Indie hair care brand reformulates, redesigns, relaunches flagship products

This year, indie hair care brand Shedavi reformulated its flagship product, the Hair Growth Duo. Comprised of the ICONIC HAIR GROWTH VITAMINS ​and ICONIC HAIR + SCALP GROWTH ELIXIR OIL, the updates include more potent extracts in the Herbal Vitamin formula and more sustainable packaging made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic for the ELIXER OIL. The Duo has also been revamped with new outer cartons made from 100% recycled paper.

To learn more about the formulation and packaging relaunch, including background about the Shedavi brand, the issues addressed during the reformulation and redesign process, and the challenges that needed to be overcome to relaunch the Hair Growth Duo, CosmeticsDesign spoke to Elizabeth David, CEO and Founder of Shedavi for her insights.

Brand background

Having started her hair care journey in childhood, the Shedavi brand was created in 2016 to educate women about healthy hair care and provide consumers with "something convenient straight out of the bottle​," said Davis. At the time the brand was founded, "no companies in the market focused on natural, holistic hair care that delivered internal and topical nourishment," she explained, which drove her to conceptualize "the Growth Duo to challenge the existing hair care market and present a groundbreaking product with a dual impact​."

From there, the brand grew to include herbal vitamin and hair oil products formulated with "nourishing herbs and nutrients from plants, land, and sea that enhance the strength of the hair from the inside out​," she added.

Reformulation and redesign

Regarding the reformulation and redesign process, Davis said, "As the old saying goes, don't fix it if it's not broken​," and explained that "we kept most of the same trusted formulas for our products​." One of the significant changes the brand made was to the packaging, and the design was updated with "new custom packaging made with sustainable materials, as well as outer cartons for enhanced customer education made from 100% recycled paper​," she shared. 

However, while most of the formulas remained unchanged, there were some updates to the ICONIC HAIR GROWTH VITAMINS. "We have improved the quality and efficacy of our ICONIC HAIR GROWTH VITAMINS​," said Davis, "by adjusting the herbs' quality, such as replacing our Gotu powder with extract, which is more potent for stimulating hair growth​."

Davis added that the most significant challenge during the reformulation process was maintaining the integrity of the brand and its products while providing the best possible quality. "Our primary challenge was finding the right balance between updating the look and honoring the products our customers know and love​," she explained, adding, "sometimes, change can be off-putting, so we worked hard to create something our current and new customers would love​." Therefore, she said, "We only focused on changes that improved the products, such as sustainability, rather than cutting corners or costs​." 

Challenges to relaunch

The brand needed to overcome several challenges to relaunch the reformulated and redesigned collection, the most significant of which was delays. "Our supply chain consists of manufacturers, ingredient suppliers, packaging vendors, shipping companies, etc., and there are a lot of moving parts and a lot of potential ​hang-ups​," she said. Further, she added, "even with padding our timeline, everything took longer than we expected​." 

Therefore, to address these issues, "we needed to stay in constant communication with our suppliers and remember that every situation is fluid, and we had to recognize when the vendor simply wasn't making us a priority or…the issue was beyond their control​," she explained. Additionally, "we had to ask ourselves if we have the right partners around us and, if the answer is no, to move on to a new supplier, if necessary​," she shared. 

Up next for Shedavi 

Following the relaunch, "we are currently working to bring new ideas that support healthy hair naturally​," Davis said. With new product development underway, "we have been pioneers in our quest to get the best of the world to you and plan to continue being so​," she shared, adding that "we are very excited for the world to see our new look…both products continue to be our best sellers and are formulated with highly researched natural ingredients from around the world with proven track records for improving hair health​."

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