Meet Negin Mirsalehi Bonafide Beauty Mogul and Entrepreneur

Written by: Noura Al-Swaiti

From one of the top influencers to hair guru, Negin Mirsalehi needs no introduction, with over 6 million Instagram followers, we all have fallen in love with her captivating content and her signature hair waves. Since the launch of her hair card brand Gisou in 2015, she has transformed into a bonafide beauty mogul, and today she’s being exclusively sold at the biggest beauty players throughout the world.

3oud.com spoke to founder Negin Mirsalehi to discuss her bee-based beauty line, future plans, and of course, those signature Mirsalehi waves.

1. First is first, what does Gisou mean?

Gisou means women’s hair in Persian. It’s a nod to my Middle Eastern heritage.

2. Tell us how Gisou honey-infused hair oil first came about, and how the brand grew to become a cult-favorite brand for everyone looking for top-tier hair products.

The Gisou story actually started more than 6 generations ago! I come from a beekeeping family of 6 generations. My father has his own bee garden and growing up, he instilled in us the healing power of honey. A natural humectant full of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, my mother, a hairdresser by trade, was inspired to formulate her own haircare products using my father’s honey. After a few years she succeeded in creating a honey-infused hair oil formula she was satisfied with - it’s the one product I have used consistently ever since and it’s this formulation which ultimately inspired Gisou’s Honey Infused Hair Oil. Based on the success of this formula, combined with our strong belief in the power of honey to support healthy hair, we developed more Honey Infused products to help anyone achieve stronger, healthy, shiny hair.

3. Beekeeping has run in your family for six generations. Can you tell us more about that?

My father learned the craft of beekeeping from his father, who learned it from his father and so on. Just like the generations before him, my father started a bee garden of his own and continues to take care of his bees there with passion to this day. Our family passion for bees, beekeeping and honey runs through our veins - I’m an active beekeeper myself, and support my father as much as I can. It’s his honey that we sustainably source to formulate all of Gisou’s Honey Infused products. However, the bees’ wellbeing is our top priority, and so we only ever take surplus honey.

4. What has been your biggest challenge growing Gisou? How does it feel to have an international presence?

I never thought that launching a brand would be easy, and Gisou is no exception! As we grow, we are experiencing lots of demand and increased requests from retailers around the world who want to partner with us. For Maurits and I, it’s really important to take it slow, not expand too fast and always focus on quality and prioritising the wellbeing of our Mirsalehi bees and Gisou community. It’s the challenges that make the whole experience all the more rewarding.

5. What are the properties of honey that are so beneficial for the hair?

Honey is extremely nourishing and hydrating. It’s not only rich in lots of nutrients but it’s also a natural humectant, meaning it binds water to hair to keep it hydrated and moisturized. As a result, formulas like our Honey Infused Hair Oil nourish and smooth ends, lock-in moisture, tame flyaways and frizz and strengthen hair overtime. With consistent use, it’s one of the best ingredients to support the overall health of your hair.

6. You are very passionate about bee conservation and its important role to our ecosystem. Can you elaborate more on that?

Bees are crucial to the health of our ecosystem, and not many people realize that! Bees pollinate flowers and crops, including nearly 80% of our food supply, not to mention that they keep the entire ecosystem in balance. Through Gisou, my platform and the reach I have, I am committed to raise awareness for the importance of bees not only for our health but for the sake of the bees themselves. At Gisou, we have several initiatives in place to encourage young people to join in on our bee conservation efforts. For instance, now until August 21, each order placed via gisou.com includes Wildflower Seeds, while supplies last, so that our community can plant bee-friendly wildflowers and support the full honey bee life cycle with us. To further inspire our Gisou Community to help fight the negative effects of climate change and habitat destruction by tending to their own garden or even exploring beekeeping themselves, I worked with the Gisou team to design a Limited Edition Gisou Garden Jumpsuit - a versatile gardening staple inspired by beekeeper's suits. Moving forward, we want to expand on our community initiatives and make even more of an impact in saving the bees. We have lots more in store with Gisou for the rest of this bee season 2021, so I hope everyone reading this takes a bit of time to follow along and join in on the bee conservation efforts with us!

7. What are your top three favorite products from the Gisou collection and why?

Every product in our Gisou collection plays an important role in a healthy hair routine in their own unique way. If I had to pick the products I am currently using the most: Based on a homemade formula by my mother, the Honey Infused Hair Oil is the one product I have used since I was a little girl and have the overall health of my hair to thank. It’s my favorite because it’s multipurpose in use and has a wide range of benefits so just by using this product, you can already do a lot for your hair. I use it before and after styling to smooth ends, tame flyaways, and add shine but also after my washing routine to lock in moisture, or overnight to deeply nourish and repair damaged hair.

The Honey Infused Hair Perfume is my go-to in between washes to ensure my hair always smells fresh. This product is perfect for anyone who loves our signature Honey Infused fragrance!

Another multipurpose essential is our Propolis Infused Polishing Primer. It’s a styling all-in-one that can likewise be used before and after styling, and really throughout the day to enhance volume and definition, prevent and diminish frizz and ensure styling hold! I use it before my curling routine to make sure my curls stay, and keep it close on a humid day to keep frizz and flyaways away!

8. Gisou launches a ‘Sustainability Promise’ on World Earth Day every year. What is the ‘Sustainability Promise’ for 2021?

Sustainability is a top priority and focus at Gisou and each year, our Sustainability promise is an opportunity to recap on our annual progress and commitments for the year ahead with our community. For us, it is an important part of staying accountable at every step. Although our promises evolve each and every year, they’re always structured around our 5 key commitments - prioritize the well-being of bees, raise awareness for the importance of bees, become more transparent about our ingredients and production, formulate greener products, and make our packaging more sustainable. A few of our initiatives for 2021 include: in celebration of Bee Season this year, we have launched our complimentary Flower Seeds Set with every order and limited edition Garden Jumpsuit to encourage our community to tend to their gardens and create bee-friendly environments in which the bees can pollinate and thrive. Our aim is to inspire younger generations to get more involved in supporting the bees through beekeeping practices. Additionally, after launching our Curling Tool in 2020 in a custom, 100% sustainable tool case made entirely of paper pulp, we’re focused on continuing to make sustainable packaging a priority with every new product we launch in the year ahead - watch this space! We are committed to improving and are continually working hard to do so.

9. What is next for Gisou? Any projects in the works that you can share with 3oud.com?

We are working on lots of exciting projects! There is a lot in the works both for the rest of this bee season and beyond. Although I can’t share much, stay tuned for product launches, community campaigns and more opportunities to get involved in support the bees!

10. How have you been practicing self-care throughout the pandemic and its lockdowns?

The pandemic has changed my overall routine. I’ve had to travel much less, which finally gave me the opportunity to really take a step back and enjoy being at home, focus on self-care and spend more time in nature. We have focused on Gisou throughout the pandemic (we weren’t able to achieve our amazing launch at Sephora in the Middle East otherwise) but it also put things in perspective and helped us achieve a better work-life balance. Of course, I’ve also been better at maintaining my weekly hair treatment with our Honey Infused Hair Mask. Usually I’ll also mix-in a few drops of our Honey Infused Hair Oil for an extra rich treatment. After a long week, it’s just the nourishment and moisture my hair needs.

11. We have to ask; we desperately need to know how to get your signature waves?

Although in part I have genetics to thank for my hair, I really stand by the Honey Infused Hair Oil and our other products to maintain the health of my hair. In terms of my curling routine, I use a few Gisou favorites as well. Because I get asked this question so often, I put these together into our Curling Routine Kit, consisting of our Propolis Infused Heat Protecting Spray, Propolis Infused Polishing Primer and Honey Infused Hair Oil. First, I use the Heat Protecting Spray to protect my hair from heat styling. Then, I prime my hair with our Polishing Primer to ensure my curls stay. I go ahead and curl my hair before finishing off with a few drops of our Honey Infused Hair Oil for the extra shine.

12. What is the most important beauty tip that you’d like to share with 3oud.com readers?

It’s a cliche but it’s true, healthy hair is beautiful hair. By just being gentle with your hair, washing it only 2-3 times a week and using the right products, anyone can achieve beautiful, healthy, shiny hair.