Ingredients We Use is what goes into Kavella. Clean Standards is what stays out.

We choose ingredients one by one for clean formulas that work — softness, shine, repair, and strength you can see across a room. That also means we leave out ingredients that are common in salon and everyday hair care when they do not meet our bar for hair and scalp health, for the whole body since skin is our biggest organ, and for kindness to the world we share.

Here is what we do not use, and why, in plain words.

Animal-derived ingredients All Kavella products are vegan. We do not use animal by-products. We do not test on animals, and our raw material suppliers do not test those ingredients on animals either. Kindness to animals is part of how we make hair care.

Dimethicone and cyclic siloxanes We do not use dimethicone, the heavier coating silicone. We do not use cyclic siloxanes (such as cyclopentasiloxane or cyclomethicone), the lightweight silicones with environmental restrictions.

Ethanolamines We do not use ethanolamines such as MEA, DEA, or TEA. These are often used to adjust pH or help a formula mix and foam. They can irritate skin and scalp, and some can form unwanted impurities that have raised cancer concerns. We leave them out.

Formaldehyde-releasing preservatives We do not use formaldehyde or preservatives that release it. Formaldehyde can irritate skin and has raised cancer concerns. We leave it out of our hair care.

Gluten Our formulas are made without gluten ingredients. Gluten can bother skin and scalps, so we leave it out.

MIT and CMIT We do not use methylisothiazolinone (MIT) or methylchloroisothiazolinone (CMIT). These preservatives can bother sensitive skin and scalps.

Nonfunctional dyes We do not add dyes that only color the product in the bottle. Extra colorants do not help hair, and they are one more thing on hair and skin that does not need to be there.

Parabens We do not use paraben preservatives. Parabens have raised ongoing questions about long-term effects on the body. We leave them out.

PEGs We do not use polyethylene glycols (PEGs). Some PEGs can carry leftover impurities from manufacturing, including ethylene oxide and 1,4-dioxane, which have raised cancer concerns. We leave PEGs out.

Phthalates We do not use phthalates. They often show up with synthetic fragrance systems, and they are another load we do not want on skin and hair.

Sulfates We do not use common sulfate cleansers such as sodium lauryl sulfate or sodium laureth sulfate. Those can strip hair and scalp of the oils that keep them healthy.

Synthetic fragrance We do not use synthetic fragrance. Fragrance blends can hide many unnamed materials, and they are a common trigger for sensitive skin and scalp, and for known conditions such as MCS.

Where to look next Want to see what we put in? Visit Ingredients We Use, then open any product page for How it does that and Full ingredients.

 

Sources

These are public references behind the “why” notes above. We share them so you can read more for yourself. They do not mean every use of every ingredient is unsafe. They are why Kavella chooses to leave these out.

Dimethicone and cyclic siloxanes

Ethanolamines

Formaldehyde-releasing preservatives

MIT and CMIT

Parabens

PEGs

Phthalates

Sulfates

Synthetic fragrance