Taking a stroll down the hair-care aisle can feel overwhelming: There are celebrity-helmed brands promising the same ‘dos it takes an entire glam team to achieve, clinical-looking bottles with potent formulas, and a seemingly endless lineup of fruit-forward shampoos. But for those longing for better representation at the hair shelf (or those simply searching for an actually effective option), the hair-care world is leveling up thanks to a crop of indie brands redefining industry standards.
Ceremonia embraces natural ingredients and founder Babba Rivera’s Latin American heritage in its hydrating products, while Seen formulates derm-approved hair care for sensitive, acne- and eczema-prone skin. Driving the “skinification” trend in the hair space, scalp care has emerged as growing category: Act+Acre created its own scalp-centric line for achieving thicker, healthier hair, while Jupiter specializes in dandruff-fighting formulas elevated by luxurious scents and chic packaging.
From new-to-market labels to “IYKYK” cult favorites, check out the buzzy independent hair-care brands reimagining industry staples and driving innovation, below.
Act+Acre
Photo: Courtesy of Act+Acre
Hairstylist Helen Reavey struggled with seborrheic dermatitis in her younger years, but it wasn’t until she was working backstage at Paris Fashion Week that everything clicked for her: Models’ scalps were irritated from constant styling and product buildup, sparking Reavey’s realization that hydrating and soothing scalp care was a largely untapped market. Alongside her husband Colm, Reavey launched Act+Acre in 2019 to center scalp health in the hair-care conversation.
Act+Acre invented the “Cold Processed Method” (which uses hyperbaric chambers, ice-cold water and 1,200 pounds of pressure to “ensure fresh and effective ingredients”) as well as its Stem Cell System, “a three-step approach to support thicker, fuller-looking hair” using Swiss apple stem cells, caffeine and a bamboo-and-pea-sprout blend. In August 2023, the brand entered Sephora and assisted in the beauty retailer’s website redesign to feature “Scalp” as a standalone category. In addition to its retail partnerships with Dermstore, Goop, Bluemercury and Free People, the brand builds its audience by utilizing social media to educate and directly connect with its consumers.
“Everything we do comes back to education and community,” Reavey tells Fashionista. “Scalp care isn’t as widely understood as traditional hair care, so our focus has always been on educating people about why a healthy scalp matters — and making it easy for them to find solutions tailored to their needs.”
Products to try:
Clarifying Hard Water Shampoo, $32, available here
Daily Hydro Scalp Serum, $24, available here
Cold Processed Stem Cell Scalp Serum, $86, available here
Bounce Curl
Photo: Courtesy of Bounce Curl
After struggling to find hair-care products that didn’t drag her curls down or contain harsh chemicals, Merian Odesho tapped into her science background to formulate her own high-performance solutions to keep her curls healthy. Odesho launched the brand in 2015; she also serves as its CEO and formulating scientist. “We mix science with nature to create products that perform,” she says. “Our formulas focus on balancing moisture and protein — something many brands overlook.”
Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, Bounce Curl’s hair-care assortment spans moisturizing shampoos and conditioners, lightweight hair gel, curl-enhancing cream and a patented EdgeLift Brush that defines waves, curls and coils sans heat. With an emphasis on education and a personal connection to its consumers, Bounce Curl partners with smaller boutiques and salons that align with its values, while its social media presence prioritizes tutorials and user-generated content. The dermatologist-approved hair-care brand also centers sustainability: It’s partnered with rePurpose Global to become “plastic neutral,” meaning “an equivalent amount of low-value plastic waste is removed from the environment for every product we sell,” per the brand.
“Bounce Curl is more than hair products — it’s a movement,” says Odesho. “We want people to feel confident embracing their natural hair, and we’re here to support them.”
Products to try:
Avocado & Rose Oil Clump & Define Cream, $26, available here
Moisture Balance Leave-In Conditioner, $26, available here
Light Hold Creme Gel, $20, available here
Ceremonia
Photo: Courtesy of Ceremonia
Babba Rivera, who was born in Chile and grew up in Sweden, never saw herself represented in big-box beauty. After spending more than a decade causing damage with products claiming to “tame” her hair, Rivera — an influencer and content creator who had already cultivated an impressive following — decided to return to the natural ingredients she’d embraced in her youth and disrupt the celebrity-dominated hair-care aisle. “I felt a strong sense of responsibility to propel change, and be part of the solution I wish already existed,” she tells Fashionista. With an early adjacency to beauty thanks to her father’s career as a hairdresser, Rivera founded Ceremonia to “bring representation into the hair space” by centering the Latinx community in product development, content creation and brand events.
Now, Ceremonia is a hair-care staple in Sephora and Credo Beauty with a best-selling Guava Collection (featuring a leave-in conditioner, a frizz-fighting rescue spray, a damage repair mask and more), scalp-health category and curl-defining creations. It works with its retail partners to further its mission of “putting Latin culture on the world map of beauty.” As an emerging hair-care brand, Ceremonia also relies on social media to reinforce its community-building efforts through expanding brand awareness, collaborating with influencers and connecting with its audience.
“We pride ourselves on offering a wellness approach for real hair transformation; we empower customers to embrace their natural beauty by tackling the root cause of hair woes, versus just masking the symptoms which are far too common in the hair category,” Rivera says. “We strive to join our customers’ many hair journeys, giving them a simple yet effective hair routine they can feel good about using.”
Products to try:
Guava Leave-In Conditioner, $27, available here
Dry Shampoo Con Arrowroot, $28, available here
Papaya Scalp Scrub, $34, available here
Crown Affair
For Dianna Cohen, hair care is a ritual. After noticing that the beauty industry largely approached hair care through a corrective lens, she sought to instead create products that elevated routines via high-quality ingredients and healthy rituals. “Our mission has always been to create the ‘no-makeup makeup’ of hair care — products that enhance your natural texture, work seamlessly into your routine and help you achieve effortless, healthy hair without over-styling or damage,” Cohen says.
Emphasizing its “thoughtful relationship” with hair care, Crown Affair offers multi-functional products like its hydrating leave-in conditioner and its fan-favorite non-aerosol dry shampoo, both of which are meant to extend the time between washes and promote healthy strands. Its Texturizing Air Dry Mousse (which was inspired by Cohen’s viral “Twist and Clip Method” for heatless waves) enhances the user’s natural hair texture and boosts volume through Bolivian pink salt, a plant protein blend and Tsubaki Meadows (a hydrating antioxidant oil blend). Rounding out the brand’s hair-care rituals, Crown Affair also offers tools like wide-tooth combs, silk scrunchies and microfiber towels.
In building its audience, Crown Affair leads with product education and storytelling: It utilizes TikTok as a platform for discovery and Substack as an outlet for community-building content like long-form insights, Cohen’s personal reflections and behind-the-scenes moments. The brand’s entrance into Sephora in 2022 introduced its ritual-based approach to a broader audience, while retail partnerships with Violet Grey and Goop present the brand to consumers with an established appetite for quality, high-performance hair care.
Products to try:
The Volumizing Shampoo, $38, available here
The Texturizing Air Dry Mousse, $38, available here
The Dry Shampoo, $42, available here
Jupiter
Photo: Courtesy of Jupiter
Dandruff-fighting shampoos haven’t always been the most glamorous (or sweet-smelling) options on the shelves, but Jupiter is shifting that narrative by modernizing zinc pyrithione-infused hair-care solutions. Co-founded by Robbie Salter (co-CEO), Ross Goodhart (co-CEO) and Alexa Adler (head of CX) in 2020, Jupiter addresses dandruff and scalp dryness via science-backed formulas with a subtle natural scent of vanilla, lavender and mint. “There’s never been a brand on the market that is solely focused on prestige, salon-quality dandruff and dry scalp products backed by a money-back guarantee,” Salter says. “We are a problem-solution brand that makes you feel great, look great and smell absolutely divine (like a fancy hotel lobby in the South of France).”
Jupiter’s bestseller is its Advanced Oil Control Trio (including its Balancing Shampoo, Nourishing Conditioner and Restoring Serum), which works together to reduce flakes, soothe itchiness, keep oil production in check and maintain a moisturized scalp. Jupiter began as an exclusively direct-to-consumer brand, and soon expanded into Amazon, Dermstore, Bergdorf Goodman and 150 independent dermatologists and salons nationwide. Its newest retail partner? Jupiter recently launched in more than 1,100 Target doors nationwide as well as on its website and app to increase the accessibility of its formulas.
Dandruff education functions as the brand’s backbone, resulting in sharing authentic dry scalp experiences, fielding consumer questions and spotlighting expert dermatologist voices on social media. “Operating in a traditionally stigmatized category has been really interesting on social media, because dandruff and flaking isn’t something that a lot of people are talking about publicly on socials,” Adler explains. “However, we’ve really built a community and found that social media helps us to not only relate, but educate in our space.”
Products to try:
Balancing Shampoo, $25, available here
Purifying Mask, $29, available here
Renewing Scalp Moisturizer, $29, available here
Reverie
Photo: Courtesy of Reverie
Reverie first launched in 2009 with its Milk Anti-Frizz Leave-In Treatment — a multi-functional hair serum designed to moisturize, soften, strengthen and protect against heat damage — and has since expanded into a 10-product line-up grounded in the brand’s ethos of “less is plenty.” Hairstylist Garrett Markenson organically founded his own hair-care brand while owning a salon and listening to his clients’ hair goals and needs, which revealed a burgeoning market for sustainable, transparent hair care. Reverie formulates its hair products with quality skin-care actives, including its Cake Restorative Scalp Tonic powered by Swiss apple stem cells.
In its early years, Reverie partnered with multiple retailers to boost brand awareness, but now, the California-based brand hones in on retailers who spotlight brand stories rather than solely relying on promotions. Alongside its strong relationship with Credo Beauty, Reverie has focused on growing its DTC channel. Sustainability also plays a major role in the brand’s process: It sources ingredients from family-run farms, utilizes 100% PCR plastic packaging and maintains a net-zero plastic footprint through its partnership with rePurpose Global.
Though the hair-care brand doesn’t place much emphasis on social media marketing, it instead opts to build its audience by centering hair-care education, fostering trust through performance-driven products and strengthening brand loyalty. “Rather than scour the earth looking for new customers everyday, we focus on building the customers we have and those who come to us on a recommendation from a hairdresser or friends,” Markenson notes. “We are the brand that IYKYK, but not everyone does yet.”
Products to try:
Milk Anti-Frizz Leave-in Treatment, $44, available here
Rake Styling Balm, $36, available here
Cake Restorative Scalp Tonic, $72, available here
Seen
Photo: Courtesy of Seen
Dr. Iris Rubin, a Harvard-trained dermatologist based in Maryland, discovered that the culprit behind her breakouts was her hair care, so she set out to create a line of hair products free from pore-clogging and irritating ingredients. At Seen, hair care is skin care: Its products are clinically proven to be safe for sensitive and acne-prone skin, and include fragrance-free options (which were awarded the National Eczema Association’s Seal of Acceptance) for those with eczema-prone skin.
“Seen is highly differentiated in that we focus on skin-friendly hair care and the connection between hair, scalp and overall skin health,” Dr. Rubin explains. “It is virtually impossible to use a hair-care product — whether it’s a rinse-out product like shampoo or conditioner, or a leave-in product — without it coming into contact with the skin.”
Alongside its best-selling Fragrance-Free Shampoo and Conditioner, Seen’s Magic Serum stands out as a customer favorite that reduces hair breakage through hemisqualane (provides heat protection and frizz reduction), squalane (hydrates hair) and ethylhexyl olivate (softens hair) while simultaneously boosting scalp and skin health. Seen’s products are powered by Epidermal Rebalancing Technology, which is a multi-faceted approach centering efficacious ingredients, third-party testing, formulations without common allergens and skin-barrier enhancement. The dermatologist-recommended brand is currently available at Ulta Beauty, where it has experienced “robust sales and growth” as a leader in the “skinification” of hair care.
Products to try:
Magic Serum, $36, available here
Fragrance-Free Shampoo, $29, available here
Leave-In Conditioner, $27, available here
The Doux
Photo: Courtesy of The Doux
After working internationally as a hairstylist and opening two salons, Maya Smith channeled nearly 30 years of licensed cosmetologist experience into The Doux, the texture-focused hair-care brand founded in 2015. Aiming to create “simple, effective solutions that cut out the fluff and actually work for textured hair,” The Doux offers a range of products including a defining styling foam, a flexible-hold gel, a frizz-smoothing curl refresher and a hydrating curl custard. Smith personally tests every product (and taps her network of friends, family and a focus group) to ensure real, efficacious results.
One of The Doux’s defining brand pillars is authenticity, which Smith says is exemplified through its clear brand voice and its product performance. Through its Instagram and TikTok accounts (which spotlight educational tutorials), the brand directly engages with its consumers and helps them navigate their hair journeys.
In its efforts to reach a wider audience and increase accessibility, the brand has also expanded into retailers like Target, Walmart and CVS. “At The Doux, we’re intentional about partnering with retailers that align with our mission to simplify textured hair care and celebrate the diverse experiences of people with textured hair,” Smith notes. “We choose partners who not only reach our core audience but also authentically support Black-owned businesses and value our brand’s story.”
Products to try:
Mousse Def Texture Foam, $17, available here
Big Poppa Defining Gel, $15, available here
Bee Girl Honey Curl Custard, $15, available here
The Rootist
Photo: Courtesy of The Rootist
As a newcomer in the growing scalp-care space, entrepreneur David Chung (who also founded skin-care brand Farmacy) launched The Rootist in 2024 to provide “highly concentrated hair-care formulas powered with fermented botanicals” in pursuit of stronger, fuller hair. While most shampoos are formulated with up to 90% water, The Rootist doesn’t use added water in its concentrated shampoos, meaning consumers only need to use half as much product as usual.
“Our products are made with patent-pending ‘Rootbiomic Ferment’, our nutrient-rich superbrew that promotes anchored roots, balanced scalp and strong, healthy hair from root to tip,” Chung says. “We use Rootbiomic Ferment to reduce and replace the unnecessary water and silicones found in conventional hair-care formulations, making them less wasteful and more powerful. Think of it like ‘kombucha for your hair.'”
For those struggling with thinning hair, The Rootist’s Densify collection (starring a concentrated shampoo, conditioner and serum) is clinically proven to leave hair visibly thicker and fuller in 90 days. Last year, The Rootist launched in 600 doors with Sephora North America and is focusing on fostering a dedicated community with the beauty retailer. Two of its viral SKUs — BioBrew Fermented Strengthening Serum and Clarify Dry Shampoo Powder — are also now available at Goop.
Products to try:
BioBrew Fermented Strengthening Serum, $48, available here
Clarify Dry Shampoo Powder, $26, available here
Densifying Serum for Thinning Hair, $55, available here
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Source: Fashionista.com
