Story
Gisou by Negin Mirsalehi is born out of a passion for honey bees and haircare.
Read the Gisou story below, as told by our founder and active beekeeper, Negin Mirsalehi.
Read the Gisou story below, as told by our founder and active beekeeper, Negin Mirsalehi.
1972
BEEKEEPER BY BLOOD
You could say beekeeping is in my blood; it’s been in my family for six generations.
My father learned the craft of beekeeping from his father, who was taught by my great-grandfather, and so on.
WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A BEEKEEPER
The global population relies on bees to pollinate more than a third of its crops and beekeepers are necessary to ensure that there are enough bees around to do so. But, beekeeping involves more than simply maintaining a steady food supply.
As bee populations are in decline, passionate beekeepers are needed to sustain the bee colonies, protecting them from climate change, the use of pesticides, pollution, invasive species and the decline in wildflower cultivation.
This is where beekeepers like my father come in, who practice beekeeping because they love bees, and celebrate the fruits of their labor on the bees’ terms, only ever taking surpluses of honey, if and when appropriate. In the Mirsalehi Bee Garden, beekeeping is more than a profession - it’s a passion.
1985
THE START OF SOMETHING NEW
As a young man with a passion for beekeeping, my father wanted to keep and care for his own bees. The first thing he did when he arrived in the Netherlands was set up his own bee garden in Almere.
A small town just outside of Amsterdam, Almere has been home to our family’s bee garden ever since.
1988
THE FAMILY LEGACY CONTINUES
Some of my fondest childhood memories stem from growing up in my father’s bee garden.
My family and I spent our Sundays there, playing backgammon and having picnics while helping my father with beekeeping. Seeing how happy working with bees made him sparked my own curiosity and interest in becoming a beekeeper.
OUR BEE-CENTERED APPROACH
Gisou is committed to caring for the Mirsalehi Honey Bees in the same way my family always has. We put their wellbeing first in everything we do.
From my family’s beekeeping legacy, to the Mirsalehi Bee Garden, Gisou's heritage stems from a passion for honey bees.
At Gisou, we let the bees guide our beekeeping practices in all we do in order to extract our key ingredients, Mirsalehi Honey and Propolis, in a cruelty-free manner. We strive to mirror the natural life cycle of the bees and minimize intrusion to the colony. We prioritize bee welfare, favor natural behavior and interaction amongst the bees, and only take surpluses of honey if and when appropriate. We make sure our production cycles are in sync with the harvesting season of our key ingredients.
Simply put, the Mirsalehi Honey Bees are at the core of who we are and what we do at Gisou, and we strive to give them as much as they give us.
1989
THE SIGNATURE INGREDIENT
Growing up we enjoyed an abundance of the freshest, finest honey produced by my father’s honey bees. We used it for just about anything.
As well as satisfying our taste buds as a natural sweetener, my family has always strongly believed in the medicinal power of honey and has used it as a supplement and an antiseptic.
1990
EXPERIMENTING WITH HONEY AND HAIR
A beekeeper’s wife and hairdresser in training, my mother soon discovered how the moisturizing and nourishing properties of honey could work wonders for our hair.
Mom was unimpressed with the beauty products available in the Netherlands and so decided to experiment with making her own homemade haircare formulas using Dad’s Mirsalehi Honey.
1995
THE MAKING OF THE HONEY INFUSED HAIR OIL
After several years of experimenting and mixing, my Mom succeeded in creating the perfect honey infused haircare formula made with fresh honey from our bee garden. Her secret formula has been used by my whole family ever since.
2000
OUR MULTI-PURPOSE HAIRCARE SECRET
For as long as I can remember, my family’s homemade Honey Infused Hair Oil has kept my locks healthy, moisturized and conditioned.
It’s the first thing I use on my hair in the morning to nourish and hydrate and I continue to use it throughout the day, every day, to tame flyaways and polish. I often apply it before bed as an overnight treatment to strengthen and moisturize my hair.
One of my favorite ways to use it is to add it to hair masks and conditioners for even deeper nourishment.
Before and after styling, it’s the one product I rely on to prevent my hair from drying out, to add shine and to enhance the finished result.
2012
THE START OF MY ONLINE JOURNEY
Next to being a passionate beekeeper, I have always been passionate about fashion & beauty.
In 2010, I decided to start my own blog and social media channels in order to share my fashion & beauty tips with a larger community.
The more questions I received about my hair specifically, the more I wanted to share the power of the Honey Infused Hair Oil with the world.
HONEY
At Gisou, we believe in the power of honey, because honey truly is a magical product.
Honey doesn’t just taste good - it's our key ingredient for strong, hydrated, healthy and luminous hair. Known as nature’s humectant, it helps hair hold on to moisture, stay hydrated, prevent breakage and avoid split-ends. Honey is also one of nature’s richest sources of vitamins, minerals, amino acids and antioxidants, effectively fighting and repairing damage caused by free radicals. Discover the power of honey, featured throughout our Honey Infused haircare line.
2013
SHARING MY HAIRCARE WITH THE WORLD
Having realised just how beneficial my family’s homemade Honey Infused Hair Oil was to my hair, I was inspired to share it with the world.
In 2013, I decided it was time to start my own haircare brand using the finest ingredients from my family’s Mirsalehi Bee Garden.
GISOU IS BORN
After years in the making, Gisou was born. We launched with our iconic Honey Infused Hair Oil - a multi-purpose hair oil infused with Mirsalehi Honey to nourish and moisturize hair.
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