Kiva Iowa: Cedar Falls stylist creates hair, skin care products

CEDAR FALLS — Latasha Frost, a fourth-generation hairstylist, started Fifth Generation Natural Skin and Hair Care in Cedar Falls during the pandemic.

She named the business for her five kids. Frost’s great-grandmother was the first barber in the family.

Frost’s business began when she and her mother found her grandmother Constance Brumfield’s stylist notes in the attic, including directions for a hair oil that reduced scalp fungus with tea tree oil and lavender.

Frost, 37, decided to duplicate her grandmother’s recipes, using modern ingredients, founding her business to produce all-natural skin and hair care for men and women.

Hair growth

One of Frost’s popular offerings is for hair growth, inspired by her previous disappointment with major brands, she said. Hair growth, she noted, is one of the most-searched-for items in the multibillion-dollar beauty industry.

Frost said her system promotes growth and eliminates greasy textures and fragrances. Her system, she said, produces results and has received excellent reviews.

“I love changing lives,” said Frost, who also works at Voya the Salon in Cedar Falls. “People are sending me messages that their hair would never grow back after postpartum shed, a common condition after having a baby. But hair growth is important for everyone, whether for age, medical reasons, chemical reactions or bad haircuts.”

Frost also created a face wash with honey, a natural antibacterial that can prevent acne. Her line includes Honey Rose Face Wash, Turmeric and Hibiscus Toner, and Face Glow Oil with jojoba for hyperpigmentation/fine lines/wrinkles that reduce pore size and texture.

Another grandmother, Charlotte Frost, provided the skin care inspiration.

She will teach a course, “How to Care for Natural Hair; Coiley and Curly Textures” at Hawkeye Community College in Waterloo on Oct. 20 for licensed professionals, including stylists and barbers.

Frost said her long-term goal is to change how Americans care for their beauty. She plans to scale up her product distribution to the next level. She said she’d like to see more professional-grade products made by hair stylists, believing there’s a national or international market for them.

Starting a business

Frost said she started using the oil she created on her hair during the pandemic and her friends were “shocked” at how quickly her hair grew, asking what vitamins she was taking.

“I realized it was the hair oil, so I started using it on my clients. It worked well for the first client, but I didn’t know how to price it, so I gave it to her, and a few friends and family,” she said. “Within a month, my client was blown away by her results, so she sent me two more people to try it.”

By June 2020, her email “was swamped with requests from others.”

By August, Frost started selling her legacy products with a boost from a customer’s $300 investment.

Frost’s brother, William Angelo Julian Frost, 39, who has a business degree, helped her price the oil and now assists with manufacturing, marketing and shipping. Her mother, Angelic Frost, 70, helps with sanitation and shipping, and Frost does the manufacturing, sales and education.

Fifth Generation also received a $7,500 Kiva Iowa loan to go from a basement production area to a storage center with a lab.

Kiva microloans offer crowdsourced loans with zero interest and zero fees. See https://newboco.com/kiva for information or to become a lender.

“I want to create a legacy to help people,” Frost said, “and to be known for service to others to help cure their issues that cause self-consciousness that exists in many men and women.”

Fifth Generation is available in 20 salons and stores or on the store’s website, http://fifthgenerationskinandhair.com/.