From as far back as we are capable of reaching, human kind has always been interested in adjusting the appearance and look for a variety of reasons. Reasons ranging from attracting mates, camouflaging in hunts, cultural and personal expressions, to make ourselves appear fiercer to enemies, and other ways of expressing self. One of the ways in which we did this was by finding ways to colour and adorn the hair.

Today, there is still a great deal of need from people to adjust their appearance in a way that best expresses their thinking and purpose. However, there is a shortfall of things, or products, that people can use to alter their image in an efficient and cost effective way. STARDE affords people the opportunity to colour their hair, with the specific intention on ethnic hair.

Lebogang Morule of STARDE said, “The product was formulated because of the need to colour ethnic hair, as the products in the market are mainly for relaxed hair and don’t last long on natural hair and it becomes a nightmare for the texture.”

STARDE is tailor made for colouring natural hair and is suitable for Dreadlocks and Afro hairstyles. It is different from other products out there, with some as powders and others pastes. STARDE is the first in the market to be in a liquid form that you can easily spray on your head with little difficulty. “The product is the most convenient for natural hair in the market,” He said, “with some of the colours, after spraying your hair, in ten minutes you have colour, although we recommend waiting for 20 minutes for complete processing of the hair for the colour black and 25 minutes for red”.

“We have taken out a lot of processes from the conventional way of colouring hair; saving people’s valuable time,” he adds, “apart from the unique technology, the product has benefits different from other products in the market.”

This a product that people can easily use in the comfort of their homes or take it to their favourite hair salons for a quick visit.

STARDE prides itself for being clean and not leaving a mess after use, like other colouring products that leave stains on their foreheads, in clothes, pillows and the rest of the bedding as well as anything that comes in contact with hair. ” When the product lands on your forehead, simply wipe it immediately,” he said.

“We formulated five colours and we have, to date, released two colours in the market, black and red, with brown likely to come out in January to February followed by blue black and bleach (this is mainly essential for people colouring their hair Red and Brown, as 2 out of 4 people will have to bleach their hair before colouring Red and 1 out of 4 people colouring Brown will have to bleach their hair),” he said, “There are other colours to be released which we cannot at this point say much about, because we are in the market to be different and not to be like everyone else.”

The products for dry and sensitive scalps are in the pipeline to cater for people with such conditions when colouring hair. “We are in the market to be different and not to be like everyone else,” he said.

STARDE has been in the market for two years and is doing very well. People can get the product in select retail spaces.

The name was inspired by a revolution to STARt something new for DrEadlocks, hence STARDE for a new journey. And STARDE means Star Of in French and, as he says, they liked that coincidence with the French connotation with regards to them being stars of hair colour revolution.

The product comes in two bottles which you have to mix together and you don’t have to shake the contents, which is better than the conventional way of mixing in bowels. He said, “The technology we have can be migrated to treat Caucasian hair and other hair types – currently, the product is also suitable for Indian hair.”

The product has been researched by a world renowned South African oils and chemicals division of Sasol called Chemcity.

He said, “We research, develop, manufacture and market hair products and our mission is to make grooming a pleasant experience for all by continuously finding safe, interesting, and fashionable colour solutions for hair.”

“We want to create a strong, dynamic and innovative international brand that represents safe products,” he concluded.

There is a long history of Africans colouring their hair, from South to North Africa. This is evident in pictures and paintings depicting this from Kenya, Egypt and other parts of the continent.