Hairstory: clean shampoo without detergent
Not your regular old Pantene
Sadly, I have oily hair and have never been able to go that long without washing it. Yes I know supposedly that helps, but I haven’t seen it for my hair. Hairstory makes a shampoo like product (they say they’re not shampoo) with any detergent. I never knew regular shampoo contains detergent (GASP!).
Their product New Wash claims to clean and condition hair without the need for conditioner. It uses essential oils and naturally derived saturated cleaners. It’s been tested on every hair type and said to make hair less greasy. The packaging is very unisex, which is not typical in the beauty industry. The original product costs $40 for 8 oz, which is definitely premium compared to what you find at the drugstore. The most I’ve paid for shampoo is $10 (maybe I’m doing it wrong.) Interestingly enough they address the expensive question in the Q&A and say that it’s not expensive because it replaces more products than just your shampoo… I’m not convinced. They also offer styling products like texturizing spray and hair accessories.
There’s a subscription option that gives a 15% discount on refills. They also offer a commission program with hairdressers that allow them to earn money on people who buy items through the referral link. The CEO has said that they are avoiding retail sales and working through the hairdresser and direct to consumer model instead.
Hairstory has a heavy focus on sustainability and transitioned from traditional plastic bottles to refillable pouches. They note that they donate to water related causes.
The company was founded in 2015 and recently raised growth equity funding (no amount specified.) The product developer had scalp psoriasis and was inspired to create their own product to help with this. One founder served as general manager at Bumble and Bumble and was on the Board of Directors for Ursa Major. The other was actually the founder of Bumble and Bubmle. So you could say they are familiar with the beauty industry. Hairstory has under 125k Instagram followers.
I think the current business model of using hairdressers and DTC is smart. The CEO does call out customer acquisition as something they’re figuring out since they’re relying on Facebook. I do think when growth starts to plateau a little, they will start to do small pop ups at Target or limited runs at Nordstrom as other brands have done. Patterning with hairdressers seems to be a good path because people trust their stylists. I think another path could be to put some sample size items in subscription boxes to get a bigger reach, but they say that you need more than a few washes to see the difference, so might not be something they pursue. The influencer market is stron as well. The exit that Summit Partners is hoping for is likely an acquisition by a big haircare brand, and it could be any of them.
Interestingly enough, there’s a salon called Hairstory in Malaysia. The company sounds like it’s changing hair care, but I don’t think I’m a customer at that price point. It’s a higher price point commitment than I’d want without knowing the product is any different from the drugstores. Guess I’ll stick with the shampoo with detergent.