Pop the bubbly!
Cuvée Beauty hair products are bringing new meaning to the words “champagne shower.”
Rachel Katzman was in Las Vegas for her 21 birthday when she got sprayed with champagne while celebrating. Later that night she noticed something different about her hair.
(MORE: Beyonce's makeup artist, Sir John, reveals his best makeup tricks)“I looked in the mirror and thought, ‘What hair products did I use? My hair is so shiny and has so much volume.’”
Katzman made the connection later that the champagne was still in her hair and a lightbulb went off in her head: How could she transfer the positive impact the champagne had on her hair into real-life hair products?
When she returned to New York, she began putting champagne in a spray bottle and spraying her hair with it every day to give it the same look she had in Vegas. She even began using it on her mom and friends, who told her they were getting the same results.
Katzman began to research the effects that champagne has on hair and discovered that she wasn’t the first person to notice how bubbly made her hair bouncy and shiny. She found several articles about movie stars who used to give their hair champagne baths, and even remembered reading a piece about Christie Brinkley soaking her hair in champagne.
That’s when Katzman decided to get scientists involved. She began to search for chemists and labs that specialized in beauty products and could help her understand why champagne had such a positive effect on her hair.
The answer, researchers said, was grape seed extract. They informed Katzman that the antioxidants from these extracts are known to help keep hair healthy, reduced it from falling out and provided volume. They also noted that this ingredient is often found in skin care products and was helpful not only to just the hair but to the scalp.
"Anti-oxidant vitamin E is key here," Dr. Nura Orra of ABC News' Medical Unit said. "It's a potent vitamin packed with anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. It stimulates hair growth and prevents split ends from occurring. It also prevents premature graying and gives a lustrous shine to the hair."
(MORE: California Senate passes new bill banning racial discrimination against employees with natural hairstyles)Scientists worked and developed a line of hair care products that utilized the benefits of the grape seed extract portion of champagne without the sugar and stickiness of real champagne. Two and a half years after that initial champagne shower, Katzman finally had physical hair care products and Cuvée Beauty was born.
“I really wanted to simplify getting great, healthy, effortless hair without all the products and steps,” Katzman said. “I want to help people feel confident every day.”
Cuvée Beauty now sells shampoo and conditioner along with several other products to help strengthen, shine and soften hair. Although the product line has expanded, Katzman wanted her research on champagne and grape extract to be present throughout.
“I want to blend a young, fun lifestyle brand but also have a kickass ingredients story,” Katzman says.
Put your (shampoo) bottles up and cheers to healthy hair!