Mel grew up in a house with a cosmetologist mother-meaning some part of the house was always a make-shift hair salon. Mel spent a part of her childhood growing up in Montreal, Canada where she was often one of a few children of color in her classes. The thick, dense hair that she had been born with was always a project to manage, and the process of styling a child’s hair every day was not always a single, working mother’s top priority. Mel was often embarrassed by the old-fashioned hairstyles that she usually donned, so after begging her mother incessantly, Mel’s hair was chemically relaxed at 6 years old. The relaxer made it easy for young Mel to style her own hair, but the hair was never as healthy as it was in its natural state, nor was it versatile. Wearing it straight and flat was the general beauty standard for quite some time, until natural hair and the dangers of using chemical relaxers long-term became more of a conversation topic.

After learning more about the hazards of relaxers, Mel decided to go natural, receiving her last relaxer in the summer of the 2012. The transition process was difficult, as Mel opted to not undergo “The Big Chop” but instead grew out her hair through a series of protective styles. The growth process initiated the need for a new treatment routine, which began with the quest for the right products. Incidentally, this process began around the time that the company CurlBox was launched. Mel signed up, and tried a variety of “natural” products or rather “products for natural hair”. Some of these products worked for short-term styling, but most products left her super coily type-4 textured hair under-nourished and lacking in moisture. The ingredients were not sufficient, and hardly “natural”. So Mel began to explore and experiment with more natural ingredients.

After coming up with a butter recipe that delivered incredible results for moisture and growth, the product search ended. A few months later, Mel’s friends began to see the difference in her hair, and they wanted in on the secret. She would bring her butter with her when getting her hair twisted, and soon the hairstylists were calling her for jars! After making a few small batches for sale and seeing the demand, Mel decided to take  “hair crack” to the next level and developed the product line, Mel’s Butter Blends. Mel’s Butter Blends has developed into a full line of natural products for hair and skin, including multiple butter blends, soaps, and exfoliants.