Act+Acre Spotlights Scalp Care At Sephora

Act+Acre’s decision to zero in on scalp care put it on a path to enter Sephora, where it officially premieres online today and is rolling out to 235 doors on Friday.

The beauty specialty retailer is showcasing six of the brand’s stockkeeping units priced from $26 to $86—Cold Processed Hair Cleanse Shampoo, Restorative Deep Conditioning Hair Mask, Fulvic Acid Volumizing Dry Shampoo, Vitamin E Scalp Detox Oil, BHA Salicylic Acid Scalp Renew Exfoliator and 2% Stem Cell H2-Grow Complex Scalp Serum—on The Next Big Thing displays. Sephora’s website is selling the in-store selection plus another 10 Act+Acre SKUs priced from $30 to $145, including Thick + Full Hair Capsules, 5% Argan Repair Hair Oil and 0.25mm Scalp Dermaroller.

Launched in 2019 as a direct-to-consumer hair wellness brand, Act+Ace broke into Dermstore, Bluemercury, Amazon, Neiman Marcus, Heyday and Cult Beauty prior to Sephora. The brand’s retail revenues jumped 250% from 2022 to 2023, and industry sources estimate it could generate more than $10 million in retail sales in its first year at Sephora. Act+Acre’s sales have spiked 354% since its series A funding round closed in 2021. The brand has raised a total of $10 million in funding, and it’s in venture capital firm Cult Capital’s portfolio.

At Sephora, Act+Acre is building a scalp care assortment featuring products from Ceremonia, Briogeo, Gisou, The Ordinary, JVN, Alterna, Bread Beauty Supply and The Inkey List. “They see scalp becoming its own category,” says Helen Reavey, the celebrity hairstylist and trichologist who founded Act+Acre with her husband Colm Mackin. “So, same as skincare and haircare are categories, scalp will become that.”

According to the brand, searches on Sephora’s site reveal that consumers are hunting for scalp care solutions for hair growth and dandruff. Rather than concentrate on hair wellness broadly, Act+Acre has leaned into the demand for scalp care, which was accelerated by the pandemic exacerbating scalp-related issues. The brand figures half of Americans deal with scalp issues. It pivoted its marketing last year to concentrate on hero product 2% Stem Cell H2-Grow Complex Scalp Serum, a move critical to establishing its position as a scalp care specialist.

“Before that, we would’ve been talking about all our products and talking about hair at the same time, but we really shifted our focus to just hone in on this area of the scalp,” says Reavey. “That worked incredible for us. It was at that point when people were going through a lot of stress coming back from COVID, and there was a lot of people losing hair due to stress. So, it was just the right timing for the product.”

The right timing and marketing have been instrumental in lifting 2% Stem Cell H2-Grow Complex Scalp Serum and BHA Salicylic Acid Scalp Renew Exfoliator’s prominence and sales. Stem Cell has sold out about four times and amassed a waitlist with over 21,000 people. Its sales volume year-to-date has doubled. Scalp Renew has had a waitlist with over 10,000 people.

“Same as skincare and haircare are categories, scalp will become that.”

Organic traffic sources have accounted for around 40% of Act+Acre’s sales. Its return on advertising spend (ROAS) has increased to 4.8 in the first half of this year from 2.5 in the like period last year. Meanwhile, the brand has lowered its customer acquisition cost (CAC) 62% this year, and its e-commerce conversion rate has jumped from 2.6% to 4.7%. Act+Acre shares that its Net Promoter Score (NPS) is 79. It approximates the industry average NPS is 20. In the last two years, roughly 150,000 consumers have subscribed to Act+Acre’s newsletter.

TikTok has been an important vehicle for the brand. On the platform, the hashtag #scalpcare as 1.7 billion views and the hashtag #scalp has 1.6 billion views. Act+Acre has nearly 84,000 TikTok followers. A video it reposted of scalp flake removal has garnered nearly 30 million views and another showing before-and-after scalp photos centered on Scalp Renew has drawn 1.7 million. Leveraging her expertise as a hairstylist and trichologist on TikTok and elsewhere, Reavey has played a prominent role as a scalp care educator to reinforce Act+Acre’s scalp care authority. Overall, the brand has generated greater than 12,000 pieces of user-generated content.

Reavey acknowledges some of Act+Acre’s momentum is a result of the maturation of scalp care generally. “When we started Act+Acre, honestly nobody else was talking about scalp care. So, it was very difficult, and what you notice is now there’s a lot more brands talking about scalp care,” she says, adding, “Just over a year ago, we started the conversation with Sephora. I think the market is ready. I think retailers are ready. They were starting to see an interest in scalp care. When the conversation with Sephora started, it was much easier than maybe what it would have been four a half years ago.”

Act+Acre is supporting its Sephora launch with influencer partnerships, affiliate marketing, paid advertising, traditional public relations, store events and three products exclusive to the retailer slated for October. Looking to future distribution, the brand aims to heighten its presence abroad. It could possibly travel to Sephora locations globally.

As the scalp care category matures, Act+Acre’s forthcoming merchandise will drill into specific areas within it. “It’s not just one size fits all,” says Reavey. “There are people who have dry scalp, itchy scalp, sensitive scalp, dermatitis, hair loss, hair thinning, all these different scalp concerns. What we want to do is educate the consumer around that to understand what’s going on and bridge the gap between the hairstylist and dermatologist.”

Speaking of hairstylists, Act+Acre is dabbling in the salon sector with scalp care bars. At the bars, salon clients get a view of their scalp through a camera in advance of a scalp service. Act+Acre refers to the service as a scalp facial, and it test-drives it at a concept space it has in New York. Reavey says, “You can have exfoliation done, which is lovely, and it’s entry-level kind of scalp care.”