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Privé Hair is more than just a haircare brand—it’s a movement towards clean, effective, and professional-grade products that empower users to embrace their natural beauty. Ahead, we caught up with founder and CEO Shay Hoelscher, a female race car driver who had crafted haircare products with affordable luxury, clean and natural ingredients that are good for you and good for the planet.
Ahead, Shay gets us up to speed on her journey in the beauty industry, the brand’s core mission, and how they’re transforming haircare routines with innovative formulations. From their inspiration to future plans, get an inside look at the story behind Privé Hair and the passion that drives its success.
As a female race car driver and beauty entrepreneur, how did your racing career inspire the creation of privé products?
As a female race car driver and beauty entrepreneur, I have often been asked, How does racing relate to haircare? On the surface, these two worlds are miles apart-one is about speed, power and precision, while the other focuses on beauty, care and wellness. But if you dive a little deeper, you will find that there’s more overlap than you might think. For me, the journey behind the wheel is directly inspired by the creation of privé products, and here is why. Racing taught me the there is no room for compromise. Every detail matters when you are behind the wheel. You fine tune every aspect of the car, your strategy, and your mindset to be at your best when it counts.
Lap times are counted in 100th of a tenth of a second. This same principal guides how I approach my brand. Just as I never settle for less than the best in my abilities in racing, I wasn’t willing to settle when it came to creating a haircare brand. With privé, I wanted to craft formularies that are clean, effective, vegan, cruelty free, luxurious, but still accessible. It wasn’t just about the product line and looking good but to create a high performing haircare brand that would include my deep desire to lead with purpose, give back and challenge the norms of status quo in the beauty industry and drive the business for force for good. I knew firsthand that when you’re at your best, you can take on anything. Racing gives me that kind of confidence, and I wanted our product to give that to others.
As a female race car driver, I have always found myself in a male dominated environment, breaking thru glass ceilings. In many ways, launching privé felt similar. The Beauty industry is competitive and can be tough to navigate. Like racing, its competitive and you have to fight for your place. Privé is more than a brand, it’s an extension of my journey, my values, and my desire to empower others. I have been fortunate enough to blend two of my greatest loves, racing and beauty. And while the two seem worlds apart, they have come together in a way that is uniquely me. So, whether I’m in the driver’s seat of a race car or at the helm of privé, one thing remains constant-I am driven by passion, purpose, and the pursuit of excellence. And that’s something I hope every person uses our products feels, too.
After all, racing isn’t just about speed, and beauty isn’t all about looks, it’s about confidence, strength, resilience you care with you-on and off the track.
privé haircare emphasizes clean, natural ingredients that are pure enough to use as skincare. What inspired this approach, and what sets your formulations apart from other brands?
My approach to creating privé was inspired by simple but powerful idea; why shouldn’t our haircare be as clean and natural as all of the products that we put on our skin? I Have always been passionate about products that are good for the body and the planet, and I wanted to bring the same philosophy to haircare including all the super fuel charged food grade ingredients that I put in my body. Our scalp is skin, and our skin is our largest organ, and it deserves the same kind of gentle, nourishing and healing care that we give to our face. Our formularies are hand crafted with food grade ingredients that have active ingredients that feed, repair and heal our hair.
The #priveitforward initiative gives back 1% of all revenue to Project Beauty Share. What motivated you to start this initiative, and why is this cause close to your heart?
Beauty is kindness. Project Beauty Share’s cause is important to me as it aligns with my deep belief that beauty should be accessible to everyone, regardless of circumstances. Having worked in the beauty industry for decades, I have seen firsthand how much confidence and empowerment the right products can bring to someone. But not everyone has access to these simple luxuries. Project Beauty Share helps bridge the gap by providing personal care, hygiene, and beauty products to women overcoming hardship. Its more than just looking good- it’s about restoring hope, dignity, confidence, and self-worth. I believe in the power of beauty to uplift, inspire and help people see their inner strength, and supporting this cause allows me to extend the impact to women who need it most. Its kindness in action and creates a ripple effect for the greater good, which is a core part of who I am and what privé stands for.
privé haircare combines affordable luxury with eco-conscious practices. How do you balance creating high-quality products while maintaining sustainability and accessibility?
At privé, we’ve made it our mission to combine affordable luxury with eco-conscious practices because we believe that everyone deserves high-quality, clean beauty without compromising performance and the planet. We carefully source natural, food-grade ingredients that are not only effective but kind to the environment. our packaging is thoughtfully designed to reduce waste, using recyclable, and sugar cane materials whenever possible. While luxury often comes at a high price tag, we work to keep our products fairly priced, so they are accessible to a wide audience. It’s all about making thoughtful choices that honor our commitment to creating beautiful hair while caring for the world around us.
privé has a range of standout products, but do you have a hero product that you’re particularly proud of? What are your best tips for using it, and why do you personally love it?
We have many hero products, one of my personal favorites is our Scalp Reboot Serum. This product delivers transformational results, targeting the root of our scalp health (our skin, largest organ) with a potent blend of Kombucha, caffeine, biotin, probiotics, rosemary, quinoa, and vitamin liposomes. This powerful serum is combined to work to detoxify, energize, and nourish the scalp promoting healthier hair growth and instantly soothing irritation. Kombucha and probiotics balance the scalp microbiome, while caffeine stimulates circulation, and biotin strengthens hair follicles. The rosemary, quinoa and vitamin liposomes deeply nourish and protect, leaving your scalp rejuvenate and your hair looking fuller and more vibrant after each use. It’s a reset for both your scalp and hair from the inside out.
I use the scalp reboot serum every time I shampoo and condition my hair. It’s my personal time to enjoy the extra level of self-care for me and my hair. I apply it with the dropper on my scalp after I have shampooed and conditioned and leave it in and style my hair. It feels so good on your scalp the smell is intoxicating in the shower and helps create my little oasis and leaves my hair so shiny. This product is truly greater than the sum of its parts.
