The new shampoo and conditioner by Commence, Brooke Shields's hair line, is completely changing wash day.

As the Founder & CEO of Commence, her haircare line for women over 40, Brooke Shields knows people can be a little skeptical about celebrity beauty lines. "I actually embrace that, because I've never rested on my laurels with anything," Shields says. "If I know somebody to get in the room, you have to be able to stay in the room. You have to prove yourself. That's why we see a lot of brands launch high and then fall off. I never wanted that. To me, it's about the long haul and the only thing that's going to give it that longevity is the efficacy of the product."

The proof of that approach is in the latest launches for Commence. "The new shampoo and conditioner are brilliant," Shields says. "There were many discussions that went into them. My main concern was a deep cleansing shampoo that didn't strip the hair of the oils that you need in your hair and scalp. A lot of what we've seen does not do that. The other thing I wanted was foaming, which has no purpose, but we're all pretty attached to it. It stems from when we're little babies, and we still hold on to it. I was adamant about making sure that that was being satisfied, but in a way that would not strip your hair."

The result is the Commence Detoxifying Shampoo, which includes the very first foaming oat ingredient found in haircare. The detoxifying shampoo deeply cleanses the hair at a micro level sans stripping, damaging or irritating the scalp. Perfecting the formula to Shields's specifications wasn't easy.

"There were a lot of challenges, but what we came up with was this plant-based, very almost organic feel that keeps your natural oils," says Mark Knitowski, head of Commence R&D. "It's a soapberry sulfate, which works to create this rich foam lather that plays up this richness to your scalp. Soapberry is plant-based; it is able to cleanse deeply of any impurities while maintaining your natural oils. Then we use a foaming oat, which also has minerals and vitamins that work on your scalp, so it has multiple benefits."

Then there's the matching conditioner, the Commence Probiotic Smoothing Conditioner, which, unusually, is designed to be applied to the scalp through the ends of hair to boost scalp health. The deeply nourishing and hydrating formula balances the biome of the scalp for maximum performance while protecting the hair and scalp from outside stressors.

"The conditioner is unique and different because we're starting with the scalp," Knitowski says. "Upcycled orange polysaccharide helps to support hair growth. When you go into the salon, they massage your scalp because they want to stimulate it. We also have a coconut wax that creates that barrier, and a pre and probiotic that help to balance the scalp and the microbiome to accept all the nutrients and ingredients that help hair growth."

Most conditioners are meant to be applied to the hair from the mid-shaft to the ends. "People are afraid of putting a conditioner on their scalp because it's going to weigh down hair," Shields says. "This is the first one that I'm not afraid if it touches my scalp; it's not going to suffocate my roots. The scalp environment has to be ready and appropriate to be able to accept the good stuff and the best of the ingredients." It's a known fact that good hair starts from the scalp, and that's what the new shampoo and conditioner are all about. For maximum results, they should be used in tandem.

Though some would shy away from the formulating challenges that Shields proposes, Knitowski embraces them. "We're always trying to figure out the right balance of creating something that's going to be beneficial to the scalp and the hair, but also provides a new way of doing it," he says, explaining that not a lot of brands are using these plant-based surfactants because they don't create a foaming effect, but they were able to rise to the challenge by adding the foaming oat.

"What's been amazing is we're not reinventing the wheel," Shields says. "We're taking basics and finding a way to make them work. The efficacy is important, but there's other elements to it. There's the bigger DNA of the brand, which is for women over 40 and paying attention to them, because they are overlooked, and they are an incredible demographic. You can throw the millennials in, because they're now turning 40, so if you look exponentially at just numbers alone, it's a powerful demo."

When Shields was in the process of launching Commence, she went straight to the source and asked women over 40 what they wanted and needed, as well as the challenges in their hair routines. "I always start with an emotional standpoint," she says. "Mark is working directly with the chemists, so there's no middleman." As a result, thanks to their bespoke products, they can formulate exactly to the Commence community's specifications. That approach has paid off, with products selling out, consumers shopping an average of two products per purchase and plenty of repeat business.

Everything is considered from the point of view of the 40+ customer, down to the larger font on the packaging so they can grab the right bottle without their glasses. There are several ways these products are formulated specifically for women over 40. "Part of it is the gentleness," Knitowski says. "In addition to the non-stripping action of the shampoo, we're adding nutrients to the scalp so that when your hair starts to grow, it grows in healthier, so you're not trying to fix a problem."

Once women turn 40, biochemical changes start to take place, as well as hormonal changes. "Your hair [diameter] is smaller and the quality of your scalp is different," Shields says. "There's patches of oily and dry with age. There are all these physical changes that happen, so we're formulated for those. How do you make sure that the root and pore get back to that voluptuousness so that we can grow healthier hair? We're analyzing what the shifts are, what the changes are and then how to address these things."

A 2022 study found that all of the women participating had some degree of menopausal hair loss, and low estrogen levels can impact the growth cycle of hair by reducing the growth phase and delaying the stage when the hair regrows. Additionally, other research has found that during menopause, changes in hormones and aging can cause hair thinning, loss of volume and changes in hair texture. Going gray isn't the only sign of aging hair, according to research, but also a decline in the quality and quantity of hair.

While Shields has a large focus group thanks to the Commence community, she is squarely in the demographic herself and has seen her hair needs evolve. "I come from a little bit of a different perspective, because I've had so much done to my hair over the course of decades," she says. "It's been every color. I never really addressed skin health on my scalp because I didn't focus on it, but I needed to. I was always behind the eight ball and trying to get healthy hair back. It really does start at 40; I started noticing my hair was duller and it was thinning a little bit. I have a lot of hair, but the quality of it was starting to be lackluster. Also, my scalp got much more sensitive."

Crucially, the Commence line is designed to work quickly. "What I'm impressed with by us is that the undoing of damage is very quick in the process -- you don't wait a year to see a result. You feel the result," Knitowski says. "I'm really proud of what we built because the efficacy of the products for what we've done and the price point we're offering is unsurpassed. We came together to understand the community and understand Brooke's vision and strategy."

Commence will always focus on delivering what women over 40 need. "I have a great team of experts around me," Shields says. "There's so much that I've learned. I know what I want and I know what I don't want, and I know that I have communication with a demo of women that are being overlooked. They're not being paid attention to or respected enough, and they are looking to me to find answers for them through experts. Those are the pieces that are important to me as the founder."