Scalp Care Brand Aware Hair Bets on Salon Stylists to Scale

After more than 40 years behind the chair, Aware Hair founder Tina Mui, along with her daughter Jade Wong, are building their brand with Mui’s stylist cohort top of mind.

Mui began conceptualizing Aware after losing two stylist colleagues to cancers linked to job-related prolonged chemical exposure. This coincided with Wong’s own struggles with scalp psoriasis and hair loss. The mother-daughter duo wanted to create products that were beneficial for the scalp, safer for salon professionals, and more effective for overall hair care.

Wong says, “I think a lot of times salon brands, they make your hair look great, but they do nothing for your scalp. And for scalp care brands, they might help address a symptom, but they do nothing for your hair. Bridging those two worlds that my mom has been seeing for the past 40 years as a stylist and as a trichologist together is our mission.”

Aware Hair launched a year ago with a friends-and-family fundraise of just under $150,000. Its nine-in-one collection includes a $55 Shampoo, $55 Conditioner, and $60 Leave-In Styling Conditioner. An upcoming launch that Wong is keeping under wraps is a scalp treatment product. Mui’s philosophy is to avoid releasing anything unless it’s better than what’s already on the market. “We don’t feel a need to oversaturate the line for the sake of it,” says Wong. “We really want to keep it as streamlined as possible.”

True to its stylist-first philosophy, the products can be found in over 100 salons, spas, clinics, and hotels across the country, and the brand collaborates with more than 1,500 stylists and professionals. Over 95% of business-to-business revenue comes from partners who reorder on a monthly basis, shares Wong, and top stylists at Aware partner salons and spas generate $2,000 in incremental monthly revenue per person. The brand is expecting $750,000 in revenues for 2026, positioning itself alongside beauty companies like America's quiet beauty giants scaling through focused, professional distribution channels.

She emphasizes the importance of working with stylists, noting that consumers typically go to a salon more than they go to a dermatologist's office, making stylists the ones who observe client scalps regularly over time. “Having that professional spot those changes and recommend the products—having that trusted source who understands all of your history with scalp issues and chemical treatments—is invaluable,” Wong explains.

In May, Aware launched with storied Manhattan apothecary C.O. Bigelow. Its launch generated more than 500 email signups and involved a live scalp analysis from Mui. Partnering with boutique retailers while the brand is still in its early stages is important for maintaining an intimate experience with customers where education is emphasized.

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Aware’s shampoo has sold out three times in the past year and has a repeat purchase rate of around 40%. “Once clients use it, they don’t use anything else, which has been really important for us,” says Wong. “The first buy is great, but the second buy is more meaningful.” Aware’s Leave-In Styling Conditioner had a viral moment in May when former Love Island contestant Cierra Ortega’s stylist Omran Sadi used it while styling her hair. Ortega’s TikTok video has almost six million views and nearly 500,000 likes. The feature generated a weekly lift of over 800% in Leave-In Styling Conditioner sales, demonstrating how social proof drives viral momentum in an era where TikTok Shop is becoming a critical channel for beauty product discovery.

Overall, Aware has generated more than 20 million organic social views across Instagram and TikTok. Stylists are the brand’s main ambassadors, and it allocates all of its user-generated content (UGC) influencer budget to working with them. The top-performing videos address educational topics like ingredient standards and thinning hair.

That education emphasis extends not only to its audience but also to its stylist ambassadors, who Wong says often aren’t trained in scalp care nor do they have the time to become trichologists. In response, the brand has developed a scalp analysis app that helps stylists track their clients' scalp health over time. It’s currently in beta testing and will have a larger rollout in 2027. Wong says, “My mom’s mission is really to share her knowledge with more stylists and mentor the next generation of scalp care professionals.”