Rita Ora Launches Hair Care Line

Rita Ora is the latest celebrity to add “beauty brand founder” to her resumé.

The singer and actress is launching her own hair care line, Typebea, — pronounced “Type B” — on April 18, with a serum, glossing treatment, shampoo and conditioner all geared towards repairing and growing damaged hair.

Hair damage, thinning and loss have become top consumer concerns as the effects of rapid-fire hair trends and Covid-related hair loss have started to bite. For Ora, who’s known for constantly changing her hairstyle, the effects of over-styling were becoming too big to ignore.

“The more I was in the industry, the more I was like, ‘this is horrible for my hair’,” said Ora, adding that she believes she has had “every hairstyle and colour under the sun.”

Lahey and Ora have been developing the line for three years. A trademark peptide-based complex, Baicapil, which Lahey said is key to the line’s claims around hair growth, features in all products.

Ora was previously an ambassador for British cosmetics line Rimmel between 2013 and 2018, and the face of DKNY perfume. This will be her first beauty brand of her own.

Brands like K18 and Olaplex have made repair a core value proposition, as consumers look for ways to enjoy extremes in hair styling such as regular bleaching and daily use of heated tools, whilst also not compromising the health of their hair.

Priced in a similar masstige bracket between $26 and $52, the line is free from ingredients such as parabens and silicones that have become unfashionable with consumers. Skincare ingredients such as ceramides and salicylic acid also feature, dovetailing with a wider trend known as the “skinification” of hair.

The range will launch into Sephora in the UK and Australia and New Zealand, as well as domestic retailers in those markets such as Selfridges and David Jones. The range will also be available direct-to-consumer in each country, as well as in the US.

New products will be released in September, with more to follow in early 2025, as well as continued retail expansion. DTC channels have been included to allow Ora’s fans who don’t live in major cities to be able to shop the line, Lahey said.

Lahey previously founded the premium supplement line Vida Glow. Ora has a 25 percent stake in the company, while the rest is owned by Lahey through Conditor Group, the firm Lahey and her husband, Kieran Lahey, operate. All the products will be manufactured and packaged in Australia.

While Ora will be the face of the line, the founders are keen to ensure the range reaches a broad cross-section of customers, and so other models will also be used going forward.

“I think that the personal approach is the best approach for me with launch events and activities in all the three markets,” said Ora, adding that she will attend meet and greets and has been in key retailer meetings.

“We want it to come across how involved [Rita] is,” said Lahey. “But obviously my hair type and her hair type do not represent all hair types.”

Celebrity-led beauty lines have seen some staggering successes — Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty crossed the $400 million mark in sales this year, while new products from Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty and Hailey Bieber’s Rhode generate huge buzz. But many more have failed to catch on. JVN Hair and Rose Inc, the hair and cosmetics lines fronted by Jonathan Van Ness and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley respectively, were sold at auction last year after parent company Amyris collapsed into bankruptcy.

Ora and Lahey are confident their line won’t suffer from celebrity beauty brand fatigue. “I’m not worried about [fatigue], because [the brand] is true,” said Ora, adding that she still sees “huge appetite” for brands with involved, passionate celebrity founders. “What me and Anna [Lahey] have really been focusing on is, ‘well, we’re being honest, and that’s all we can do’.”