Ph.D scientist and trichologist, Dr. Isfahan Chambers-Harris doesn’t mess around when it comes to proper haircare and products. She understands the misperceptions and misinformation that occurs around textured hair and through her expertise, she founded Alodia Hair Care. Due to her personal experiences with toxic hair care products that caused hair damage, she meticulously created an impressive line of superior-quality, scientifically proven, hair care products that are made with only natural ingredients. Here is my exclusive interview with her to learn more:
Thank you for joining us. You have quite an impressive background. Could you please tell our readers more about yourself and how you got to where you are today?
I earned my B.S. in Biology from the City University of New York and Ph.D. in Bio-Medical Sciences from Morehouse School of Medicine, Cardiovascular Research Institute in Atlanta, Georgia. I officially began my science career as a postdoctoral fellow at Vanderbilt School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee where I conducted research on an autoimmune disease, sarcoidosis. While at Vanderbilt, I also earned my master’s in public health, which allowed me to focus on diseases and public health issues that affect disadvantaged populations. After earning my masters, I went on to become a Presidential STEM Fellow at the National Institutes of Health (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) in Bethesda, Maryland in 2014.
As a woman with natural hair, mother, Ph.D medical scientist, and trichology practitioner, I recognize first-hand the misinformation that exists around textured hair and I’m committed to educating women on holistic health approaches to healthy hair and scalp care. For years, I battled hair breakage and scalp damage from chemical straighteners. When I started my fellowship at Vanderbilt Medical Center, I worked on a clinical trial that focused on the debilitating auto-immune disease that primarily affects black women called sarcoidosis. I saw myself reflected in the countless young black women that had the disease and realized that the disease may be triggered by the toxic products that we put on our bodies. This experience had a profound effect on me and has fueled my passion, drive, and perseverance to use my expertise to create an organic scalp and hair care line catering to textured hair types.
What is the significance of the brand’s name?
Alodia was an ancient kingdom near modern day Sudan and Ethiopia. I felt that the royal-ness of the name fit our company perfectly because we source many of our ingredients from countries in Africa. Alodia is also my middle name so from a trademark perspective, I felt that I would be able to trademark the name because it’s unusual.
What makes Alodia stand out from other brands?
Alodia is the only brand that’s clinically proven, doctor-developed, and trichologist-founded. It’s created for and by doctors with textured hair, who are passionate about getting to the root of textured hair concerns.
What are your top products?
Our top five products are our Length Retention Bundle, Nourish Oil, Organic Black Soap Wash Gelly Custard, and the Flourishing Follicle Serum.
As a trichologist and working in the industry for many years, could you share with us any top hair tips?
1. Healthy hair starts with a healthy scalp. Keep your scalp clean and balanced by using a gentle, sulfate-free shampoo such as our Creme Shampoo and detoxing your scalp with our Lava Clay Masque occasionally to remove buildup.
2. Vitamin D plays a crucial role in hair growth and a deficiency can lead to various hair-related issues. Many people, around 50%-60%, are deficient in Vitamin. D. I recommend sunlight exposure, food sources such as fatty fish, egg yolks and mushrooms. Or use our clinically tested Healthy Hair and Scalp Vitamins which contains a daily dose of vitamin D for healthy hair growth.
3. Constantly wearing tight ponytails, braids, or buns can lead to traction alopecia (hair loss from pulling). Switch up your styles and avoid too much tension on your scalp.
Anything else we should know?
We have expanded into 657 Target doors and we launched in CVS this Feb. Peruse the extraordinary line at https://alodiahaircare.com/
