Concept preview prepared for McBride Research Laboratories. Not affiliated.

Our brands

A house of textured-hair-care lines.

Every line is developed for a distinct need in textured and natural hair, then carried to salons, retail shelves, and distributors around the world.

A row of unlabeled frosted and amber glass bottles in warm directional light

The portfolio

One company, two channels.

The lines serve two audiences from a single formulation practice: the salon professionals who build the brand chair by chair, and the retail shelves where people find it for themselves. Design Essentials leads the family; the lines below extend it across the range of textured hair.

Design Essentials

Salon professional · since 1990

The flagship line, and the reason the company exists. Design Essentials launched in 1990 as a salon-professional system, formulated for the specific structure and needs of textured hair and carried through the professional channel.

It anchors a network more than 25,000 stylists strong. The full professional system and the Pro Shop live on the Design Essentials site.

Explore Design Essentials

Design Essentials Natural

Retail · natural hair

The retail natural-hair line. Design Essentials Natural brought the company's formulation approach to the shelf, made for people caring for natural, coily, and curly hair at home.

It has been carried in mass retail since 2011, and today reaches Target, Walmart, Sally Beauty, and Ulta.

Explore Design Essentials Natural

Wave by Design

Styling system

A wave and texture styling system, focused on grooming and defining waves and shorter styles. Like the treatment and color lines beside it, Wave by Design is engineered to infuse the hair with nourishing vitamins and proteins as it styles.

Therapeutics Rx

Treatment

A treatment-minded line, engineered to infuse the hair with nourishing vitamins and proteins. Therapeutics Rx sits close to the company's roots in pharmacy and formulation, made to nourish and care for the hair rather than chase a single fix.

Colaura

Hair color

A demi-permanent conditioning hair color. Colaura adds tone through a conditioning formula that deposits color without lifting the hair, and it comes in a range of shades.

Like its sibling lines, it is engineered to infuse the hair with nourishing vitamins and proteins, so color and care arrive together.

The family also includes pHusion, one of the McBride Research Laboratories lines. Together, the portfolio spans more than sixty professional products, formulated across the full range of textured hair.

Where to find them

On the shelf, and behind the chair.

Design Essentials Natural is carried by major retailers across the country, while the professional system reaches salons through the stylist network.

  • Target
  • Walmart
  • Sally Beauty
  • Ulta

The McBride Guarantee. Every product is made to meet the company's quality and performance standards. If it does not, your money back.

Carry the lines

Work with us.

Whether you run a salon or a distribution business, there is a way to carry McBride Research Laboratories lines.