After Cracking Men’s Gray Coverage, Simpler Hair Color From Former Mathnasium CEO Expands Into Women’s Color

Following a decade of dyeing his own hair, Snehal Patel was fed up with the process.

“In my early 20s, I wasn’t feeling the salt-and-pepper look,” he says. “So, I resorted to what pretty much most men had to do at the time: go to a drugstore and pick up the only men’s product available. It was really messy and intimidating. I felt like I was doing some kind of science experiment in the bathroom.”

After launching and exiting two education companies—Mathnasium and Sokikom—Patel finally had the mental space to tackle the hair coloring predicament that had nagged him for years. He wanted a cleaner, safer, faster alternative, something in a single tube with multiple color options, an intuitive applicator and no need for gloves. The result was Simpler Hair Color, a vegan and cruelty-free, no-mix all-in-one system for hair, beard and touch-ups, launched in 2020.

The process wasn’t the only issue. Patel experienced burning sensations on his skin from previous hair dyeing, and he discovered most legacy hair-color brands rely on paraphenylenediamine (PPD) to speed up dye results. PPD, derived from petroleum, is a known allergen and common trigger for allergic contact dermatitis, especially with repeated exposure. Simpler, he determined, would avoid it. The brand formulates with toluene-2,5-diamine sulfate (TDS), a gentler agent that takes 30 minutes to set versus PPD’s five minutes, but Patel says doesn’t burn.

He recalls, “Once we finalized the formula, I really wasn’t looking to build a big company; I was more so trying to solve my own problem.”

However, he wasn’t the only one with the problem. Despite millions of men covering grays at home, Patel describes a men’s hair coloring category that had barely evolved, offering harsh formulas, limited shades and notoriously unpleasant, multi-step kits that led to a frustrating experience. Since inception, Simpler has organically scaled to an eight-figure sum in annual revenue.

Each kit, full or partial coverage, is priced at $49.95 and contains an airtight bottle that keeps the products fresh for four to five applications. What differentiates the system, beyond the formulation, is Simpler’s custom brush. Patel, who tested dozens of brushes, developed a dual-function brush soft enough for precision work—along the ears, across stubble and at the nape—yet firm enough to comb through hair evenly. He says it has softer bristles, great for precision, and “allows dispensing dye to be popped on like toothpaste, with no drip.”

Now, in the wake of years of inbound requests, Simpler is betting big on the female consumer. In November, the brand introduced a women’s full-coverage hair color kit with a curated range of 10 shades. The men’s full-coverage hair color kit comes in seven shades. Patel says, “Many were already using the men’s dye and requesting more shades.”

Simpler’s expansion into women’s hair color comes as the hair coloring segment has shown resilience. More than 1.5 billion units of hair color products were sold globally last year, underscoring steady consumer demand. At-home coloring continues to gain traction, with roughly 100 million consumers choosing DIY solutions as formulations improve. For brands, hair coloring products have the advantage of durable loyalty once a customer commits.

Women account for more than $13.79 billion in hair color sales, according to Astute Analytica. Social media is accelerating interest, with over 60 million #haircolor posts on Instagram and more than 1 billion views on TikTok, pointing to sustained growth.

To support its expansion, Simpler recently hired a public relations agency for the first time. “For the first five years, all of our growth was organic: customer word-of-mouth, strong repeat rates and product performance,” says Patel. “We intentionally held off on PR so we could focus on product quality and building trust.”

Simpler has over 6,600 followers on TikTok, where it’s sold more than 17,100 units via TikTok Shop, and 44,000 followers on Instagram. This year, its goals are to elevate brand awareness, support new category launches and branch into new channels and countries over the next 12 to 18 months. With the women’s line, the brand expects double-digit sales growth this year.

Simpler is set to launch more colors and a robust set of tools in early 2026, including sectioning clips and other customized brushes, intended for women and suitable for retail distribution. The brand’s dream retailers include Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Ulta Beauty and Sephora, where it believes it can shake up the hair coloring status quo.