The Product That Started It All: Haircare Edition
If you’re a haircare lover like us, you probably have a bathroom shelf overflowing with shampoos, conditioners, hairsprays, dry shampoos, masks, and travel-friendly tubes to ensure every day is a good hair day. Yet when it comes to which of those items you actually purchase again and again, we bet that list narrows to just a few. Favorite brands have loyal followings for a reason, and that has something to do with unique, inimitable formulas. Ahead, learn how these eight bestselling, strand-smoothing, style-enhancing products made their mark on the beauty industry and ultimately put their brands on the map.
Oribe Dry Texturizing Spray
Considering one bottle of Oribe Dry Texturizing Spray ($46) is sold every minute and 2.3 million bottles have been sold worldwide since 2008 (enough to wrap around the earth 97 times), it’s kind of a big deal. “The concept for our Dry Texturizing Spray was Oribe Canales’ idea, inspired by his work and needs on-set and backstage,” says Daniel Kaner, president and co-founder of Oribe. “At the time, he and other session stylists were using dry shampoo as a styling product to create texture and volume, but were battling with the residue and dullness that these products often leave behind. We wanted to create an invisible styler that had the positive characteristics of dry shampoo —texture, grip, grit, volume, and light hold — and would leave hair with a healthy glow and luster.” #MissionAccomplished. To commemorate the brand’s 10th anniversary, Oribe also just released a limited-edition, sequin-wrapped anniversary bottle.
Briogeo Don’t Despair, Repair! Deep Conditioning Mask
Long before multi-masking, there was Briogeo Don’t Despair, Repair! Deep Conditioning Mask ($36). “Many of us put our hair through the ringer on a daily basis — from heat tools, excessive sun exposure, towel drying, or color processing — and the vast majority of us can benefit from a product that helps to visibly repair damage and create the foundation for healthy hair over time, and that’s why Don’t Despair, Repair! was created in 2013,” says Nancy Twine, founder & CEO of Briogeo. Up next for the brand? A vegan format of the same product so you can feel good about what you’re putting in your body and on your hair.
R+Co Death Valley Dry Shampoo
R+Co has had a massive following since its launch in 2014, and that has as much to do with the science behind their product as it does their major founders, who are some of the most sought-after stylists in the biz: Garren, Howard McLaren, and Thom Priano. Their success might also have a little something to do with their cool AF packaging. And although their first product to really hit it out of the beauty ballpark was a dry shampoo, it’s not just any dry shampoo. “We wanted to reinvent a classic product (dry shampoo), but with new types of ingredients and with a better performance level,” explains Howard McLaren, co-founder and creative director of R+Co. “And that’s how R+Co Death Valley Dry Shampoo ($30) came about.” As for that instantly recognizable label, well, that was inspired by a short film shot in Death Valley called Zabriskie Point, so the team actually went to Death Valley to shoot the image. As you do when engineering what would become an archetypal haircare product (and, later on, haircare brand).
Moroccanoil Treatment Original
After launching a decade ago, Moroccanoil Treatment Original ($44) kicked off the argan oil movement. As the story goes, founder Carmen Tal was on holiday in Tel Aviv with a bad color process that had left her hair severely damaged. “I went to a local salon where the stylist applied an astonishing argan oil-infused treatment to my hair, which was different from any product I’ve ever tried before, and I saw results instantly,” she remembers. “My hair became shiny, smooth, and manageable.” That epiphany led to Tal creating an all-new oil-based haircare category and iconic brand, which has now sold over 800,000 gallons of of the treatment worldwide.
iGK Rich Kid Coconut Oil Gel
IGK Hair Care products are used by top stylists all over the world, including their four founders Chase Kusero, Franck Izquierdo, Leo Izquiero, and Aaron Grenia, but when it came to launching their own line two years ago, they looked to their clients for inspo. “All four of us work in salons every day, so we’re constantly hearing what our clients want and need from their products, and we kept hearing about coconut oil and how people were starting to use it in skincare and food,” recalls Grenia. “So we looked into it and saw it was really good for hair too. It replenishes lost proteins and nutrients to make it stronger and healthier-looking, and we had an idea for a product that you could apply to damp hair to get that beachy separation that everyone wants.” Thus the birth of IGK Rich Kid Coconut Oil Gel ($29). The best part about this one-of-a-kind coco oil is its versatility across all hair types. Rich Kid can be finger-combed through damp hair for air-dried texture, used as a blowout balm for light hold, or applied along the edges of a style for frizz control. Although we’ll always have love for the coco oil, their line of stylers that followed in its footsteps is just as covetable.
devacurl No-Poo Original Zero Lather Conditioning Cleanser
Curly-haired girls were forever appreciative the day DevaCurl — a line specifically targeted to the coiled crowd — came along. So much so, in fact, that the launch inspired a new haircare category altogether. “In 2002 we launched DevaCurl No-Poo Original Zero Lather Conditioning Cleanser ($10), a zero lather, sulfate-free, botanically enriched conditioning cleanser void of the harsh, dehydrating detergents that play on the vulnerability of naturally textured hair,” says Megan Streeter, chief marketing officer at DevaCurl. “This hero product eventually went on to spark the sulfate-free cleansing movement within the textured hair community, and we made it a point that our loyal Devatees knew the difference between shampoo and no-poo (void of the “poo,” AKA [nasty ingredients like] sodium laureth sulfate).” If you have spirals and tendrils that have fallen victim to parched, frizzy, hard-to-control locks, that’s most likely because you’ve been using the wrong product. DevaCurl’s moisturizing emulsion (that stimulates the scalp and gets your roots clean, minus the lather) emerged and has since become a top five seller with 5-star reviews at ULTA, Sephora, and CosmoProf.
Bumble and bumble Brilliantine
It’s called “The OG of Bb” for a reason. Bumble and bumble Brilliantine ($24) launched in 1990 and has been killing the hair game ever since, with a whopping four million dollars in sales in the last five years alone. Brilliantine was inspired by Bb’s haircut aesthetic, according to Bronwen Robinson, executive director of education at Bumble and bumble. “When Brilliantine came out in 1990, it was right on the heels of grunge and was very much a reflection of Bumble and bumble’s approach to organic hairdressing — the art of fitting each individual with all of the nuances of the razor; the art of cutting and styling hair in a different way,” Robinson says. So what makes this oil-based styling creme so different? Well, for starters, it polishes, separates, and adds sheen for lived-in looks, plus it works for every texture. No wonder it’s a must-have for hairdressers, YouTube beauty gurus, and haircare product hoarders alike.
Kérastase Elixir Ultime Original Oil
Kérastase is synonymous with quality ingredients and transformative hair products, but with a range so extensive (with built-out categories for every need), what’s the one product that put them on the map? Kérastase Elixir Ultime Original Oil ($50), of course. “Shine is one thing that all women want when it comes to their hair, because shiny hair looks radiant and healthy,” explains Dale Moriarty, education manager at Kérastase. “Nourishing oils are key to achieving shine, but one common complaint — especially among women with finer hair — is that oils can weigh their hair down. Our version nourishes the hair fiber, providing long-lasting, natural-looking shine, but with a weightless finish via camellia and marula oils, which are absorbed instantly without leaving any residue.” We thank you for that, Kérastase.
Which one of these popular products will you try? Tweet us!
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