Kavella is natural hair care built for clean formulas that work for softness, shine, repair, and strength you can see across a room. I get stopped in airports and on the street to ask what I use. Friends and stylists notice the same thing: hair that looks healthy, clean, and truly cared for.
Ingredients are chosen one by one, then tuned to work together, so hair is repaired and stays healthy and resilient. Here we share what kinds of ingredients we use across Kavella, and why. Detail for each product is on the product page under How it does that and Full ingredients.
Aloe first In most Kavella hair care products, aloe is the liquid the formula is built in. Aloe brings a light, conditioning base so even the foundation of the formula supports healthy hair. Healing Tea shampoo and conditioner are different: water is the base, with olive leaf, chamomile, and green tea hydrosols as botanical waters in that base. Buildable Hairspray is water-based too, so the spray stays light and workable.
Plant oils We use plant oils that moisturize, add shine, and help hair stay soft, smooth, and easy to work through. Across the collection you will find shea oil, jojoba, abyssinian, coconut, argan, rosehip, avocado, camellia (tea seed), and sweet almond. Rich oils nourish. Lighter oils keep hair glossy without a heavy feel. Together they support softness, smoothness, manageability, and shine.
Plant proteins Hydrolyzed plant proteins strengthen hair and support repair. We use hair restoring peptides such as hydrolyzed quinoa and hydrolyzed jojoba protein. They help hair keep moisture, support body, and leave strands more resilient.
Plant cleansers Our plant cleansers are chosen for the job they do: lift oil, dirt, and buildup while hair and scalp stay protected. Decyl glucoside is a mild sugar-derived cleanser. It helps lift oil and dirt so they rinse away, without a harsh feel. Sodium methyl cocoyl taurate is a mild coconut-derived cleanser. It adds to that clean so hair stays touchable. Together, these kinds of cleansers are gentle enough for everyday use on color-treated hair. Many people worry natural cleansers will strip color. Ours are built to clean without stripping the softness and look of color-treated hair. Clarifying goes further. A chelating cleanser grabs mineral and product buildup, with willow bark and caffeine to refresh the scalp.
Plant conditioners Conditioning ingredients help wet hair comb through easily and leave hair soft and glossy when dry. Plant-derived conditioners cling to hair so softness lasts. Oils such as shea, coconut, and avocado moisturize. Ethylhexyl olivate (from olives) is one of the plant-derived ingredients that helps hair stay smooth and easy to work through. Where a formula uses amodimethicone, we name it. It is a silicone made to cling where hair is rough, so a little does the job. It is not dimethicone, so it washes out more easily.
A soft natural note All-natural ingredients create a soft note of almond, cocoa, and vanilla in most of our products. That note comes from benzaldehyde (apricot kernel oil extract), cocoa distillate, and vanillin (vanilla). Clarifying uses a soft herbal note of lavender, rosemary, bitter orange, and thyme. Healing Tea shampoo and conditioner are free of the natural aroma ingredients in other Kavella products.
Keep it fresh Most Kavella formulas use the same gentle coconut-based preservative system (caprylyl glyceryl ether, caprylhydroxamic acid, and propanediol) so the product stays fresh on the shelf and in your shower. Buildable Hairspray is different. Alcohol helps keep that spray fresh in the bottle.
Where to look next Want the full picture for one product? Open that product page. Want to know what we leave out? See Clean Standards.