Amanda Martinez, OUAI’s Director of Social sticks to a mantra of “Don’t overthink it.” And that makes sense twofold since the haircare brand, founded by celebrity hairstylist Jen Atkin, was created to make styling more approachable. 

Keeping that in mind, the OUAI team finds inspiration across categories from 90s pop culture to even vintage tampon ads, which seamlessly falls in line with one of their core values of, ‘We’re not afraid to go first.’  And that mentality is something they prioritize on social media. Unafraid to push boundaries, OUAI isn’t too precious about aesthetics outside of their launches, and they’re always looking to create content that serves a purpose versus just being ‘pretty’ so they can be a value add for their community.

Here, Martinez shares the importance of good lighting when shooting content, why the OUAI’s feed acts as a living encyclopedia, and the challenge of teaching consumers via hair tutorials.

What are your best social photography or editing tips for beauty bloggers and brands?

Start with good lighting. We’re lucky to have an amazing in house art director who shoots most of our content. One of the most accessible tips I’ve learned from him is if you shoot with the right lighting to start, you save yourself time editing later.

What are the biggest challenges for OUAI’s Instagram?

I think being in the hair category has some added challenges that other categories may not. Replicating makeup tutorials are typically easier for consumers because the angle of application is straightforward. With hair, a lot of the action and technique is in the hard to reach places or at an angle that’s impossible to reach on your own. Combine that with the added challenge that a lot of popular looks are the result of hair extensions or clip-ins, and it can be disappointing when you try a style and the result looks drastically different. It’s one of the main reasons Jen started the brand—to create real products for real life. We reflect this in our content by always shooting tutorials with people self-styling and demoing realistic and approachable hairstyles.

What is your average engagement and how did you initially grow on Instagram?

A lot of early growth was at the height of beauty on Instagram. During the initial launch of the brand, there really wasn’t a socially native haircare brand on Instagram. We had a really strong point of view on what the brand is and what it stands for and it’s something that was reflected in our Instagram strategy. We don’t pay influencers to post, but we’ve been fortunate to receive a lot of organic mentions. Of course, while that helps with awareness of our brand, it’s our content that keeps people on our page and hitting that ‘follow’ button.