BITE First Look: Three Scalp Care Brands To Know Leave a comment
The best opportunities in beauty emerge when brands build where the industry missed.
At BITE, three haircare startups that have spotted an opening around scalp care will present their approaches. As consumer interest in the category grows, they’re responding with a mix of specialized formulations, professional expertise, tools and technology. All three are building through salon networks while pursuing growth in direct-to-consumer distribution and retail.
Together, the brands illustrate how professional credibility can translate into broader consumer adoption as scalp care moves further into the beauty mainstream. Here’s who they serve, what’s propelling their growth and where they’re headed next.
Alfheim Beauty
The Idea: Scalp care isn’t new. Fifteen years ago and even earlier, there were serums, shampoos and other products formulated for scalp health, but investors, retailers and consumers largely overlooked them because the market wasn’t ready. Then, women started layering treatments like perms and smoothing treatments, stretching out wash routines and applying dry shampoo in between, contributing to buildup on the scalp. Styling products contributed, too.
The result was clogged, neglected scalps, and consumers have finally noticed. At-home scalp regimens are gaining traction. Alfheim has positioned itself at this moment with a singular thesis: The scalp is an extension of skin, and it deserves dedicated maintenance. Its lineup, including The Purifying Cream, Scalp Shampoo, Scalp Conditioner and Scalp Serum, was created for the scalp issues consumers are now ready to address.
The Target Consumer: Alfheim is directed at the woman whose scalp is suffering from the solutions she’s chosen with the best intentions and who’s frustrated that nobody talks about the scalp the way they talk about skin.
The Trend: Head spas helped prove scalp care could be a category, entering the Western market with viral ASMR treatments. Momentum accelerated as trichologists talked about scalp biology, professional hairstylists learned maintenance protocols and dermatologists began recommending scalp care. Social media further educated consumers, turning scalp care from a niche into a meaningful category.
Merchant Match: Alfheim is DTC-first and building rapidly in professional channels. The brand partners with Pure Luxe head spas across Los Angeles, with nationwide expansion through a growing regional educator team. Alfheim provides more than products to professionals. It supplies scalp analysis machines and hydro-oxygen devices as part of intro kits, lowering barriers for salons wanting to offer scalp services.
This week, the brand added 20 brand ambassadors, including the lead educator from Salon-Centric’s scalp care program. Retail expansion is imminent. Ulta Beauty is the North Star, while Target is important to its goal of making scalp care accessible beyond exclusive environments.
Investor Insight: Alfheim operates from a vertically integrated platform. Founder Jiaming Zhang’s family has spent 30 years developing formulas for global prestige brands and manufacturing products distributed across 80 countries. The family owns manufacturing operations in Los Angeles, Poland and China, giving Alfheim greater control over quality, costs and speed. That structure means margins can be reinvested into product development and professional support.
Zhang is open to partners who can bring resources and opportunities beyond capital as the brand expands its professional network and pursues retail distribution.
Actiiv
The Idea: Actiiv was born when founder Jared Reynolds experienced stress-induced hair loss at 23 while studying molecular biology and attending medical school. He tried Propecia, but it triggered severe depression. He switched to Nioxin and minoxidil, only to suffer severe skin reactions and irritation. Conventional treatments were creating new problems rather than remedying his hair loss.
The experience led Reynolds to plant-powered actives designed to fight inflammation and foster a healthy scalp environment for hair growth. Actiiv’s hero product, Recover, is a thinning and shedding shampoo formulated differently for men and women based on biological differences in how ingredients are delivered to the scalp. Its five-minute application involves active massage and lymphatic drainage, which Actiiv says are integral to the product’s efficacy.
At BITE, Actiiv will debut Integrity RX, a three-step system backed by clinical testing showing two times better breakage protection than leading competitors. Its hair mask is designed to seal split ends in 10 seconds. The products are cold-pressed and CO2-extracted to preserve potency.
The Target Consumer: Actiiv speaks to informed consumers actively seeking solutions for scalp issues. They may be dealing with postpartum, perimenopausal or menopausal hormonal shifts or hair shedding or loss associated with GLP-1 use. They’re part of online communities discussing these topics openly and increasingly understand the role scalp health can play in hair health. They want prevention, not crisis management.
The Trend: Abetted by social media, hair loss isn’t as taboo as it once was. Consumers are candidly discussing hair thinning, shedding and loss in online communities and sharing the products and approaches they’re trying to address those concerns. The skinification of the scalp has consumers embracing multistep, ingredient-driven scalp care routines. Plant-powered positioning appeals to consumers looking for alternatives to harsher treatments, while prevention messaging is bringing younger consumers into the category.
Merchant Match: Actiiv is in over 50,000 salons across the United States and Canada through CosmoProf. Additional retail partners include Marlo Beauty Supply and Amazon, its fastest-growing channel, which doubled year-over-year. New products launch first in the professional channel, leaning into the credibility it provides. Actiiv’s pricing spans upper masstige to prestige. The brand is targeting Ulta for its salon adjacency as well as Sephora and plans to expand into big-box retail, too.
Investor Insight: Actiiv has built professional distribution that provides a large network for education and feedback. Founder Jared Reynolds’ molecular biology background informs the brand’s science-driven positioning. In January 2025, beauty, wellness and longevity private equity firm Auréa announced an investment in Actiiv and Zenagen parent company Nutraceutical Research Innovations for an undisclosed amount. The backing is supporting further clinical testing of Actiiv’s hero products, with results expected in 2027. A recent rebrand emphasizes the brand’s plant-powered approach to hair and scalp care.
RG Cosmetics
The Idea: RG Cosmetics was founded in 2009 by hairstylist Roberta Gomes, who moved from Brazil to the United States and saw a gap in the market for the Brazilian keratin treatments and haircare ingredients she was familiar with. She built the brand in the professional channel by selling directly to salons. Today, RG is a family business with a manufacturing facility in Florida and an office in Dubai.
The brand recently launched Scalp Story, an AI-powered scalp analysis system that uses a trichoscope to analyze the scalp in 10 minutes and recommend personalized protocols. The system is in 50 to 80 salons and has nearly sold out its first batch. RG’s vegan Amazon Advanced line pairs with Scalp Story to extend professional scalp care into at-home routines.
The Target Consumer: RG targets consumers frustrated by trial-and-error hair and scalp care. They may have conflicting needs, such as a dry scalp and oily hair, and find that those needs change seasonally. They view the scalp as an extension of skin and are willing to invest in a broader regimen if it’s personalized to their needs. Many discover RG through salons and value professional recommendations over celebrity endorsements.
The Trend: Haircare is adopting skincare logic. Consumers are embracing seasonal routines, with lighter formulas in summer and richer ones in winter, while paying greater attention to the distinct needs of the scalp and hair. As scalp care gains traction, professionals are playing a larger role in educating consumers and recommending targeted protocols.
Merchant Match: RG is professional-first, with salons using Scalp Story as a touch point for at-home product discovery. The brand sells DTC and is slowly expanding on Amazon as it balances consumer convenience with salon loyalty. The professional channel currently drives the bulk of its revenue.
RG aspires to enter Ulta Beauty and says feedback from the retailer is informing an ongoing repackaging effort. Its next phase is focused on scaling DTC and retail while maintaining strong salon relationships. The Middle East is currently RG’s largest market.
Investor Insight: RG is vertically integrated, manufacturing in Florida with ingredients sourced from Brazil. Vertical integration gives the brand greater control over quality, costs and speed to market. Its proprietary Scalp Story technology pairs AI-powered scalp analysis with product recommendations, adding a technology component to its professional business.
Gomes has kept RG independent but is now open to a partner that can help accelerate DTC and retail expansion and further develop the brand’s technology.
