BBlunt, a premier hairstyling brand, spread across India and the UAE was founded by brother sister duo- Osh Bhabani and Adhuna Akhtar. Known for its cutting edge hairstyling and hair care, the brand stands for individuality and imperfection.
Here is some edited excerpts of an exclusive conversation with Adhuna Akhtar, Founder, BBlunt salons.
About the journey
Started by narrating the story of BBlunt’s birth, Akhtar shared, “My brother Osh always wanted to run his own business. I had the hair dressing skills, the technique and the experience. Together, we launched BBlunt in 2004 as ‘a destination hair salon’, the first of its kind in India.
She further noted, “We made many mistakes here, but the best part of this journey was learning and growing, and joining forces with Avan Contractor (styling industry pioneer). Osh learned to cut hair too. He was our first student and has been one of the most successful stylists to date!
Claim to fame
Darling of Bollywood celebrity, BBlunt hasn’t received its glory overnight. Describing the same, this successful Mom-entrepreneur of Indian salon industry shared, “I think BBlunt’s claim to fame was through its Bollywood hairstyling debut with Dil Chahta Hai, a film that broke the traditional mould of hairstyling within the industry. Today it’s almost humbling how the brand has become synonymous with game-changing, on-trend haircuts and styles in advertising, setting trends in genre-defining Indian films, as well as for our close association with India’s top fashion glossies.”
The brands’ glorious achievement covers over 50 major feature films till date with a few of Bollywood’s trend setting icons on its list of loyalists.
“It was only a given that went on to de-clone our reach across India with a range of products designed to help you embrace your hair type, your life and your style. So we got together with Godrej and studied Indian hair industry in depth. Then, we brought all of the finest products from around the world and set about understanding what made them good and how we could better them. It’s been a long process, but when you’re using them in the salons on our clients, and on film and magazine work, they need to stand up to a heavy work load. The good news is- People absolutely LOVE them,” said Akhtar.
USP of the brand
Often termed as one of the coolest, trendiest brands of Indian salon industry, BBlunt has set its own philosophy as its USP.
“In a world so obsessed with perfection and beauty, our imperfections are what define us. The idea is to help you enhance your natural beauty and express yourself. We work with hair in its natural state, treating it as organic material. Every person is different and so each cut or style is customised, shaped and balanced keeping in mind the person’s lifestyle, unique personality, body proportion, face shape, hair texture and type,” explained the BBlunt Founder.
She further added, “We are a brand that’s fun and adventurous and we want our salons to reflect that. So, whereas a lot of other salons are quite white and clinical – ours are bursting with colour and quirky design elements. Every salon has its distinct character and looks a little different from the rest – just like our customers, we don’t cut, copy & paste.”
Expansion plans
Reacting over the future expansion plans, Akhtar left the curiosity quest unaddressed. She said, “There’s some incredibly exciting news coming out of our product development team... but, if I told you, I might just have to kill you! We've also got some really cool ideas on the salon front but we're keeping all of this close to our chests. Stay tuned to our space in 2016.”
