Hi, I'm Ari.
"I made this for me first. Then for the women in my chair. Then for everyone who's tired of leaving the salon and watching their edges flake by Day 3."
The first install
I sat in my first braid chair at 11. My auntie did them. She passed me a jar of edge gel that smelled like petroleum and felt like wax. By Friday — three days in — my edges had turned chalky white. I rubbed it off in the school bathroom and went back to class with no edges at all.
That memory stayed with me. Twenty years later, after braiding part-time through college and full-time after, I had the same problem. Different jar, same chalk.
The breaking point
It was 2023. I'd just finished a knotless install on a client paying $400. By Day 4 she sent me a screenshot of her edges flaking on the train. I refunded her. Then I sat down and made a list of every gel I'd ever used on a client. There were 22.
Not one held past Day 10 without a touch-up. Not one was built for the install — they were all built for a slicked-back ponytail and a photo.
I called a chemist. She quoted me $40,000 to formulate a custom gel. I had $7,200 in savings. I started anyway.
What we built
Eighteen months and 31 prototypes later, MELTDOWN was a flaxseed-based polymer that locks edges without crunch, with castor and argan for shine, and aloe for the scalp. It re-activates with water — so Day 7 looks like Day 1 with a quick spritz.
I tested every prototype on my own head. Then on the women in my chair. Then on 47 braiders in three cities. Version 31 is what's in the jar.
Why I'm telling you this
Because if you've ever sat in that chair and watched your install fall apart by Day 5, this isn't another product. It's the one I wish existed when I was 11.
If it works for you, tell a friend. If it doesn't — actually doesn't, screenshot Day 1 and Day 10 — we refund it. No questions.
— Ari
Founder · MELTDOWN