CMPRESSD Beauty is changing consumer behavior with elevated shampoo and conditioner bars that are performance-driven from design to formulation. Ramya Viswanathan launched the brand after leading product development as a cosmetic chemist at popular brands, including JVN Hair and Biossance.
She initially formulated the concentrated shampoo and conditioner bars for international travel, giving extra samples to friends and the local community. She began to see how these waterless bars were changing the way people thought about sustainable products as a whole, prompting her move from chemist to brand founder to bring the formula to market.
On Performance Design
She knew, first and foremost, that she didn’t want customers choosing sustainably to have to compromise. She had developed a shampoo and conditioner bar with a formula competitive to bottled products and was intentional about creating a luxury experience to match the product's quality.
“I had to go through a whole bunch of designers before I found the one designer who completely understood. We liked the same kinds of brands, premium fashion brands and those little fashion houses, and everything,” she explains.
The small product development details took the most time, she shares, such as giving the bars an edge to stand and drain properly.
“I felt that sustainability is cool, but you want the product to be enjoyable rather than something you get used to — I didn’t want that responsibility to be left on the customer.”
On Performance Ingredients
Ramya led with clinical data to show the hero ingredient, cationic hyaluronic acid (called hyaluronic acid+), conditions and softens hair to reduce breakage. “It’s ionic bonding, which pairs really well with a concentrated product. You can actually feel the difference since it has better adhesion to hair,” she shares.
She has a less-is-more ingredient approach to clean beauty, noting, “There are only a few ingredients that do heavy lifting, called functional ingredients.” They keep education interesting and approachable, expanding on the science behind haircare and the anatomy of product ingredients on their blog.
“We have new photography coming in, which I’m super excited about because it’s capturing science and ingredients on film in a prettier way,” she says. “I feel like that can make a really unique experience and make the ingredients a little more tangible.”
As featured in Kara McGrath’s Allure Magazine article questioning why shampoo bars haven’t become popular, Ramya clarifies that “it’s still an education issue.” The concentrated products can deliver competitive performance, are more cost-effective, and are a plastic-free solution.
On Sustainability
Ramya shares that she didn’t want to “make any disclaimers,” having worked in manufacturing and seen firsthand the impact of waste in the beauty industry. “I feel like nobody properly tackled the root cause of sustainability. I don’t need to bottle shampoo bars, which eliminates waste at the source,” she explains.
They keep all their manufacturing and ingredient suppliers in the US, reducing their carbon footprint and allowing for a traceable supply chain. “It’s about looking at sustainability holistically, so I examine every phase of the supply chain to ensure that there is responsibility there,” she says.
"I’d say being a sustainable company isn’t hard because I’m starting it from scratch. The biggest challenge has actually been building awareness around the brand."
Brand awareness has grown slowly, but intentionally, through word of mouth and grassroots marketing. As a bootstrapped company, Ramya calls it a “slow build,” with a focus on content for better product understanding.
They’re currently growing their community to gain more website reviews, offering the Stéibel community a free sample bar at checkout with code SAMPLE5 through June 25. I also love their quality detangling brush that minimizes static in dry hair.
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