Hi! We’re Mai and Dax, and together the two of us co-founded what has now become our passion project and internet child - THE GLOSSARRAY (a play on words - can either be pronounced like Glossary or Gloss Array, take your pick). Together, we try out and review skincare and beauty products for all of our amazing readers, which has turned into a full-time dream job for both of us. We’re located in two different cities - Dax is based in NYC, and I’m currently sweating my life away in New Orleans. We’ve been able to work with so many amazing brands, but we have a special connection with AQUIS. They’ve been so kind to us from the very beginning - and their turbans are truly a game changer. Here are our own personal hair stories, and how AQUIS has changed our lives: 

MAI

I was born in 1995 with barely any hair, as you can see in that first photo. However, what I did have was bright, strawberry blonde, and silky straight, according to my parents. Growing up, my mom also took pride in making sure that my hair was always cut into a bob with blunt bangs right across my forehead (not fully complete without a huge bow). Seriously. Until I was in the 2nd grade, I had this haircut. I give mom a hard time about it now, but it’s all in good fun.

As I got older, my hair started showing more body and became kinda curly (thanks to my dad - you can see that picture below lol). I don’t remember ever really caring much about my hair or what it looked like. Instead, it was always thrown messily into a ponytail or bun, out of my face. I played sports a lot in middle school, so as you can imagine, my hair was more of a chore than something I enjoyed.

However, in the 5th grade, I decided I wanted to switch it up a little bit. I begged my mom for caramel-blonde highlights, and she finally gave in. This changed the way that I viewed my hair, and from then forward, I began attempting to style it for school. I wanted to be like my friends, the ones that were getting attention from all of the boys (yawn). I remember pin-straight hair being in style back then, so I would wake up almost every morning before school and flat iron the hell out of my hair. No heat protectant. Flat iron as hot as it would get. Yeah, awful.

Fast forward to 8th grade + my early high school years. More bangs. Some I cut myself - once it turned out okay, the second time I looked like Spock - and some were professionally cut and inspired by Demi Lovato right after she broke into the Disney Channel scene. I can’t be the only one that was inspired by her fringe, right? 

After that, I ombre’d my hair a few times. Then colored it black with CVS hair dye (don’t ever do that to yourself), fried my hair off trying to go platinum blonde, and then…my I had my hugest transformation to date.

A close friend of mine was diagnosed with Lymphoma, and in solidarity with them, I shaved my head. It was a sort of spontaneous decision, but it’s proven to be one of the best things I’ve ever done. It’s changed the way that I see myself. It’s forced me to break out of my comfort zone and has taught me that hair does not define who I am. I am beautiful with and without hair. I know my friend appreciates it as well, and it’s the least I could do to show my support.

My buzzed look has gotten a lot of second glances, especially in the small town that I’m from. I’ve gotten a lot of questions, and even more words of kindness. I’m in a carefree, fun place with my hair now, and I feel great about it. It’s currently pink, too, which is even better.

When the day comes that my hair begins to grow back out, I know that AQUIS and its beautiful hair turbans have my back. For that, I’m forever grateful.

DAX 

The first thing my dad saw when my mom was giving birth to me was a whole head of hair. Since the day I was born I’ve always had very thick hair. Growing up with thick hair I despised hairbrushes and the winter time when my hair would constantly be in knots. Not only was my hair super thick, when I was about six years old it was super long too! As funny as it sounds, I had to make sure my hair wouldn’t end up in the toilet! 

As the years went on, I would go for a shoulder length chop every year or so since my hair grew out very fast. By the time I was old enough to be caring for my own hair, I still hated brushing it. I would get so frustrated with the knots in my hair that I would start to angrily brush it. I completely related to that scene in The Princess Diaries where the hairbrush got stuck in Anne Hathaway’s hair and eventually broke. Anyway, I ended up with a lot of split ends. Until my junior year of high school, I would have so many dry and split ends that I would end up peeling them apart in hopes of it looking better. No surprise, it made it worse.

For the past few years I’ve been very careful when it comes to my hair, and contrary to Mai’s view of her hair, I wouldn’t feel like myself without mine. In high school my friends were always dyeing their hair on a whim, but my mom never allowed me to. At the more rebellious point in my life I decided one day to just do it. I wanted to go blonde without bleaching my hair because I was afraid the bleach would make my hair fall out. I was really loving Kim Kardashian’s new platinum blonde hair and I wanted it. My friends and I went to the store and picked up multiple boxes of blonde hair dye. Dark brown hair, no bleach and plain old blonde hair dye… of course I ended up with a head full of brassy hair instead. It made me wish I had never touched my hair to begin with and I knew my mom was right! I lived with brassy hair for a while, trying to convince myself it wasn’t that bad and at least I still had nice length, but I felt like a completely different person. I eventually dyed my hair back to my natural color (professionally, of course) but hair dye fades and even still I have slightly orange ends. I would’ve done anything to get my natural hair back, but the only way would be to grow it out and give it the care it needs to be healthy again. It was almost like going through a breakup with my hair and I had to earn back it’s love in order to get to that happy place again.

Trying to get over this horrible mistake has been plenty of work, but I’ve learned a lot from it. Number one, don’t fall into peer pressure (a lesson that all high school kids should learn). Number two, just because someone else looks good with a certain hair style, or color for that matter, doesn’t mean I’ll look like them. Number three, my hair makes me feel the most beautiful when it’s in its natural state. More importantly, it’s showed me how special and meaningful my hair is to me. I know not to take it for granted. While some people might not feel such an attachment to their hair, for me it’s something I was born with (a lot of!) and something I’ll appreciate forever. When my hair is happy, I’m happy.

I was introduced to AQUIS a little less than two years ago and I haven’t used any other towel on my hair since. I was initially interested in AQUIS because I saw that it could reduce drying time. My hair took hours to dry without the technology behind the AQUIS towel. I would go to sleep with damp hair after taking a shower and wake up with...damp hair. Now, it takes a fraction of the time to dry and I haven’t seen a split end at all! AQUIS is truly a savior for my hair and something that I recommend to everyone that can relate to my hair story.

Love,

Mai + Dax

@THEGLOSSARRAY