Backstory: Pai Shau

Pai-Shau is a luxury hair care line steeped in tea. Senior Editor Maureen Sheen spoke to to CoO Safir Shnayderman to go behind the brand.

Q: How did the idea for Pai-Shau come about?

The concept of Pai-Shau and inspiration behind our Signature Exotic Tea Complex began in Vietnam. There, our founder discovered the benefits of using steeped teas in hair during an ancient bathing ritual. This experience led us to the creation of our Signature Exotic Tea Complex—a potent, concentrated blend of proprietary teas rich in antioxidants and vitamins. The properties of the tea complex revitalize, nourish and strengthen the hair. Along with the desire to introduce a new, original concept using teas, we wanted to create a hair care company that was about something bigger than ourselves—something that was about more than just what is inside the bottles. This is reflected in our company tagline “Passion for Life.” It’s about our passion for products, performance and people.

Q: What is the meaning of the name?

Pai-Shau is derived from the Portuguese word paixão, which means “passion.”  Our “Passion for Life”  concept is what sets our brand apart. It’s about inspiring everyone to live life to the fullest and with passion. We are a luxury brand with a heart. 

Q: What makes Pai-Shau different from other brands?

We believe that we are bigger than ourselves and have a substantial philanthropy component in order to give back and encourage everyone to live their lives with passion. To us, the word “luxury” is not based on price, but on creating a memorable user experience. We wanted to speak to the modern consumer whose definition of luxury is more nuanced, and that involves aroma, packaging, textures and concentrated formulations.

Q: What is your target market?

We quickly realized that the idea of using age-old ingredients with innovative technology to create a luxurious brand—and also vegan, and gluten-, paraben- and sulfate-free—appeals to a much larger user profile than we anticipated. It used to be that luxury and vegan were never used in the same sentence to describe a brand. But we’ve found that many customers want to have a luxurious experience and use a clean line at the same time. We believe that luxury, and environmental/social responsibility don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

Q: How many products are in the line?

We currently have eight products in our Pai-Shau Luxury Haircare collection. We’ll soon add three more. Though we have a few other products in development, we plan to keep Pai-Shau a very focused, non-repetitive brand. Stylists tell us they appreciate a boutique brand that uses multi-functional formulations. Each Pai-Shau product is categorized by a beauty ritual, including a Hydrating Ritual, a Design Ritual and an Enhance Ritual. The next hair care ritual we will launch is the Volume Ritual. 

Q: Next steps for the brand?

We’re launching our new website and have more exciting products in development to meet both professional stylist and client needs. We’re always looking to further our community involvement, and inspire people to help others. At the end of the day, we are all one.

Image: Pai-Shau styled the models at Vera Wang during New York Fashion Week F/W 2016