The Hair Growth Magic Behind Pressed Beauty

The journey of dealing with hair loss can be frustrating, debilitating, and lonely. Pressed Beauty founder Natasha Bhaget knows first-hand having dealt with various forms of hair loss for as long as she can remember. From the overuse of blow dryers, flat irons, and chemicals to “tame” her naturally curly hair, she was fighting what her hair wanted to do all along. “All those years of excessive heat and no protection caused a lot of damage,” Natasha says.

About 2% of people across the world will experience alopecia areata at some point in their lifetime and surprisingly, several U.S.-based studies have spotted a pattern in alopecia areata frequency among different races - with Asian, Black, and Hispanic populations finding themselves in a much more vulnerable position than whites.

As an avid DIY-er, Natasha began experimenting with various oils to nourish her scalp and regrow her hair, which resulted in Pressed Beauty, an efficacious hair oil brand sourced from her native country of Tanzania.

After Natasha had her daughter, she began to question her understanding and appreciation of beauty. “Was I embracing and accepting all of me, really and truly? I grew up in the times when dolls were slim with straight blond hair and Disney princesses never looked like me. The standard of beauty was never us,” she says. Thankfully, today’s representation of beauty tells a different story, “When you know how to take care of your unique self, magic happens.”

We’ve had a chat with Natasha to dive deeper into the subject. Keep reading to know more about how Pressed Beauty uses locally sourced ingredients like Thyme, Rosemary, Pumpkin Seed and Castor Oil to make anyone’s journey against hair loss as purposeful and magic as possible.

How did you decide to create your brand? 

There were three inspirations to start Pressed. Firstly, I’ve been dealing with various forms of hair loss for as long as I can remember. From alopecia areata, telogen effluvium and currently androgenetic alopecia. I was an avid DIY-er mixing oils for the scalp and hair to help combat and control my hair loss. I understand how deeply upsetting this experience is, I understand wanting to take the natural route to correct this problem and I understand how valuable it is to get information and products that can make a difference.

Another pressing matter I was met with was how I was going to represent beauty to my daughter – Growing up, I brushed my hair as one does, and would end up with a wonderfully poofy mess. So, I straightened my hair by blow drying, flat ironing or using chemicals to make it more manageable. I never realized I had curly hair all my life! All those years of excessive heat and no protection caused a lot of damage. After having my daughter, I began to question my understanding and appreciation of beauty. Was I embracing and accepting all of me, really and truly? I grew up in the times when dolls were slim with straight blond hair and Disney princesses never looked like me. The standard of beauty was never us. Today’s representation of beauty tells a different story, my daughter is exposed to diversity in books and shows that my generation never saw. There were wounds that I needed to close, quickly. My first step, I took on “project healthy hair”. It wasn’t just about embracing my curls; it was about taking care of my hair. When you know how to take care of your unique self, magic happens.

And last but not least, Inclusivity. We need to see more people of color, we need to see hair with texture, hair with pattern. Not for the sake of representation, but for intentional inclusivity. 

In what ways is Pressed Beauty take sustainability into consideration?
Mindful production. I feel like it perfectly describes what we're about. We do what we can and what's in our capacity. Allow us to give examples:

Production

• We focus on trying to localize our production as much as possible. As an example, 98% of the ingredients used in our Scalp Elixir are sourced locally.
• We compost the waste produced from pressing oils. When you send seed through an oil press you are left with, what's referred to as, the cake. This cake is highly nutritious and works perfectly for compost.
When we distill oils, we recycle the water used in the condenser (as it has no contact with the distilled oil and hydrosol).
• We will also identify ways we can maximize the use of each ingredient. For example, when we produce essential oils we also get hydrosols which we currently don’t use. But are developing a product which will use these hydrosols so that they don’t go to waste.
•  Packaging
We strike a balance between less wastage and making you feel valued. Our product packaging will be clean and practical. We are not going to send you a box with decorative tissue and we won't add brand notes unless it makes sense.

Local Sourcing

• We have localized as much as we can to start. Our driving force to press and distill our own oils was to be able to control our quality and select ingredients that salute our soil. 

Moving Forward

• There are many aspects of our business that we can do better at and create a better impact. We have our wish list of changes, some are big wishes and some small and we're excited to get through them in the next few years.

How do you choose your ingredients and what's Pressed Beauty's product-making process?

We work closely with industry professionals to curate effective and safe formulations. Every ingredient in our formula has a purpose, to ensure that you have a results driven product. Our goal is to only add what’s needed, not what isn’t. With that in mind there are no “hero” ingredients in our formulations because every single ingredient was selected with purpose.

In terms of production we take charge from beginning to end. We cold press and distil our own oils and use mechanical filtration to guarantee the potency, freshness, and integrity of our ingredients. This truly sets us apart and greatly elevates an already strong formulation.

What are the brand's principles?

Small Batch Production
We cold press and distill our own oils and use mechanical filtration to guarantee the potency, freshness, and integrity of our ingredients.

Expert Formulation
We work closely with industry professionals to curate effective and safe formulations.

Efficacy
Every ingredient in our formula has a purpose, to ensure that you have a results driven product.

Transparency
We want you to be part of our journey and ensure that you understand why each ingredient is selected.

Simplicity
Our goal is to only add what’s needed, not what isn’t. There are no "hero" ingredients. All our ingredients are heroes.

Environment
Our impact on the environment guides every decision we make. From how we produce, to our packaging to how we deal with our production waste.

What are your favorite Pressed Beauty products? 

Our product portfolio is quite small with 3 SKUs currently, so it is difficult to have a favorite. But I will say, since we launched the Scalp Elixir first, it is a product that is near and dear to me. Not because it’s better than the Nourishing Hair Oil, but it was the first product we launched. It was the first set of ingredients that I worked with, and it was the first bottle that I filled and sealed, so I think it will always be a favorite.