A comprehensive and considered approach to a scalp condition over half of the population experiences
The current market of dandruff-battling shampoos and conditioners leaves little room for personalization, and very few offer full-spectrum treatment—oftentimes designed to fight flaky scalp but nothing more. Jupiter, a new brand founded by Robbie Salter and Ross Goodhart, uses an all-encompassing approach to their products: providing dandruff relief along with natural ingredients that maximize hydration and shine. Given an increase in stress lately, my flakes have been at an all-time high—so when Jupiter launched last month I was eager to hear more and try the collection.
Adopting Jupiter as a part of your daily routine begins with an online quiz. After selecting yourself from a spectrum of hair types (covering all bases including texture, structure, porosity), concerns, grooming habits, flake styles and frequencies, food preferences and beyond, you’re met with the brand’s recommendation: a tailored list of products for your specific needs and desires. The broadest result is the Whole Darn Set—a $112 kit comprising the Balancing Shampoo, Nourishing Conditioner, Restoring Serum, Soothing Elixir, Purifying Mask and Scalp Brush. But the suggestion isn’t a one-fits-all sweep. The subsequent breakdown offers advice on when and how to use the products.
Jupiter aims to be the most approachable anti-dandruff hair care company, and that includes offering insights and advice to its customers once only available from a dermatologist. “Some of the value that you get from a dermatologist is that they give you nuances like, ‘Hey, drink more water. Meditate to destress. Stop eating spicy foods. Rinse with a cold shower at the end,’” Salter says. He continues, saying that few of the big shampoo brands relay these messages. “None of the existing businesses do it because they don’t know who their customers are… They’re intermediated. With Jupiter, you’re going to receive emails from us saying, ‘Hey, here’s what you can do in addition to just shampooing and conditioning. These are all of the other things you should consider in your life—like drinking a ton of water, bringing these products with you when you travel, doing a cold scalp wash, eating foods that are higher in good saturated fat contents.”
“50% of the world is getting dandruff,” Salter tells CH. “And then 50% of 50%, a quarter, can’t use the most common product because it’s not safe for color-treatment. We decided to pivot away from making just any traditional dandruff shampoo to a clean shampoo, a clean series of products, a holistic treatment, that is color-safe, safe for keratin-treated hair, and safe for all hair types. It was really important that we were thinking through different communities and different types of textures of hair and then finally make it look good and smell good.”
Inside these products, formulas of simple ingredients (coconut oil and oatmeal), scientific components (Zinc Pyrithione, for example), and all-natural finishing touches (like fruit extracts and leaf oils) work to leave one’s hair and scalp feeling clean, but not stripped and nourished without build-up. Their products are color-safe, texture-specific, and intended for all genders. My flakes reduced within the first couple weeks of following the protocol recommended in my Jupiter quiz results. And thanks to their sophisticated branding and minimal packaging design there was zero assault to my bathroom aesthetic.
“We started with efficacy as the cornerstone of our business. If we weren’t actually effective, then there’s no reason to sell the product… We wanted to deal with the underlying cause. Because of that, we needed to include one of these over-the-counter ingredients,” Salter says. The Balancing Shampoo and the Restoring Serum both contain Zinc Pyrithione, the aforementioned FDA-regulated component known to fight dandruff and strengthen hair. “Our cosmetic products treat the symptoms. If (as a result of having oil-control issues) you are getting irritation of some kind, these ingredients target those issues,” he continues, referencing the Nourishing Conditioner, Soothing Elixir, and Purifying Mask.
“We chose Zinc Pyrithione after dermatological reports and publications stated it as the gentlest and most universally usable active ingredient. It’s the same active ingredient that Head and Shoulders uses actually, but the comparison really stops there. We removed a lot of the artificial or irritating ingredients that are commonly found in these mass market brands. These brands sit on shelves forever. They have preservatives in them. We removed sulfates, parabens, phthalates. We made it vegan and we made it dye-free. It was hugely important for us that we didn’t have what formulators refer to as a fragrance. Instead, we have a scent and the big difference is fragrance is a catchall so that a lot of these big companies can tuck in some of the more irritating ingredients that, because all they have to say on the back of the label is fragrance, they don’t have to say what’s actually in it. For us, our scents include bergamot, lavender and citrus oil—all from essential oils that also have properties that help with your symptoms.”
Jupiter’s list of beneficial additions doesn’t end there, though. The team also made sure their formulas were innovative and representative of developments in skin and hair research. “We include a handful of really innovative ingredients like Biotin, Vitamin B5, Vitamin E and probiotics. We did a tremendous amount of research to ensure that we had ingredients that could perform the same function as the cheaper, easier to throw in ingredients that some of the larger brands are using, and it’s the reason why we’re more expensive. We’re very comfortable being more expensive for that reason,” Salter says.
Above all else, Salter wants the brand to provide a customer-centric defense system against dandruff. Salter says Jupiter does the same for our universe. “Jupiter, as one of the largest planets, has actually blocked Earth from asteroids and comets, which means that we are able to exist as a civilization—because Jupiter’s protecting Earth from space flakes, effectively. It’s kind of funny how it all works out.”
Images courtesy of Jupiter
