Strength of Nature’s legacy began with one man’s dream. Mario de la Guardia, Sr. brought his family from Cuba to the United States with no money and sheer ambition. He worked his way up at Carson Products and invented Dark & Lovely’s no-lye relaxer, a feat that revolutionized the hair care industry. His son, Mario de la Guardia Jr., followed in his father’s footsteps and worked under his wing for years before starting Strength of Nature in the year 2000. Although it is a global hair care company with distribution in countries throughout the world, at its core Strength of Nature is a family business that prides itself on creating affordable yet exquisite hair care for women of color. Strength of Nature has a portfolio of 12 brands that are a mixture of heritage and legacy brands and brands that have been developed in-house by the Strength of Nature team. Those brands include: African Pride, Dream Kids, ElastaQP, SoyOYL, Beautiful Textures, Profectiv, Relax & Refresh, GrowthRenew, MegaGrowth, SmartPerm, Strong & Healthy, Profectiv Professional, Soft & Beautiful, Soft and Beautiful Botanicals, ProLine and TCB.