Bouclème: From kitchen-table business to £3m haircare brand
How Bouclème’s innovative approach has changed haircare for women with curls, and why founder Michele Scott-Lynch partnered with Clearpay.
Michele Scott-Lynch's tips for success:
- Don't compare yourself to other brands.
Comparison is the thief of joy. Your journey is your journey, so trust your own judgement.
- Be patient.
Things happen when they are supposed to.
- Invest in your team.
You can’t do it all yourself and you [can never] know enough so invest in a talented team.
As a teenager, Michele Scott-Lynch tried everything to tame her curls. She experimented with chemical straightening and trialled product after product to smooth her unruly hair.
It was only in her thirties that Scott-Lynch came to appreciate the beauty of her curly hair: “I decided to embrace what was unique about me and embrace my curls…”
Once she became a mother, Scott-Lynch was determined to ensure that her daughter felt similarly confident about her hair, and so she began formulating natural haircare products in her kitchen that would help them to look and feel their best.
As a holistic health practitioner, she used essential oils to formulate the products, and eventually approached a cosmetic chemist in the West Country about manufacturing them in bulk.
Nearly a decade later, the brand that began in Scott-Lynch’s kitchen – Bouclème – has become a £3m business and is this year looking to expand into the US.
Daring to do things differently
Scott-Lynch puts Bouclème’s success down to a constant drive to innovate, and a willingness to take a fresh approach. “I purposefully created a curl-specific haircare brand and that in itself was different to what was already available in the UK market when we launched. This set Bouclème apart from other products and allowed us to stand out.”
Her innovative approach also extended to marketing. When Scott-Lynch first started creating products, for example, she was determined to get the formula just right. That meant testing them on friends and family – and even strangers on the street. “I literally approached people in the street and asked them if they wanted to become one of our ‘curlies’ – a panel of 20 ‘real’ people who tested the products.
“That was a really unusual thing to do back then but has now become common practice with cosmetic companies. It was also a great way of getting our brand name out there as those people spread the word.”
Learning the value of PR
A stroke of luck in November 2014 helped propel Bouclème to even more success.
One of Scott-Lynch’s friends had written a press release for the brand that landed on the desk of influential journalist and natural beauty pioneer Imelda Burke. Burke was writing for The Telegraph at the time, and she featured Bouclème in a round-up of the Best British Beauty Brands in the newspaper.
“That was a turning point for the business."
“That was a turning point for the business, and we started to increase our orders substantially; we were then stocked in Imelda’s store [Content Wellbeing & Beauty], which further increased our profile,” Scott-Lynch explains.
A drive to succeed
Although the business employs 10 people now, Scott-Lynch says she effectively ran it single-handedly for the first two years.
It was only in 2014 that she employed two freelancers to create the website and packaging. “I still had no budget for advertising or marketing. Until the website launched all my orders were coming word-of-mouth and through the usual social media channels, Instagram and Facebook.”
Later that year, she was approached with an offer to help with social media and packing orders. “That person, Gemma, still works with me now. As the orders grew and grew, I realised the importance of having a good team around me.”
Innovating with payments
It was in November 2019 that Bouclème decided to partner with Clearpay.
“Just before Black Friday in 2019, we set some high sales goals for the company, and it just felt right to get another payment channel on board.
"Spreading payments means our products are affordable to everyone."
“We didn’t know of course that a global pandemic was just around the corner, but when COVID-19 hit and everyone started buying everything online, our sales grew astronomically, and it was clear people loved paying via Clearpay. [Plus], spreading payments mean [our products] are affordable to everyone.”
Scott-Lynch adds that offering Clearpay helps ensure Bouclème remains competitive, too:
“There are so many places to shop online – you have to be able to compete and Clearpay allows us to do that.”
Bouclème founder Michele Scott-Lynch shares her advice for expanding your business
Comparison is the thief of joy – stop comparing yourself and your business to other brands. Your journey is your journey, so stay on your own path and trust your own judgement.
Things happen when they are supposed to. I had approached [beauty retailer] Space NK about stocking Bouclème and they turned me down. A full year later, somebody I knew was having a meeting with a buyer from Space NK who complemented her on her great hair – she told the buyer it was Bouclème, and the next thing I knew they were asking to stock us.
You can’t do it all yourself – you [can never] know enough. Invest in a talented team for the sake of your business and your mental health.
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