Necessity truly was the mother of invention for Jeff Rosenzweig, founder and CEO of J&D Beauty Products, and a father of three young girls.  When he went to comb through their hair after a shampoo, he wanted to leave the hair on his children’s heads, not in the brush. With 38 years of experience in beauty products, Rosenzweig went onto develop the Wet Brush, which promises no more crying, no more tugging, no more pulling. And while parents might champion this product, it is the professionals who led the charge, recommending it to their clients.  Here, Rosenzweig shares with MODERN SALON a look at what’s next for Wet Brush.

MS: Please share a bit about the JD Beauty Group history.  

JR: I started selling hairbrushes and beauty products in the Roosevelt Raceway Flea Market on Long island in 1977.  It began a long and proud journey of developing, marketing and distributing thousands of different beauty products globally over the past 38 years and has developed into what JD Beauty Group is today.

MS: What brands are in your portfolio?  

JR: JD Beauty Group has offered many brands throughout the years. Luxor Pro offers professional sundries. TS-2 is a brand of professional appliances such as blow dryers and flat irons.  Lure is a value-priced professional beauty brand and our Krypton Carbon combs are highly regarded by stylists across the country.  Most notable however, is Wet Brush, a brand that has created an entirely new category of detangling within the hairbrush arena.

MS: How are you distributed?

JR: We have a broad network of distribution in the professional channel.  We are partners with all the major, full service distributors who do an excellent job of making sure salons can meet the robust demand for our wildly popular Wet Brush brand. In addition to extensive full service distribution, our products can be found in nearly every beauty supply outlet in America.  

MS: When, how and why did you launch Wet Brush?

JR: As the father of three daughters, tangles were always a pain point. Although I had access to hundreds of brushes, none of them solved the stress that came with brushing hair after bath time. I would constantly bring home new brushes to try on the girls, and eventually I got a sense of which elements from these brushes worked best. The common denominators were flexible bristles, floating cushions and ball tipped bristles. Eventually we combined these elements into what would become the Wet Brush. 

MS: What marketing strategies did you incorporate that were most successful?

JR: Any product that exceeds people’s expectations is going to succeed. We all love being wowed! The most basic strategy we’ve employed is focus. We’ve focused on a product, a brand, a customer, and a result. By keeping very focused, we have been able to deliver our message.  Our overall marketing strategy has been what we call the ‘power of the pro.’  If the pros love it, so will their clients. We support these professional partners by paying specific attention to quality and creativity and by providing them with products that over-deliver.

MS: What has happened as a result of the success of Wet Brush?  How has it impacted the hairbrush category?

JR: As I said earlier, I’ve been selling hair brushes for 38 years. During that time, I’ve literally seen thousands and thousands of different gimmicks, trends, as well as some really great tools. I remember the first thermal brush and the introduction of the Original Vent brush into the market.  Many of these products did a great job but I am not certain that, at the time they were introduced, they really solved a problem the way the Wet Brush does. In essence, we have created a new category, which is detangling.  And we have built a large and loyal fan base with thousands of reviews from professionals and consumers alike who thank us for having created a ‘life-changing’ product. These stories encourage us to continue doing what we do. As a result of the success of Wet Brush, the demand for sizes, styles, colors, and prints is endless. We have made the brush in over 150 different styles and colors since inception and we have no plans on stopping.  

 MS: And what is coming next for JDB and Wet Brush?

JR: Many great things. In January 2016, Wet Brush launched EPIC Professional, an assortment of brushes built with the salon professional in mind. This summer, we will be adding two brushes to the EPIC Professional line – a unique smoothing thermal brush and an innovative boar bristle, shine-enhancing brush. We predict this new smoothing technology that we have developed will disrupt styling tools the way our Wet Brush has disrupted detangling. Wet Brush will also be launching its first blow dryer—the Aspire hair dryer—which is very exciting for the brand.