Emma Kelly is the Founder of Gingerful, hair products that are designed exactly for what red hair craves: enhancement, nourishment and protection. Created by redheads for redheads.
Frustrated at the lack of representation for redheads in the haircare aisle, Emma wanted something that worked authentically and gradually with ginger shades.
After two years of love and development, Gingerful’s first product, the now best-selling Henna & Rose shampoo and conditioner, launched in February 2020.
More than anything, Emma’s pride for being a redhead took a long time to reveal itself. Particularly as she struggled with it growing up. The last thing she wanted to do was paint over it, she is making up for lost time.
With her roots in running Ginger Parrot, and Redhead Day UK events in London, plus launching a successful petition for ginger emojis, she felt headstrong in her mission to create hair products designed exactly for red hair’s needs. Emma’s passion for spreading positivity around red hair has only increased over the years. She wants every redhead to feel empowered by what makes them stand out from the crowd.
Tell us a bit about you and your background.
I am in my mid-30s, from Leicestershire but now living in south London. My background is largely in digital marketing, having worked for large companies over the years. Previous to working, I studied Journalism at university, which is when Ginger Parrot was first created. I continued to write, edit and manage the Redhead lifestyle website in my spare time. From there, the website grew to include an online store, which sparked my interest in redhead-specific products. I had always loved haircare and beauty products, so I spent more of my spare time (there wasn’t much left at this point!) researching and developing Gingerful’s branding and products. Our first two products, the best-selling Henna & Rose shampoo and conditioner, launched in February 2020. I was still working full-time at this point, and I leapt to be self-employed in September 2020.
What inspired you to create Gingerful and how did your personal experiences as a redhead influence the brand’s mission and products?
Having run Ginger Parrot for many years, I had created and joined many encouraging and friendly online communities that showed me that having someone understand red hair is really important with haircare. Everyone wants ‘their product’. Redheads are often overlooked in the mainstream beauty industry, and I wanted to change that. Ginger Parrot has always been about seeking out those products perfect for redheads, and I wanted to make one of them.
Having also attended many redhead events (including running Redhead Day UK in London), I quickly realised that there are so many different red shades. What limited colour-depositing hair products that were out there for redheads, there wasn’t a ‘one size fits all’ – it was just hair dye at the end of the day, and I didn’t like that. Many redheads spend parts of their lives (particularly childhood) being ashamed of their hair, so covering it up with dye just didn’t sit right.
I believe in making fewer products and making them well, so that’s why I decided to use henna in Gingerful – just one shampoo and one conditioner, but to suit all shades. It feels wasteful and confusing to create several versions of the same thing, and there’s also something very empowering about all redheads using the same products with differing results – like it’s a club to join.
Can you share the journey from starting Ginger Parrot to launching Gingerful? What were some key challenges and milestones along the way?
It felt like a natural progression for me. I loved haircare, and I loved the friendliness that comes with redheads being together – there’s a shared experience there. And with my marketing background, I had a very clear view of how Gingerful should appeal to redheads. With henna at the heart of it, I very much wanted to focus on as many natural ingredients as possible, many of which may seem very unlikely to include.
As I was still working full-time at the time of product development, I took my time to really understand ingredients (2 years to be exact!), and things like carrot and ginger were some fabulous, unlikely ingredients that help hair, particularly red hair which can often be drier than other hair types. A challenge was getting the right level of henna for the products too, to ensure that gradual colour-boosting occurs, but without the effects being permanent. Getting that balance took a lot of time and testing.
How did your campaign for a redhead emoji come about and what impact did it have on the redhead community?
On the day of the new iOS update, I hurriedly updated my iPhone. I was excited to see a load more emojis, as I’d heard this was the ‘diversity’ release. But, I was enraged that there wasn’t a single redhead. Not only that, there was no explanation across the internet to offer why red hair hadn’t been included, it was just ignored. Change.org was having its moment back then, so I quickly took to creating a petition and sharing it around Ginger Parrot’s social media accounts. What’s always been great about the redhead community is their ability to rally together behind a cause they’re passionate about. The petition got picked up by the Guardian and spread like wildfire after that. It was then a lot more waiting, having a few explanations offered to me to explain the difficulty of including a trait that spans across races.
Apple always kept their cards close to its chest. There was never too much given away before a new release. Several more emoji releases came out before ginger emojis were released, but finally, they arrived! I think redheads who had followed the petition really felt they’d made a change from not staying quiet.
What makes Gingerful’s hair care products unique and specifically effective for red hair?
Containing a certain level of henna to boost red tones is unique in Gingerful. The amount is strong enough to enhance the vibrancy of existing reddish/warmish tones, but can’t add anything where there is none already. It isn’t permanent either. This makes the products ideal for redheads who may see a darkening or lightening of their shade. I want to encourage and prolong red tones for longer. Henna and red hair is a real match made in heaven, because of the small amount Gingerful uses, it works to boost all shades of red. Whether lighter strawberry blonde or deep, dark auburn colours. Not only that, it’s brilliant for dyed red hair too. Helping you keep your colour for longer (often especially tricky for dyed red, as any stylist!).
Can you describe a moment when you realised the significant positive impact Gingerful was having on its customers?
It’s always so exciting to see people’s transformations from before using Gingerful to now. What’s lovely is it’s across all age groups too. It’s especially lovely to see when little redheaded children are embracing their red hair colour from such a young age. I often hear parents tell me their children love their “special redhead shampoo”. There was nothing like it when I was a kid. I hope it helps to make them feel proud to be ginger from a young age.
What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs who are looking to fill a niche market like you did with redhead hair care?
Take your time! Get to know your customers (if you are one of your customers, all the better). Keep testing and asking for honest opinions.
How do you ensure that Gingerful’s products stay true to the needs and desires of the redhead community?
We listen. Already we have products in the works that have been repeated requests from the redhead community. We’ve even reformulated our conditioner slightly based on texture preference, so we value the feedback.
What are some beauty and hair care tips specifically for redheads that you think everyone should know?
It’s still not said enough – wear SPF on your face, all year round. Anything under SPF 30 isn’t worth bothering with – not only will it protect from the sun it’ll help your skin look younger for longer.
What plans do you have for Gingerful in terms of product development and brand expansion?
All being well, we will have a new product launching by the end of the year, you heard it here first!
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