Hair Care Ownership Expose

Your 'Natural' Shampoo Is Owned by Unilever

Published Feb 26, 2026 · By the Trusted Labels team

SheaMoisture, Living Proof, Love Beauty and Planet. They look like independent brands. They market like independent brands. But they all belong to Unilever. It is the same corporation that sells Axe body spray and TRESemme. And they're not alone.

What to do about it

Where to go instead

Switch to an independent

Every brand below is still owned by the people who founded it, and we scored its ingredients on the same scale we scored the acquired brands in this article.

The shop links above are affiliate links: as an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you. It does not change who we score, or how.

The pattern

The acquisition spree nobody talks about

Starting in 2015, Unilever went on a quiet buying spree through the "natural" personal care aisle. Rather than build rivals from scratch, it mostly bought the brands that consumers already trusted. Then it kept the indie branding intact.

The result: when you stand in the shampoo aisle today, a significant chunk of what looks like "independent natural hair care" is actually owned by the same company that makes Dove, TRESemme, and Axe. Here's the full breakdown, one case file at a time.

Case fileUnilever

SheaMoisture

Owned by Unilever

Deal closed
December 18, 2017
Bought
Sundial Brands, its parent
Price
Undisclosed
Acquired Read the full SheaMoisture file →

SheaMoisture: a cultural institution, acquired

SheaMoisture's origin story is real and it matters. In 1991, Richelieu Dennis, Nyema Tubman, and Mary Dennis founded Sundial Brands, selling shea butter products on the streets of New York City. The recipes came from the Dennis family's shea butter trade in Sierra Leone, spanning four generations.

SheaMoisture grew into one of the most beloved personal care brands in the Black community. It was a cultural institution built on natural hair care traditions.

In November 2017, Unilever announced the acquisition of Sundial Brands, which included SheaMoisture, Nubian Heritage, and the Madam C.J. Walker Collection. The deal closed on December 18, 2017. The deal also created the New Voices Fund, with an initial $50 million and a goal of $100 million to invest in women of color entrepreneurs. That was a meaningful gesture.

The brand that was born from a family's Sierra Leonean heritage and built to serve the Black community is now managed within Unilever's corporate structure. SheaMoisture sits in a portfolio alongside Dove and Axe. Whatever you think of the products today, the formulation decisions are now Unilever's.

Case fileUnilever

Living Proof

Owned by Unilever

Agreed
December 2016
Completed
February 2017
Price
Undisclosed
Acquired

Living Proof: from Jennifer Aniston to Unilever

Living Proof built its name on science-driven hair care, marketing products developed through biotechnology rather than traditional cosmetic chemistry. Jennifer Aniston became a co-owner and spokesperson, giving the brand instant credibility and celebrity cachet.

Unilever agreed to buy Living Proof in December 2016 and completed the purchase in February 2017. The science story, the biotech positioning, and the Aniston connection all came with the brand.

Living Proof products are still marketed as "science-backed" and "prestige" hair care. The packaging still looks premium. But the company making the formulation decisions and managing the supply chain is Unilever. It is not the team that built the brand.

Case fileUnilever

Love Beauty and Planet

Owned by Unilever

Unveiled
December 2017 (US)
In stores
January 2018
Founder
None outside Unilever
Built in-house

Love Beauty and Planet: the brand Unilever built from scratch

This one is especially worth knowing because Love Beauty and Planet was never an independent brand. A team inside Unilever came up with it, and Unilever unveiled it in the US in December 2017, with products in US drugstores from January 2018.

The recycled bottles. The botanical ingredients. The "ethical" positioning with planet-friendly messaging. The Instagram-ready packaging. All of it was designed inside Unilever. There was no outside founder and no garage startup story.

It reads like a brand reverse-engineered from what shoppers wanted: sustainability messaging, natural ingredients and aesthetic packaging. If you bought it thinking you were supporting an independent company, you were buying Unilever from day one.

Case fileUnilever

REN Clean Skincare

Owned by Unilever

Acquired
May 2015
Closure
Announced May 2025
Price
Undisclosed
Being closed

REN Clean Skincare: bought, then closed

REN is a British skincare brand; its name means "clean" in Swedish. It was an early voice in what became the "clean skincare" category, focusing on bioactive ingredients and leaving out synthetic chemicals that can irritate skin.

Unilever completed its purchase of REN in May 2015. For a few years, the brand continued to operate with Unilever's distribution network behind it. Then in May 2025, Unilever announced it had taken the decision to begin formal steps to close the REN business.

This is the endgame that acquisition defenders don't like to discuss. A conglomerate buys a beloved brand, and when the numbers don't justify the portfolio slot, closes it. None of the founder's vision, the customer relationships, or the community decides that outcome.

Beyond Unilever

P&G and Estee Lauder play the same game

Unilever isn't the only conglomerate buying up "natural" hair care. The pattern is industry-wide.

Mielle OrganicsProcter & Gamble

Mielle Organics → Procter & Gamble

Agreed
January 2023
Price
Reported $640 million

Mielle Organics was founded by Monique Rodriguez, and it is known for its Rosemary Mint Strengthening Shampoo. In January 2023, Procter & Gamble agreed to acquire Mielle. The companies did not disclose terms; the price was reported at $640 million.

P&G makes Pantene, Head & Shoulders, Herbal Essences, Aussie, Old Spice, Tide, Gillette, and Pampers. Mielle is now one of its brands, and P&G has the final say on formulations, sourcing, and strategy.

AvedaEstee Lauder

Aveda → Estee Lauder

Completed
December 1, 1997
Price
$300 million in cash

Aveda was one of the first "natural" hair care brands to go mainstream, building its reputation on plant-based formulas, environmental activism, and Ayurvedic principles. At the time of the sale, Horst Rechelbacher and his children owned the company.

Estee Lauder agreed to buy Aveda in November 1997 and completed the purchase on December 1, 1997, for $300 million in cash, a price it published in its own filings. Estee Lauder still owns Aveda today.

The playbook

The pattern is always the same

  1. An independent founder builds a brand on authentic values

    Clean ingredients, community connection and transparency.

  2. The brand earns consumer trust

    This often takes years or decades of consistent quality and messaging.

  3. A conglomerate acquires the brand

    It pays a premium for the trust that took years to build.

  4. The indie branding is preserved

    The acquisition is buried in press releases, not on the packaging.

  5. Founders often step back

    Sometimes within a few years, sometimes voluntarily, sometimes not.

  6. Formulas and sourcing can shift quietly

    Decisions can favor margin over the founder's original standards.

  7. Consumers keep buying

    The shelf appearance has not changed, even though the decision-making has.

The conglomerates aren't buying products. They're buying trust: the years of credibility that an independent brand earned through consistent, values-driven decisions. Then they sell products made under a fundamentally different decision-making framework.

Brands to Know About

The "Natural" Hair Care Corporate Map

These brands market as natural or indie, but they're owned by multinational corporations. One was never independent at all.

All ownership files →
SheaMoisture Unilever 2017
Living Proof Unilever 2017
Love Beauty and Planet Unilever (Created by)
REN Clean Skincare Unilever (closure announced 2025) 2015
Mielle Organics Procter & Gamble 2023 (reported $640 million)
Aveda Estee Lauder 1997

See individual ownership pages: SheaMoisture · Shampoo Category

The takeaway

The Bottom Line

Three conglomerates own many of the best-known names in the "natural" shampoo aisle: Unilever, Procter & Gamble, and Estee Lauder. They didn't innovate their way into this market. They bought their way in. SheaMoisture, Living Proof, Mielle Organics, and Aveda were all acquired. Love Beauty and Planet was manufactured from scratch to look indie. REN was bought, and Unilever has since announced its closure.

The pattern is clear: conglomerates buy trust, preserve the branding, quietly shift the decision-making, and count on consumers not noticing. If you want hair care that's actually made by the people whose names and values are on the bottle, you need to look at the brands below and our clean shampoo picks.

Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Is SheaMoisture still a good product after the Unilever acquisition?

The question is more nuanced than "good" or "bad." The bigger change is who decides: the decision-making has fundamentally changed: ingredient sourcing, formulation decisions, and company strategy are now controlled by Unilever's corporate structure, not by the community-rooted founders. If supporting independent, founder-led brands matters to you, SheaMoisture no longer qualifies.

Was Love Beauty and Planet ever an independent brand?

No. A team inside Unilever came up with Love Beauty and Planet, and Unilever unveiled it in the US in December 2017. It was designed internally to capture the "conscious consumer" market, with no outside founder and no startup story. The "indie" aesthetic was a deliberate corporate design choice. If you bought it thinking it was an independent brand, that was the intent. It wasn't an accident.

Why did Unilever close REN Clean Skincare?

Unilever's May 2025 statement announced the decision to begin formal steps to close the REN business. Whatever the internal reasons, this is the risk of conglomerate ownership. A brand that an independent founder would nurture and grow patiently gets evaluated against a global company's return thresholds. When it falls short, it gets killed. Fifteen years of brand building and customer loyalty become a line item on a write-off.

What about P&G buying Mielle Organics? Is that different?

The Mielle deal, announced in January 2023 and reported at $640 million, follows the exact same playbook. Monique Rodriguez built an authentic brand that resonated deeply with the Black hair care community, and P&G acquired it for the trust she built. Founders often say they will stay involved after a sale, and many step back within a few years. P&G now owns the brand, the formulas, and the final say on every business decision. Time will tell whether Mielle's quality and community focus survive corporate ownership.

Independent Alternatives

Hair Care Brands That Are Actually Independent

These shampoo and hair care brands are founder-owned and independently operated. No Unilever, no P&G, no Estee Lauder.

All shampoo reviews →