The Best Haircare Drops of 2024
info@hypebae.com (Hypebae) Mon, 16 Dec 2024 Hypebae
The Hypebae Beauty Awards are back for a third consecutive year. As is now tradition, we honor the emerging brands that break barriers, amplify underrepresented voices and embrace the rich diversity of beauty.
For 2024 we started off celebrations with a brand-new category, tools, to celebrate the gadgets and gizmos that transformed our routines. Then we moved on to skincare, looking at the potions and lotions promising the smoothest of skin – above and below the neck. Still to come are the makeup and fragrance categories, but below we’re giving five emerging haircare brands their flowers.
2024 has been, without a doubt, the year of haircare’s skinification. Gone are the silicones and harsh chemicals than coat our strands into submission. Instead, we’re looking for healing, restorative products that help heal. Scalp care also entered the chat, proving to be essential to healthy, happy hair. Ahead are the haircare products that earned a Hypebae Beauty Award this year...
Cécred’s Nourishing Hair Oil
When Beyoncé announced the launch of Cécred in February, the world seemed to stop in anticipation. The standout product though? The Nourishing Hair Oil. Infused with 13 luxurious oils including sea buckthorn, baobab, watermelon seed and moringa, the oil strengthens the hair's lipid barrier, locks in moisture and ensures long-lasting hydration and a natural shine. All while being safe for human hair wigs and weaves, too.
[shoppable brand="Cécred" product="Nourishing Hair Oil" link="https://cecred.com/en-uk/products/nourishing-hair-oil?variant=48950630252842" store="Cécred" price="$54 USD"]
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While Beyoncé is renowned for her groundbreaking music career, creating haircare products has always been a lifelong dream, rooted in her mother's teachings. Cécred was born out of the star’s desire to offer a line of haircare products that truly address the needs of textured hair, as well as those who struggle with moisture and strength. Cécred offers essential care that adapts to the many changes hair endures – whether from coloring, high tension, sewing, sweat or the general buildup of daily life.
Each product is meticulously crafted without silicone fillers, parabens or phthalates, ensuring a clean and effective formula that nourishes and strengthens hair. What truly sets Cécred apart, however, is not only its exceptional performance but also its signature sweet, coconutty fragrance that leaves hair smelling as good as it looks. The packaging - all sleek, cylindrical bottles and geometric, sculptural caps – also elevates any shelfie.
Lobie’s Peptide Leave-In Hair Mask
If you only buy one leave-in hair mask this year, let it be Lobie’s. The Peptide Leave-In Mask is packed with 123 amino acids and penetrates deep into both the inner and outer layers of your hair to transform it to its healthiest, most vibrant state. In just one step, it effortlessly detangles, tames frizz and smooths flyaways, leaving your hair looking sleek, nourished and revitalized.
[shoppable brand="Lobie" product="Peptide Leave-In Hair Mask" link="https://lobie.com/products/peptide-leave-in-mask" store="Lobie" price="$40 USD"]
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Founded by model Anastasia MacKay, Lobie came about when she couldn’t find products that would adequately address the damage her hair endured while on-set. Textured hair brands, she found, were either outdated, came in gaudy packaging, included complicated instructions or simply didn’t cater for weak, frizzy and damaged hair at once. Thus, Lobie, which means “love” in Surinamese, set out to change that.
MacKay took her time with product development ,and rather than coming to market with a bevy of products to promote, she focused on the one – and made it great. The product branding and fragrance also stand out. They’re very much giving quiet luxury, with a minimalistic, clean aesthetic. The premium packaging is also made from pure sugarcane, and so is biodegradable. She really thought of it all.
Straand’s Crown Refresh Revitalizing Dry Shampoo
If you think you know dry shampoo, you don’t. Unlike other dry shampoos, Straand’s is a wet-to-dry mist, and basically acts like a mini shower for your roots. The oil-busting formula, packed with Zinc and Defenscalp (their patented multifunctional plant-derived ingredient designed to naturally rebalance your scalp) deeply cleanses hair follicles, combatting oil and odor.
[shoppable brand="Straand" product="Crown Refresh Revitalizing Dry Shampoo" link="https://uk.straandscalpcare.com/products/crown-refresh-revitalising-dry-shampoo-mist" store="Straand" price="$26 USD"]
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Scalp care is very hot right now. Arguably, this is the Australian brand behind the move. Straand was founded in 2022 by a powerhouse team of five co-founders: Sand & Sky co-founder, Sarah Hamilton; brand strategist, Meagan Pate; Nick Morris, with 25 years of experience in personal care; and e-commerce specialists Jeremy Hunt and Tim Brown. Together, they set out to change the way we approach scalp health, effectively creating “skincare for your scalp.”
Formulated without silicones, parabens, or sulfates and proudly vegan, cruelty-free and eco-friendly, Straand is Australia’s first microbiome-focused haircare brand, too. The brand was created as a response to the limited and often harsh chemical-laden products dominating the market, especially for those seeking solutions for dandruff and scalp concerns. With a focus on nurturing the scalp's delicate microbiome, Straand offers a more gentle and effective alternative, ensuring your scalp and hair receive the care they truly deserve.
Fable & Mane’s Volumizing Duo
Inspired by Ayurvedic healing and Indian wisdom, Fable and Mane’s Volumizing Condition and Shampoo are a dream come true for fine to medium hair types. The Volumizing Conditioner is packed with onion juice (an Ayurvedic hair-strengthening hero), Vitamin C-rich Amla berry and black seed extract, which is super hydrating and helps restore elasticity, while improving thickness. Team it up with the shampoo, which is enriched with fenugreek to strengthen hair and smells divine.
[shoppable brand="Fable & Mane" product="Volumizing Shampoo" link="https://fableandmane.com/products/volumizing-shampoo" store="Fable & Mane" price="$30 USD"]
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Founded by siblings Nikita and Akash Mehta, British brand Fable and Mane draws from the Indian tradition of hair oiling. The ritual has long been celebrated for promoting long, lustrous hair, but has a deeper meaning, too. The brand’s name pays tribute to the tradition and more specifically the stories (fables) shared as fragrant oils are massaged into the scalp (or mane).
The brand's visual identity is just as thoughtfully rooted in the Mehta’s Indian heritage. The design is inspired by the rich architecture of India, and the tiger, revered in Indian culture, is symbolic of power, magnificence and beauty, which represents the brand’s ethos of strength and elegance. By drawing from ancient beauty secrets and cultural symbolism, Fable and Mane invite all to honor hair as a true and key part of any wellness journey and self-care routine.
Ceremonia’s Mascarilla de Guava
This one goes out to the girlies with dyed hair. Ceremonia’s Mascarilla de Guava is here to rescue your color-treated strands from the struggle of split ends and dryness. Clinically proven to reduce split ends by 60% and breakage by 25%, this nourishing hair mask is packed with natural ingredients like guava, agave, pea protein, rice bran oil and maracuja oil, making it the perfect solution for vibrant, healthy hair that shines with vitality.
[shoppable brand="Ceremonia" product="Mascarilla de Guava " link="https://ceremonia.com/products/mascarilla-de-guava" store="Ceremonia" price="$34 USD"]
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Ceremonia was born in 2020 out of founder Babba Rivera’s experience of feeling overlooked and underrepresented in mainstream media, but more specifically in the beauty industry, which she’s always loved. After cutting her teeth at startups like Uber and Away, she decided to launch a clean haircare brand, inspired by her Latinx heritage, to celebrate diversity and inclusivity.
Rivera started with just one product – a hair oil – and has grown the brand from there, becoming the first Latinx-owned haircare brand sold at Sephora. Giving back is crucial to Rivera, too. 1% of every order placed with this brand is donated to a nonprofit organization of your choice. This commitment reflects the brand’s deeper mission of fostering positive change both in the beauty industry and beyond.
Before you go, there's more to enjoy from the 2024 Hypebae Beauty Awards! Read all about the gadgets and gizmos winning the top tool prize here, the lotions and potions making skin super supple here, and the marvellous makeup buys that are going beyond the superficial to provide identity-affirming goodness, too.
