Ask the Expert: Britta Cox - AQUIS FOUNDER
December 2019
Aquis is one of the few brands in the market using technology to help you achieve better hair days. With an innovative lightweight drying system, Aquis towels are made from ultra-fine fibres, cutting your drying time in half and even helping you achieve stronger, healthier hair. The Odabash HQ girls love Aquis products and they were one of the sponsors for our press event last month showcasing our SS19 collection. We had the opportunity to speak to the founder of Aquis, Britta Cox and she talked us through the story behind the brand.
What inspired you to establish AQUIS? Please tell us a bit about how the brand came about.
I was motivated by my need to dry my hair quickly and inspired by fabrics used in ski and active-wear that were thin and lightweight. The cotton bath towel was the only option when I started and it simply did not remove water from hair, left it drippy wet, was heavy and bulky and usually fell off—all around not a great experience.I grew up skiing and eventually worked for an Italian skiwear brand when I had my 'aha' moment that these wicking fabrics could be a solution to my hair drying pain point. I sought out the company in Japan that invented these wicking fabrics and worked with them to create a towel designed to remove excess water from hair quickly, yet be gentle on the hair and lightweight enough to easily wrap up on your head so I could do other things while my hair dried.
Tell us about the technology behind your products.
The devil is always in the details. Our goal has always been to make the best fabric to draw water out of your hair the most quickly yet be super gentle on the hair cuticles, to not cause friction. To achieve both elements every aspect of the manufacturing is critical from the technical yarns we start with, to the proprietary weave, to the final processing that ensures the fastest wicking material. Our quality cannot be replicated.
What makes AQUIS different than a normal hair towel?
If you look closely at AQUIS, you will see our material has no loops or lengths of cut loops. Our fabric is made with a special weave that is gentle on the hair cuticle. There are many towels and turbans in the market claiming to be for hair but they are not best suited for drying hair and can actually be damaging on the hair cuticle. Most are knitted with loops and some have the loops cut, either way, they are great for picking up and holding dust inside the loops but can cause friction and damage to your hair.
What AQUIS product would you recommend to someone with fine, curly and thick hair?
Our lisse luxe fabric is the most gentle and suitable for all hair types, particularly good for fine or curly hair. For thick hair, the waffle fabric will hold a slight bit more water given there is more surface space of fabric to hold more water. But honestly, if you have a personal preference of one fabric over the other, just know, all work on all hair types.
Do you have any helpful haircare tip for our customers to follow while travelling or on a holiday?
The haircare tip I'm passionate to share is to wash your hair at the end of the shower, not at the beginning. The less time your hair is wet, the less it will weaken and swell, the less your cuticles will raise and the less your hair will be effected by environmental factors. Your hair will tangle less, be stronger and less susceptible to frizz. Before traveling, I will often do a 100% coconut oil treatment on my dry hair and leave it on for 4hrs or overnight. This will hydrate hair from the inside so your hair can better withstand the elements, whether you are out in humidity, go into seawater or go to the mountains in winter.
Do you have any personal favourite AQUIS product or a product loved by all your customers?
I love the black and white chevron pattern turban - it's fun and happy! When I travel, I choose to bring the chevron towel over the turban as it can double purpose for other things, like a pareo to the beach!
What's next for AQUIS?
I am super excited for what's next for AQUIS! We recently launched a game-changing hair care system, AQUIS Prime, in the US which will be introduced in the UK in Summer of 2019! If you had asked me 5 years ago, if we would ever launch haircare, I would have said no way. But once we uncovered the phenomenon of hygral fatigue (the repeated stretching and swelling of wet hair) and how the traditional haircare regime does not support your best hair, we became obsessed with finding a better solution, one that takes a clean and more holistic approach to caring for hair to support its intrinsic strength and integrity. Stay tuned!
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