Guyana’s first ever Coily Hair and Beauty Expo is billed for later this month at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre. It is specifically designed for women of colour and will also see the launching of the Coily App, which aims to making the task of choosing hair and beauty products easier.
The expo targets women with all hair types: curly, kinky, natural, straight or relaxed as well as those who wear braids, wigs or weaves. According to founder of the Coily App Asha Christian, the texture of your hair does not matter, but if your hair is important to you then this expo is designed for you.
“It’s pretty much an app that allows women to see how products will work on their hair before they actually buy them. … a lot of women of colour… buy a hair product or tool without really knowing if it’s going to work…,” she noted.
“Essentially you’ll be able to download the app and when you go shopping you can scan the barcode on the back of the product and you can see images of the results of the products on women who’ve tried it before as well as reviews on how they rated the product. That’s just the core function. We have a couple of other features too, like being able to find hairstylists in your area and seeing their portfolios and they work they’ve done,” Asha said.
This has been a personal issue for Asha and while it could be taken care of with a simple tap of Google, that might lead to another problem – finding the right links. “For as long as I can remember, I’ve been buying hair products and testing them out and then they don’t work for my hair and they don’t do what they promise they’ll do on the label. It has been an issue for me, for all of my friends and family members. We’re constantly buying weaves and hair products and they don’t actually last as long as we’d like them to. In the US, the hair industry is a $2.5 billion business just for women of colour alone. And so, if we were to include the wigs, weaves, beauty supply stores and other sectors of the hair industry it actually builds up to being $500 billion in the US alone.”
Coily will be just as easy to download on one’s phone as Facebook or WhatsApp. The App is the start of a partnership programme between the Ministry of Public Telecommunications and STEM Guyana in which other apps will started here and tested.
Prior to Coily, Asha, an app developer, created an app with her siblings Ima and Caleb in 2015, called Five-O. The app, which has been rated with 4.6 stars by users, was created to provide a solution to issues faced by people of colour when apprehended by the police. The application allows for the user to give a short description of their interaction with the police officer as well rate their degree of courtesy. It also provides information about the civil rights of a citizen from American Civil Liberties Union. The siblings had interviews with over 15 media outlets in US then they flew to the Netherlands, where they pitched the app and won €20,000.
The American siblings were born to Guyanese parents. Twenty-year-old Asha is at Cornell University in New York pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science.
The Christians are co-founders of the STEM Guyana programme, which was launched in 2017. They are also the founders of the NGSA app that allows students preparing to write the National Grade Six Assessment examination to sharpen their knowledge and skills on the subjects through past exam papers.
In 2017, the Christian siblings held three camps during the August vacation period. That same year, a Guyanese team went to an international robotics competition in Washington DC where they placed in the top 10 worldwide. Last year a team of eight represented Guyana in Mexico where they placed again.
This week and next week there will be ongoing robotics camps. There may be a possible third week of camp depending on interest. The camps last a week (Monday – Friday) with two two-hour sessions each day; persons are required to do one session per day. The camps cater for children 7 – 19 years old and the cost per child is $5,000. Persons can sign up on the STEM Guyana Facebook page. A team will be chosen to represent Guyana at this year’s competition in Dubai.
Coily app does not yet allow persons to make purchases of products but will in the
near future. Before the end of the year, the app will allow persons to find a product that works for them and be able to order. Currently, they are talking to local vendors to see whether they would like to get on board with Coily. The app will be able to finance itself in its development through advertising and marketing. Stylists can pay to have their products advertised on the app; this feature is yet to be installed. The team is looking to eventually launch throughout the rest of the world.
The team will be a having a press conference later today from 1 – 2 pm with Public Communications Minister Cathy Hughes. Coily will officially be launched today.
The event billed for Saturday, July 27 will see attendees winning free hair and makeup products. Persons will see professional makeup artists perform live makeovers, as well as professional hairstylists giving styling tutorials. Persons in attendance will also be able to explore and purchase products and services from local businesses. The Coily app will be available for download there and then and the audience will have a firsthand look at how the app works.
Coily Hair and Beauty Expo is currently seeking hairstylists, makeup artists, beauty service providers, product vendors and local hair and beauty businesses.
The expo is free and will run from 12 pm – 5 pm. Persons are asked to RSVP online at https://coilyhairexpo.eventbrite.com. Food and drinks will be on sale. For more info, contact the Coily team at the aforementioned website link or via Facebook at Coily Mobile App, on Instagram @COILYAPP or WhatsApp on (592)-604-2037.
