Ciara Imani May Creates Plant-Based Hair Bundles To Avoid Use Of Toxic Synthetic Extensions

A Black-owned hair extension brand is making the environment safer one bundle at a time.

Ciara Imani May, the owner of Rebundle, is done with toxicity. The Root reported that the entrepreneur’s plant-based hair extensions are safer for Black women’s health and the environment than synthetic extensions.

Several pats on the head and sticking bobby pins through hair wefts can temporarily relieve the scalp from itchiness. But May knows how real scalp irritation can get with hair extensions. She told The Root her experience with synthetic hair led her to start Rebundle. “The idea came from my own experience wearing hair extensions and going through scalp irritation and rashes.”

Toxicity is not the vibe, and that includes toxic hair extensions. The plant-based hair bundles are free from harmful plastic toxins used in synthetic hair. May explained to The Root, “We’re constantly in research and development to get the bundles as hairlike as possible and maintain certain values that we hold true, like non-toxicity.”

The company is doing a whole lot of good for the environment too. The entrepreneur knows switching to plant-based hair extensions might be a big commitment for some. Rebundle offers a hair recycling program for wearers stuck on synthetic hair. May said, “We want to help maintain accountability for the waste that’s already in existence in the ecosystem. But it’s also a way for our community to choose sustainability, even if they’re not ready to make the switch to plant-based hair. They still have the opportunity to do some good for the environment.”

The hair extension creator added, “I think we’re pretty hell-bent on having a significant impact on the health and environmental impact that hair extensions are having on us. But we also want to change the way we experience buying and disposing of our extensions and who’s involved,” she said.

Rebundle offers texture samples for $20.00, according to its website. Hair bundles are priced at $45.00.