Ristrah Heads To H-E-B With Its Natural Antidote To Stubborn Hair-Color Stains

Of all the messes caused by beauty products, those from at-home hair color may be the worst. When Kamakshi Kata’s engineering expertise didn’t help her avoid hair-dye debacles, she set out to stave them off by creating Schild Hair Color Stain Protector, the debut product from the brand Ristrah that’s now rolling out to 100 H-E-B stores.

“I was interviewing for a job – and you really want to look decent if you’re going for an interview – and I had colored my hair beforehand. I have really dark hair, and there were really dark stains on my forehead because most of my grays are along my hairline,” recounts Kata, a beauty business neophyte who’s spent much of her career in telecommunications. “I wanted a product that prevented the hair color stains on my skin.”

She scanned the hair care aisles for products that would guard against hair-dye remnants and discovered some in Sally Beauty, but none were natural. Sensing the market was ripe for a natural option, Kata toiled for about five months to develop Schild Hair Color Stain Protector in 2016. Its formula contains jojoba esters, coconut and lavender oils, shea butter, Japanese fruit and candelilla waxes, and vitamins E and C.

Second and third products, Schild Natural Hair Color Stain Remover and Natural Scalp Serum, joined Ristrah’s selection last year. Kata invested roughly $60,000 to bring the three products to fruition. The Protector is placed on the hairline, neck and around the ears prior to hair-color application to ward off hair-color splotches, but, if splotches pop up in areas not protected by the product, the Stain Remover eradicates them. The Natural Scalp Serum addresses dryness and itchiness that can result from regular hair dying.

Kata started presenting Ristrah’s merchandise to retail buyers last June and received feedback that the brand’s packaging could benefit from tweaking. “The packaging I had initially was completely different from the packaging I have now. The bottle I used was fancy, but it was very difficult to read,” she says. The current packaging draws attention to Ristrah’s natural, vegan approach with wording and graphics of plant ingredients. The Stain Remover and Stain Protector boxes show a woman’s face highlighted in the parts where the product is spread.

Retail buyers impressed upon Kata that the Stain Protector had to be inexpensive to cater to a wide audience. She lowered the price from $15.99 to $9.99 for a 1-oz. size. To make margins work with the reduced price, Kata switched to a cheaper container, while keeping the container recyclable to underpin Ristrah’s natural positioning. The Stain Remover and Hair Serum are priced at $5.99 for a 1-oz. size and $14.99 for a 1.7-oz. size, respectively.

“We believe in making economical natural products that people can actually afford to buy,” says Kata, elaborating, “There’s definitely a need for these products. I’ve looked for stain protectors, and I know a lot of my friends have, too. If I put the Stain Protector in front of somebody they say, ‘This is something I really need. I’ve just been covering up my forehead.’”

In February of this year, Kata received a purchase order from H-E-B, but she’d been preparing months earlier to ramp up production in anticipation of the order. Ristrah, which is named for Kata’s sons Rithvik and Rishi, will be found in the grocer’s hair-color assortment. The multicultural beauty products distributor Beauty Enterprises has had a hand in getting Allen, Texas-based Ristrah into H-E-B and is putting the brand in beauty stores along the East Coast.

Ristrah has landed on Amazon as well. Kata envisions salons being targets for the brand’s products, too. As she was perfecting the Stain Protector two years ago, she turned to hairstylists to test its formula, and they were pleased by its abilities to combat hair-dye disasters. Kata notes stylists already incorporate protectors into their services, but they’re usually relying on chemically-laden products.

For 2018, Kata’s goal is to make Ristrah successful at H-E-B and build awareness of its products. Social media will play a critical role in raising awareness. Next year, Kata envisions the brand expanding to additional retailers both on a national and regional level.

“It’s been tough so far, but exciting. The one thing I’ve learned about running your own business is to be patient,” she says. “You’re putting a lot of money into it and things just don’t happen quickly. It takes time. Being new to the field, it was a steep learning curve for me.”