”
In line with its mission to protect the bees, Gisou has launched other initiatives to raise awareness about the endangerment of bees and their importance in the ecosystem. “With the Gisou Bees Project, we support urban beekeeping efforts by placing our beehives in cities around the world,” she says. “For an endangered species such as the bees, it’s important urban beehives exist because urban bees are actually healthier bees due to their greater access to biodiversity in cities as opposed to rural areas. Although on hold due to Covid-19, we definitely plan to expand this project to other cities.”
As she thinks about the future of Gisou, Mirsalehi’s mission is clear. “I want to continue the legacy that my parents started,” she explains.
You can shop Gisou’s full-range of bee-based products on Sephora.com beginning on August 18 and in-store on September 1.
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This story was originally published at an earlier date and has since been updated