Hot Curl Summer

For Moroccan-born, Paris-based Meryem Benomar, hair care is often top of mind. “Like all Afro-Europeans, one of my main concerns in life is my hair.

It’s a daily concern and something that’s quite important in my life, not because I’m obsessed but just because my hair needs extra care every day,” she says. Seeing the divide in the market between “textured” hair and “mainstream” hair, Benomar realized that a haircare line unifying all hair types under the banner of healthy hair did not exist. In 2018, she launched Shaeri, devoted to caring for curls around the world.  

When developing Shaeri, Benomar wanted her products to be inclusive of all hair types and has never separated kinky, coily, dry, damaged or wavy hair into their own categories. Rather, she developed high quality products that can be tailored to any and all hair types through the chosen frequency and volume of application. “These are products that are universal and can be adapted to your own needs,” explains Benomar, adding that individual education is key to customizing a hair-care routine. 

Having a homebase in the Mediterranean where Europe, Africa and Asia meet, Shaeri is uniquely positioned to respond to the global needs of haircare. Its star ingredient is the prickly pear, a cactus fruit and one of Morocco’s best kept secrets, not only in the beauty industry but also in agriculture. “A lot of people are saying that prickly pear is going to become even more important in the coming years because of climate change,” Benomar explains, pointing out that it doesn’t need any water, is fast growing and has plenty of benefits that can be used in agriculture. What it does for hair is add moisture through its high concentration of vitamin E, oils and omega 6, without weighing hair down.

“Day after day and over the long term, our products are going to restore your hair, to moisturize your hair and, as a result, your curls are going to be better,” she says. “It’s really like the difference between makeup and skincare.” 

Benemar is also focused on hair quality over style, and as such doesn’t have any styling products in her range. “Day after day and over the long term, our products are going to restore your hair, to moisturize your hair and, as a result, your curls are going to be better,” she says. “It’s really like the difference between makeup and skincare.”

Still, when developing Shaeri, Benomar worked tirelessly to create products that would offer immediate as well as long term results while honouring the quality of Shaeri’s ingredients, which are 95 percent natural and vegan. “It was a huge challenge to stay clean, natural, respect the ingredients and still have short term results and long term results,” she says, adding that this is why Shaeri keeps such a tight edit of products. “Every time we launch a product, we have to be super convinced.”

Beyond high quality products for a hair type that’s been neglected by luxury brands for far too long, Shaeri is a political statement, and a way for Benomar to shine a light on her multicultural heritage. “Hair always has a social and political dimension. Whether you straighten it, keep it natural, or cover it with a veil—it’s a statement,” she says. And in this era of a divided, polarized society, Shaeri offers Benomar the chance to make her own political statement on the benefits of unity. “This is a way for me to say that, when you combine two cultures, you can create something quite unique.”