A New Twist on the Natural Hair Movement: Plant-Based Hair Extensions

A New Twist on the Natural Hair Movement: Plant-Based Hair Extensions

​Ciara Imani May's scalp felt like it was on fire. It wasn't the 2019 summer heat in North Carolina: She had just started wearing hair extensions regularly. 

May was tired of it. In January, after more than a year of development and $136,000 in grant funding, she launched St. Louis-based Rebundle, which makes biodegradable, banana fiber-based braiding hair, or hair extensions. The direct-to-consumer product began shipping in March. May declined to share revenue, but says that pre-sale orders exhausted supplies in just under a month.

A 2018 graduate of the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business, May used some of the grant money she received from NC Idea, an organization that promotes entrepreneurship in North Carolina, to order a lab analysis on leading brands' braids. The analysis turned up chemicals linked to a variety of illnesses and medical conditions.