Launch Date: November 2023
Geography: London, United Kingdom
Founders:
Executive Team: Deborah Johnson, Brand Manager
Notable Advisors:
2026 Full Year Projected Revenue: Under $2M
Primary Category: Haircare
Other Category: Retail/Service Provider
Funding: Friends and Family
Primary Distribution Channel: Mass
Other Distribution Channel:
Key Retail Partners:
2026 Projected Offline Distribution Points: 10
The Steam Bar is a scalp-first haircare brand transforming how textured hair is cared for through the power of steam. Combining scalp science with thoughtfully formulated products and ritual-led tools, the brand helps create the healthy foundation from which thriving texture begins. More than a product range, The Steam Bar is a steam fueled sanctuary for the scalp and self encouraging people to slow down, reconnect with their hair, and honor the process of caring for their crown. Because what happens beneath the surface shapes everything that follows.
Insights: Judy Koloko, Founder + CEO
Why now and why you?
Beauty is moving beyond surface level haircare. Consumers increasingly understand that healthy, thriving hair begins with the scalp, yet people with textured hair remain underserved by products and routines that fully consider the relationship between the scalp, moisture, product build-up, protective styling, and long-term hair health. The Steam Bar was created specifically for this moment.
We combine scalp science with the generational ritual of steaming to offer a new approach to textured haircare: steam-enhanced scalp care. Our products and tools are designed to work together, transforming wash day from a task into an intentional ritual that supports both the scalp and the self. This gives us a clear and ownable position within an increasingly crowded category. We are not simply adding another shampoo or conditioner to the market; we are building an entirely new way of thinking about how textured hair is cared for.
The Steam Bar is also entering its next stage with meaningful achievements. Following our participation in the Sephora Accelerate program, we launched our complete collection on Sephora.com in April 2026. Our Scalp Shampoo has received an ELLE UK Future of Beauty Award, and our best-selling Steaming Cap has demonstrated strong consumer demand.
Our proposition is rooted in lived experience, cultural understanding, and a genuine gap in the market, while being supported by product performance, industry recognition, and a clear path to scale. We speak authentically to the textured hair consumer and the potential to take steam-enhanced scalp care far beyond a single demographic.
The opportunity now is not simply to participate in the growing scalp care category, but to help define its next chapter by placing textured hair at the center of innovation and establishing The Steam Bar as the global authority.
What fuels your competitive advantage?
Our competitive advantage lies at the intersection of scalp science, steam technology, and a deep understanding of textured hair. While the scalp care category is growing, few brands have been built specifically around the needs, rituals, and lived experiences of people with textured hair. The Steam Bar was. We understand that scalp health, moisture retention, product build-up, protective styling, and hair health are interconnected, and our products and tools are designed to address that relationship as a complete system rather than as isolated solutions.
Steam is central to that system. It is not an accessory to our proposition or a trend we have adopted; it is the foundation of the brand. By combining steam with targeted scalp and haircare formulations, we have created a distinctive and owned category position: steam-enhanced scalp care.
Our advantage is also cultural. The ritual of steaming has long existed within Black and textured hair communities, but it has rarely been elevated through science, considered product development, and premium brand storytelling. We bring together generational knowledge and modern innovation in a way that feels both credible and relevant.
This combination gives The Steam Bar more than a hero product. It gives us a connected ecosystem, a clear point of difference, and the authority to lead a new conversation around scalp-first care for textured hair. Competitors may enter scalp care or introduce steaming tools, but we see our advantage as having built the brand, product philosophy, and consumer experience around both from the outset.
What’s your proudest accomplishment to date?
The Steam Bar began with a clear belief that good hair starts with a healthy scalp, and steam can play a powerful role in that process. Since then, we have developed a complete scalp-first system that brings together targeted formulations, steam led tools, and an intentional approach to self-care.
Reaching Sephora.com in 2026 following our participation in the Sephora Accelerate program was a significant milestone. It represented more than retail distribution for us. It was validation that a brand created around the specific needs and rituals of textured hair could earn a place on a global beauty platform.
We are equally proud that our Scalp Shampoo received an ELLE UK Future of Beauty Award and that our products have gained recognition from leading beauty and business titles. These achievements have helped establish The Steam Bar as a serious voice within scalp care while demonstrating demand for innovation that places textured hair consumers at the center.
However, some of our most meaningful accomplishments have happened within our community. In the US, we have established a growing program of intimate, culturally considered events, including a tastemaker and press mixer in New York, our first Atlanta community high tea, and a World Cup-inspired edition of the What Lies Beneath series. These experiences have brought together consumers, creatives, founders, media, and local cultural voices around conversations about hair, identity, heritage, and self-expression.
Alongside our salon pop-ups and experiential steam rituals, these events have allowed people to encounter The Steam Bar as more than a product range. They have helped us build trust, deepen relationships, and create physical spaces in which our community feels seen, celebrated, and cared for.
We have shown that a culturally rooted idea can be scientifically informed, commercially relevant, and globally ambitious without losing the meaning or the people that inspired it.
What is the one thing you wish someone had told you?
I wish someone had told me that building the right team is just as important as building the right product and that this needs to happen far earlier than most founders realize.
In the beginning, it is easy to believe that passion, resilience, and a strong idea will carry you through every area of the business. But no founder can be the expert in product development, operations, finance, retail, marketing, communications, supply chain, and community building.
The right team is not simply a group of talented people. It is a combination of specialists who understand the vision, bring expertise where you have gaps, and are aligned on both the ambition and the values of the brand. Finding those people early can prevent costly mistakes, create stronger foundations, and allow the founder to focus their energy where it has the greatest impact.
I would also have valued knowing that the team you need to launch may not be the same team you need to scale. Building a business requires regularly assessing what expertise is missing, where responsibilities are unclear, and whether the people around you are equipped for the next stage.
My lesson has been to invest in the people and infrastructure behind the brand from the outset. A compelling vision may start with one person, but it takes the right collective to turn it into something sustainable, scalable, and enduring.
What would you tell your past self before starting this journey?
I would tell my past self to be brave and trust the vision sooner. Leaving an established career to begin again in my mid-forties felt like an enormous risk, but none of the experience that came before The Steam Bar was wasted. It gave me an understanding of excellence, storytelling, relationships, and the standard of experience I wanted to create for my community.
I would tell myself that not everyone will immediately understand the vision, particularly when you are building something new for a community that has historically been underserved. Rejection, difficult fundraising conversations, and moments of doubt do not necessarily mean you are on the wrong path. Sometimes they simply mean you have to keep going until you find the people who understand what you are trying to change.
I would also remind myself not to let fear make the journey smaller. The worst that can happen is that you have to begin again. I have faced far greater challenges in my life and learned that resilience is not the absence of fear; it is continuing despite it.
Most importantly, I would say, remember that this is bigger than you. The Steam Bar is not simply about creating products. It is about helping people feel seen, deserving, and that they belong. Hold on to that purpose because it will carry you through the most difficult parts of the journey.
What does success look like in the next 3-5 years?
Success over the next 3-5 years would mean establishing The Steam Bar as the global authority.
Commercially, that's building a profitable and sustainable business with a strong DTC foundation, deeper retail partnerships, and considered international expansion across the US, UK, Africa, the UAE, and other key global markets. We want our products and tools to become an essential part of the everyday care routines of people with textured hair rather than being viewed as a specialist or occasional solution.
It would also mean creating a category that is clearly understood and owned by The Steam Bar. We want scalp-first care to become recognized as fundamental to maintaining healthy, thriving texture, with our brand setting the standard for product efficacy, education, and consumer experience.
Our longer-term ambition is to bring the brand’s steam-fueled sanctuary to life through physical The Steam Bar Sanctuary locations in major cities around the world. These spaces would offer immersive scalp and steam treatments, expert education, product discovery, and moments of restoration, allowing consumers to experience the complete philosophy of the brand beyond the bathroom shelf.
Culturally, success would be tracked by the strength of the community around us. We want to continue growing our events, salon experiences, and What Lies Beneath platform across the US and internationally, creating spaces where conversations about hair, identity, heritage, and self expression can exist alongside product discovery. Our ambition is to build a brand people do not simply purchase from, but feel represented by and connected to.
Ultimately, success would be knowing that The Steam Bar helped change how the global beauty industry understands textured hair: moving the conversation beneath the surface, placing scalp health at the center, and ensuring that innovation for our community is no longer an afterthought.
What's one industry trend that is overhyped, and what's being overlooked?
The “skinification” of haircare is becoming overhyped when it simply means transferring the language, ingredients, and number of steps associated with facial skincare onto the scalp.
Greater attention to scalp health is long overdue, but the scalp is not simply an extension of the face. Its needs are shaped by hair texture, styling practices, product build-up, cleansing frequency, and the routines people have developed around caring for their hair. Adding another serum to the shelf does not automatically create a meaningful or effective scalp care solution.
In terms of what is being overlooked: the importance of the complete ritual—not only what a product contains, but how it is used, how effectively it is delivered, and whether it has been designed with the consumer’s lived experience in mind. For textured hair in particular, there is still significant room for innovation that connects scalp science with cultural knowledge, education, specialist services, and tools such as steam. Steam has been part of textured hair rituals for generations, yet its ability to enhance the care experience and support how products are used remains underexplored by the wider beauty industry.
How do you think the industry needs to evolve?
The beauty industry needs to evolve from serving historically overlooked consumers as an extension of the mainstream market to designing for them from the get-go.
For textured hair, that means investing in more dedicated research, product development, and clinical understanding of the relationship between scalp health, hair texture, protective styling, cleansing practices, and environmental factors. Too often, innovation begins with a product created for one consumer that is later adapted or repositioned for another. Genuine progress requires textured hair needs to be considered at the earliest stages of formulation, testing, and service design.
The industry must also move beyond selling isolated products and begin creating more effective systems of care (rituals). Consumers need clear education, complementary tools, and access to expertise—not simply more steps or ingredients. The future should connect products, technology, professional treatments, and at-home rituals in ways that make healthy practices easier to understand and sustain.
There also needs to be greater equity in who receives investment, retail support, and the resources required to scale. Culturally informed founders often bring deep consumer insight and identify opportunities long before the wider market recognizes them, yet they are frequently expected to prove more with less. Retailers, investors, and industry leaders must support these businesses beyond visibility moments and help build the infrastructure required for long-term growth.
If you could wave a magic wand, what one wish would you make for your business?
I would wish for The Steam Bar to have all the resources needed to realize the full vision without having to compromise its pace, purpose, or ambition. That means access to patient, values-aligned investment, alongside the right team, expertise, and operational infrastructure to scale the business sustainably.
The vision has always been bigger than a collection of products, but the right resources would allow us to invest more deeply in research, product innovation, education, and culturally meaningful community experiences, while maintaining the quality and integrity that have shaped the brand from the beginning.
My wish would not simply be to grow faster. It would be to have the support required to build The Steam Bar properly and as a commercially successful global business, a trusted authority in textured-hair and scalp care, and a brand that creates a lasting impact for the community it was built to serve. I know my genie is out there.
