Nine Zero One Salon owners Nikki Lee and Riawna Capri are famous for their effortless cool girl hair—both on their heads and on their clients. Since opening their salon in 2010, the dynamic duo have been the go-to stylists for other cool girls like Kate Hudson, Julianne Hough, Selena Gomez, Emma Roberts, and Nina Dobrev, just to name a few. Last year, Lee and Capri released their own hair care line, In Common Beauty, and I recently gave the entire system a try.
As I learned firsthand, they’ve reinvented the traditional in-shower experience. The steps are as follows: cleanse, treat and then moisturize. The Clear Haze Universal Shampoo ($35) is a lightweight foam and the conditioner has been nixed from the lineup—replaced by a trio of sprays (moisturizing, strengthening or smoothing, of which you choose the right one for your hair needs) and a Velvet Cloud Universal Mask ($40). I had to quickly relearn how to wash, I mean treat, my hair. The results: smooth, healthy, happy-looking hair. To get the scoop on the line and make sure I was getting the steps down right, I went straight to the sources.
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NewBeauty: Why did you decide to move away from traditional conditioner and move toward enhancing sprays and masks?
Nikki Lee: If you think of the line like you would skin care then it’s easier to understand. Just as you cleanse, tone, moisturize your face, you do the same for your hair with In Common. People tend to over style and over color their hair causing it to be dry and brittle. Using a mask as your conditioner is key to maintaining healthy locks.
Riawna Capri: Over the years, 9 times out of 10 Nikki and I would always recommend a mask to our clients versus a conditioner. Conditioners never seem to be enough. So, we decided to go straight out the gate with something that was jam packed with vitamins and nutrients, yet lightweight enough to be used daily if needed.
NB: The name of the game is layering. As someone who is afraid to put too much product in their hair, I had to really trust that I’d end up with Nine Zero One Salon-worthy hair. How did you create these leave-in formulas to be so light you can layer away?
NL: Magic Myst ($35) is literally what it’s called, “magic.” It has so many different uses it’s insane. Riawna has fine hair and mine is thick so it was important that it worked amazing on both hair textures. If you need more product you can add it in without regretting it or feeling like you need to wash your hair. The secret to all our formulas is our c3 Custom Care Complex™ technology, it repairs where hair is damaged and strengthens where it’s weak. And the rest simply rinses away, without weighing your hair down.
NB: We are living for the Clear Haze Universal Shampoo that dispenses as a foam. Why a foam?
NL: We wanted our line to be a new experience for everyone. The foam is a gentle and fun way of cleansing the hair!
NB: Why does my hair smell so amazing?
RC: We thought this part was going to be difficult for us as Nikki and I love different things. We collected every single product we love the smell of: perfumes to body lotions to candles and everything in between. We brought them all to our fragrance meeting and there were about 25 products on the table! After a lot of back and forth from there, we were able to nail our dream scent that we BOTH are obsessed with!
NL: This is the perfect combination of all scents Riawna and I love. Key notes for our signature scent are sandalwood and gardenia, paired for the perfect combination of woody meets floral.
NB: Can anyone with any hair texture benefit from using this line? And can you break down the combination of what to use if you have Straight, Curly, Processed or Textured hair? Which enhancer works best for which hair type?
NL: It was important to us that the line was universal. The enhancers are a key part to catering to each hair texture. If someone has really fine, straight hair they are good with just the shampoo and mask. Someone who has damaged hair is going to want to add in the Mended Sea Strengthening Enhancer ($30). Someone who has frizzy hair is going to want to use the Static Silk Smoothing Enhancer ($30) and someone with dry hair will benefit from the Mojave Rain Moisturizing Enhancer ($30).
NB: What do you plan on developing next?
NL: We just launched an in-salon treatment called “Crystal Cashmere!” This has been a game changer. We’re seeing instant results on hair that has been extremely compromised. The treatment reconstructs hair and leaves it feeling soft and shiny. It’s a dream! We are so proud of this product and plan on launching an at home part to extend the longevity of the in-salon treatment. Healthy hair for all!
