Emi Jay has established its dominance in the hair accessories category over its last 16 years in business thanks to its trend-forward styles — including its popular claw clip — and now, founder Julianne Goldmark is leveraging her expertise in the category to further expand into beauty.
On Tuesday, Emi Jay is launching its second hair care product, called Dream Crème, which is a hydrating hair mask. The launch is part of Goldmark’s strategy of taking the same community-led approach she uses for the brand’s hair accessories, and now applying it to the beauty category.
Emi Jay made its first foray into hair care in October, launching its first styling product called Angelstick. According to Goldmark, the product saw a 337 percent sales increase in the first half of this year and has been restocked four times.
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“Any category switch is obviously a huge risk, not only from a business standpoint, but also from the consumer standpoint,” Goldmark said. “We want to be able to make a reliable product that our customers trust — the same way that they trust our accessories and brushes. So, I feel like we segued nicely into the hair care element with Angel Stick. We launched all of our styling brushes first and then by the time Angel Stick came — it’s such a natural product to launch with initially because girls are already using the clips to keep their hair up and the scrunchies and accessories. Of course they want something to do a sleek bun or tame their fly-aways.”
Goldmark explained that entering hair care was a natural next step for the brand and a highly requested one. The founder explained that a few years ago, Emi Jay hosted a Q&A with customers asking what products they wanted to see from the brand. Goldmark stated she was expecting customers to name other hair accessories, however she received many responses asking for hair care products.
The founder stayed mum on what hair care products are in Emi Jay’s pipeline, but stated the brand is “really tapping into social listening and what our customers want.” She named products such as oils and sprays as examples of future launches. Goldmark stated the brand plans to release its hair care products “several times a year.”
“There’s such a nice crossover between hair accessories and hair care and it doesn’t just have to be one or the other,” Goldmark said. “I feel like Rhode is a good example. They’ve done such a good job and Summer Fridays of having skin care and beauty, but also having products that kind of bring you into their brand world whether it’s a cosmetic pouch or phone case. I feel like that is something that we’ve been doing pretty strongly and I’m excited for people to be able to continue to intermingle there and add products.”
While Emi Jay has been in business for 16 years, the brand experienced a surge of popularity in the last few years thanks to its best-selling claw clip accessories, which are offered in myriad colors and patterns and have been leveraged for collaborations with the likes of Juicy Couture, Djerf Avenue, Frankies Bikinis and others.
The claw clip’s resurgence was caused in part by Y2K-inspired trends making a comeback several years ago, however, Goldmark believes the accessory has stood the test of time because of its simplicity.
“People realized simplicity is key,” she said. “You can put your hair up in a super messy updo, you can put it in a super sleek updo and elevate the look a little bit. Right now, all of us are looking for just simple, efficient, quick routine add-ons and Emi Jay claw clips fit so perfectly into that realm.”
She also believes the community the brand has built among customers has helped Emi Jay hold its stronghold on the hair accessories category, and will translate over to beauty.
“I feel pretty strongly that the customers feel connected to one another and also to our Emi Jay brand world,” Goldmark said. “We always say that we’re not selling a product. We’re offering a feeling and a sense of belonging. Many of our customers have become friends from literally just seeing one another wearing an Emi Jay [accessory] on the street or walking to work or whatever it is. I feel like creating that sense of belonging and sense of community is something that is so vital to the brand’s success.”