While venturing through the University Student Center, students can stop for a quick bite at Absurd Bird, take a headshot at GW’s career services office and now, pick up quality hair products from a DMV-based hair care company following the February installation of a beauty vending machine in the student center basement.
After months of planning, Hair by Cindy CEO Cindy Tawiah said she reached out to GW officials in September 2025 in an effort to bring readily available, quality hair products directly to students via the vending machine model, which allows students to browse and purchase items during student center hours of 7 a.m. to midnight Monday through Wednesday and 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. Thursday through Sunday. Tawiah said Hair by Cindy offers products focused on reducing hair shedding and breakage while improving moisture, with the vending machine selling beauty items like leave-in detangler, moisturizing shampoo, conditioner and body lotion for $12 each.
After working as a registered nurse for 13 years, Tawiah said she launched the brand in 2007 out of a love for beauty products. While developing the line, Tawiah said she focused on making the merchandise natural and alcohol free while including ingredients that prevent hair breakage and promote hair growth, all vital benefits for busy college students who desire accessible products at a reasonable cost.
“The whole concern was about safety, students who had to somehow go to Target or Walmart or wherever, CVS, trying to get stuff at nighttime or even trying to order online to be able to have access right there and then,” Tawiah said.
Tawiah said Diva by Cindy markets their products to all hair types, as the formulas are meant to address common hair concerns like hair shedding and breakage for women of all backgrounds.
“A lot of times women think that there are differences when it comes to scalp and skin,” Tawiah said. “Scalp is the same, everyone’s scalp needs to be cleansed. Every woman experiences some level of knots or tangles, shedding.”
While GW is the company’s first college campus location, Tawiah said Diva by Cindy has operated in the DMV before, opening a storefront at the Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport in 2017 before losing the location the following year due to MAC cosmetics taking over the space. She said she also had storefronts in Arundel Mills, Maryland and Fort Belvoir, Virginia, which also closed, forcing her to pivot to the hair care vending machine model in hopes of creating a more convenient business that would benefit a wider range of customers on the go.
Tawiah said she used her stores’ closures as an opportunity to rethink how customers could quickly access her products, inspiring her to open her current vending machine location in the student center after talking to GW officials last year. Tawiah also has a second machine located in the BWI Airport, which she opened after the storefront closed, allowing travelers to stop by and pick up products before hopping on their flight.
“So once they took the location from us, I was literally sitting there, and I said, ‘you know what, I need to figure out a way that will give accessibility and make it easy to scale’,” Tawiah said.
Tawiah said she chose GW because of its location in the nation’s capital and because University officials from Business Services were responsive to the idea when she presented it back in September of last year. Tawiah said University officials suggested the student center location because of its visibility and accessibility to students as a popular spot on campus.
Although the machine has been operating since February, Tawiah said sales have been slow, with awareness among students remaining a large challenge. As a result, she said she has resorted to passing out free samples near the machine to draw students’ attention to her brand when she personally restocks it.
“So far it’s been very quiet, and I know students go down there to warm their food and stuff, because of the microwave there, and the two soda machines are there, but sales have been really slow,” Tawiah said.
To further increase brand visibility, Tawiah said she hopes to participate in future campus events like the student organization fair in the fall during the back to school season and pass out free samples to students in popular campus spaces like Kogan Plaza, which she did in the student center when she visited in February when the machine first opened.
“It was a history-making move, because most college campuses have soda machines, but you guys are actually the first college campus in this area with a machine with shampoos, conditioners and body lotion in it,” Tawiah said.
In addition to her beauty line, Tawiah also operates the Diva Project, a charity that donates a portion of proceeds to local DMV organizations that help women who experience homelessness and domestic violence like House of Ruth, Marian House and My Sister’s Place. Using proceeds from the Diva by Cindy Hair Product Line, the Diva Project brings in women from shelters throughout the area to provide makeovers and a salon day full of pampering and relaxation.
“The product is a do-good, feel good, feel good, do good brand, which is not only helping women gain self-esteem, but also helping women in shelters as well,” Tawiah said.
