Beauty Diary: Woman lands major deal with ‘miracle’ $24 product
A Melbourne woman who suffered with an “embarrassing” skin issue that’s “shrouded in shame” has created a “game-changing” product.
A Melbourne woman who created her own anti-dandruff haircare brand after suffering from the “embarrassing” scalp condition for years has just landed a major retail deal weeks after launching.
Meagan Pate spent two years working on STRAAND, a haircare line described as “skincare for your scalp”, before it hit the market in August.
Meagan, along with her four business partners Nick Morris, Tim Brown, Jeremy Hunt and Sarah Hamilton, spent months formulating the products to “leverage active ingredients” with a core focus on being science-led.
STRAAND’s first product was The Crown Fix, a scalp serum created to help relieve stress caused by heat styling, colouring and styling which can cause issues such as dry skin, itchiness and dandruff.
The $28 product sold out in days, and since then the start-up has introduced three more scalp savers to its line-up – a shampoo, conditioning treatment and a scalp scrub.
Meagan has now signed a deal with Australian retailer Adore Beauty to stock the new Australian-made anti-dandruff haircare range, cementing its success in an impressively short time frame.
“We’ve looked up to Adore Beauty and [its founder] Kate Morris for a long time. When ‘manifesting’ our dream launch retailer, it was always them,” Meagan told news.com.au’s The Beauty Diary.
“We started conversations with Adore prior to launch. While our brand has only been in the market for eight weeks these conversations have been in play for some time.
“Fortunately, once we had launched, STRAAND made a real impression which meant our conversations evolved into negotiations and moved really quickly.”
Despite the start-up launching with gusto, Meagan explained the process behind it took two years to complete.
It all came about from her own inability to find an anti-dandruff product that didn’t contain noxious chemicals.
“I have quite sensitive skin and have suffered from dandruff and dermatitis over the years and always been on the lookout for something to help aid in my own scalp issues,” she said.
After a chance meeting with her now co-founders, who all have extensive experience in the beauty industry, they began working on a product that Meagan wanted to be anchored in skincare principles, “leveraging active ingredients and was science led while also tapping into the joy of self-care rituals”.
“It was important we challenged the category, not just from a formulation and performance perspective, but from the way we connected with people,” she said.
“We really wanted to transform their relationship with the skin on their scalp, from an often neglected area, shrouded in shame to a cherished part of their self-care routine.”
After spending years searching for a product that helped her flaky scalp, STRAAND is now helping others, with verified online reviews describing the items as a “game-changer”.
“Relief at last! My dry, itchy scalp has finally been relieved. No more embarrassing dandruff,” one said.
“This product works very well at soothing my irritated scalp,” another agreed.
Meagan’s so proud of the product – labelled a “miracle” by some online – that she’s shared her impressive before and after photos.
“My scalp has been completely healed and feels healthy,” she said.
The products, which have a “to die for” peppermint scent, are formulated using prebiotics to improve the health of the scalp biome – the community of organisms that grow on the skin on top of your head.
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As well as the brand’s trademark prebiotic ingredient “defensecalp”, the products also contain vitamin B5, jojoba oil and sweet almond oil, to nourish.
There’s also polyquaternium-10 which enhances the texture and appearance of hair while the hydrolysed wheat protein boosts strength and helps reduce breakage and eliminate frizz to make hair appear fuller.
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