The Glossy 50 honors the year’s biggest changemakers across fashion and beauty. More from the series →
It’s easy to see why Beyoncé tapped Grace Ray as CEO of Cécred, the star’s highly-anticipated hair-care brand that launched in February of this year. Conversely, it’s easy to see why Ray accepted the role.
“We set out to create a technology that could strengthen, repair and restructure hair, but we were very inclusive in our testing,” Ray told Glossy. “We tested across three continents, on every hair type, and we did not stop until we saw improvement from the straightest hair to the coiliest hair. … And when we identified that technology, we knew we had something special.”
Ray built the team at Cécred, which is independently held, as the founding CEO. With her, she brought experience including CEO of Milani Cosmetics and Living Proof, and roles at L’Oréal and Smashbox Cosmetics.
With 14 pending patents after six years of research and development, Cécred launched with eight products in February. Dubbed the foundation collection, the first drop included shampoos, conditioners and a mask, as well as edge drops, hair lotion and oil, all designed for all hair types. Prices range from $30-$56, and the brand sells direct-to-consumer online.
Ray has an MBA from Harvard Business School, but she also has an engineering-orientated mind, with an undergrad engineering degree from the University of Michigan to match. For her, achieving differentiation in the hair category is the most important part of her role, and a lot of that comes down to how the formula is constructed.
“What’s revolutionary is our technology and our approach to developing and validating it,” Ray said. “We use these different aspects that are needed for truly healthy hair in a way that is highly vetted.”
One way Ray judges the early success of the line is with beauty industry awards. In less than a year, Cécred has received 19 U.S. beauty awards, including Allure Best of Beauty and Elle’s Future of Beauty, plus 7 U.K. beauty awards from Cosmopolitan U.K. and Elle U.K., among others.
Cécred uses fermented ingredients, prebiotics and humectants, for example, which are all formulated into a “bioactive keratin ferment” that repairs hair. Porosity, shorthand for how well hair absorbs and retains moisture, is also a large consideration during product development since different textures can have different porosity. As such, the molecular weight of every ingredient is painstakingly analyzed.
“One of the biggest challenges in hair care is that there is more focus on what makes us different from each other than what we share in common,” Ray said, referring to the traditional means of separating products and target customers by hair type. “[Being successful in hair care today] requires a focus around education and around what makes us all unified. When you start looking at hair — not based on how you look, but on the fundamental structure of the hair fiber — you’re able to start breaking down what the building blocks of healthy hair are. And that has been very unifying.”
