Inside Playa with Shelby Wild, wash and go beach hair

I am pretty low maintenance when it comes to my hair, which ultimately is why I created Playa. Shelby Wild said it plainly, and it reveals the whole method behind Playa. Not styling as performance, but hair that looks right with less work at the sink and in the shower.

I am pretty low maintenance when it comes to my hair, which ultimately is why I created Playa. That line from Shelby Wild explains more than a preference. It explains a formula brief, a work schedule, and a way of washing.

Wild grew up in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, a small coastal town outside New Orleans, and later lived on the beach in Venice, California. She worked as a stylist for Vogue in New York City, studied yoga in New York, and began studying herbalism after moving to California. Her father is a scientist, and she loved science and chemistry since childhood. Friends who bought natural products and organic foods were still using harsh salon hair products because they worked. That was her aha moment.

She built Playa at night and weekends while holding an office job. She went through about seven chemists before she found her formulator, and together they made about twenty variations of each product. The brand launched in 2017 as minimalist clean haircare, earned space at Sephora and Net-a-Porter, raised a 2 million dollar seed round in 2018, and was acquired by Forma Brands in 2020. Wild left in 2021. By 2022 the brand had stopped posting and its direct site read as sold out. What remains is useful because the routine was specific. Coat hair before salt or chlorine, lather once and rinse well, condition where hair dries first, then leave hair alone.

What others missed was the restraint. Wild did not want you to learn tricks. She wanted the product to carry the technique, so a wash and go result would also repair over time.

You worked for Vogue in New York before you moved to Venice and started Playa in 2017. About ten half used salt sprays fell off your small apartment vanity and made you ask why you owned so many products you did not use. What did that moment teach you about routine.

Thank you for having me. When I was ready to leave the fashion industry, I made the move to Venice and started Playa. That move was about simplifying how I lived. In New York my vanity was crowded and my hair routine was crowded too. I had product after product that promised beach texture, and none of them stayed in rotation.

I am pretty low maintenance when it comes to my hair, which ultimately is why I created Playa. I wanted to simplify my routines and spend more time living. The reason I created Playa was so that women did not need to think about styling tricks anymore. Our products do the work for you so that you always have the best version of your hair.

Playa allows you to be your own stylist with minimal effort on your end, and it is really for every woman. It gives you this wash and go, laid back end result. It also repairs your hair over time. That last part mattered to me. Beach hair only better meant it could look undone and still feel stronger week to week, not drier.

You have said your friends liked natural products and organic foods but kept using harmful salon products because they worked. With a scientist father and a love of chemistry since childhood, plus herbalism study in California, how did you decide to combine natural oils and botanicals with small amounts of clinically active ingredients.

I grew up around science. My father is a scientist and I loved science and chemistry since I was a kid. When I started studying herbalism in California, I did not want to throw that other side away. With Playa, we combine natural oils and botanicals while using small amounts of clinically active ingredients to create safer alternatives to the salon products we currently find in the market.

I went through about 7 chemists until I found our current formulator, and together we created about 20 variations of each product. That took time. Some naturals felt lovely and did nothing. Some clinicals worked and felt harsh. We kept adjusting the dose. I truly love and believe in what we are creating with Playa, and that love got me through some of the hard times in the beginning.

I would rather combine science and nature than use only one approach. I would rather simplify routines than add more steps. I refused to rely on harmful salon ingredients that worked in the moment but left hair worse. I also refused silicone dependent shine. If shine came only from coating, we had not solved anything.

When you created Playa the idea was to replicate what hair looks like after a day at the beach or surfing. For someone at the sink on a Sunday wash day, what is your exact method for that wash and go result without heat or heavy styling.

When I created Playa, the idea was to replicate what your hair actually looks like after a day at the beach or surfing. Not crunchy. Not salty and stripped. Soft, separated, with movement. I live on the beach in Venice, CA and I grew up in a small coastal town outside of New Orleans called Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, so that texture is home to me.

Here is how I do it. Rinse with lukewarm water first and let the scalp get fully wet. Lather once with a quarter sized amount, massage in with fingertips for about a minute, then rinse well. If hair is long or dry, lather a second time with half as much and focus only at the scalp. Squeeze, do not rub. Pat with a towel until damp.

Then section. For medium hair I do four sections. Comb through a small amount of leave in from mid lengths to ends, about one pump per section, then add two to three drops of oil over the top where hair frizzes. Twist each section once, shake once, and leave it. Give it ten to twenty minutes to air dry before you touch it again. If a scalp itches or flakes, I rinse cleaner and use less oil at the roots. Give any scalp serum three to four weeks before you judge it, and see a dermatologist if soreness, shedding in clumps, or a rash continues.

You are known for putting oil all over your hair before you get in the water. How much oil is too much, and how do you rinse after salt water or chlorine so hair does not feel stripped.

I put our oil all over my hair to protect any time I get in the water. Salt water and chlorine pull moisture out, so I coat strands first. For my length I use about four to six drops, warmed between palms, combed through dry hair from ears down. If your hair is fine, use two to three drops. If it is thick or coily, section into six to eight parts and use one to two drops per section. Hair should look sheened, not wet.

After swimming, rinse right away with fresh water for a full minute. Then wash as above. Lather at the scalp, let the suds run down, rinse cool for fifteen seconds. Follow with leave in on damp hair, ends first. Pat dry. If ends still feel rough, add one more drop of oil only to the last inch. Too much oil is when roots look stringy by midday or your comb drags. In that case use less next time and keep oil off the first two inches at the scalp. For children, keep routines shorter, rinse well, and ask a pediatrician about any eczema cream or flare plan rather than trying to treat skin with hair products.

You formulated around broccoli seed oil as a silicone alternative that absorbs and forms a film to add shine and smooth the cuticle. How should someone use it for shine without buildup, and where does silicone dependent shine fall short for you.

Silicone can make hair look shiny fast. My issue was that the shine sat on top and the routine never got simpler. I wanted shine that came with softness that lasted. Broccoli seed oil absorbs well and forms a light film that adds shine and smooths the cuticle, so we used it as our silicone alternative.

Use it sparingly. On wash day, after leave in, smooth one to two drops over dry-feeling areas. On day two or three, warm one drop between palms and press over the surface, never at the scalp. If hair is bleached or very porous, layer in two thin passes with five minutes between rather than one heavy pass. Shampoo well at the next wash, massage, rinse, and reset.

If hair feels coated after two washes, you used too much or you layered oil over dry shampoo and salt spray. Clarify once, then go back to a simple wash. Our promise was beach hair only better with minimal effort that repairs over time. Buildup is the opposite of that. Less product, better placed, will read shinier than more product everywhere.

Our products do the work for you so that you always have the best version of your hair.

Shelby Wild

Playa entered Sephora online in 2018, reached stores with four products by early 2020, and planned the Monoi Milk Leave-In Conditioner at 24 dollars for May 2020. How did you keep the line minimal when retail asks for more, and how do you use that leave in for detangling and air drying.

Retail can push you to fill every slot. We stayed narrow on purpose. I would rather make wash and go products than styling heavy products. I wanted fewer bottles that each earned a place. Sephora operated a rising stars wall and a haircare section for emerging brands, which helped a small line be seen without launching twelve things at once.

For the Monoi Milk Leave-In Conditioner, planned at 24 dollars, I use it on soaking damp hair, not dripping and not towel dry. Shake, spray or pump into palms, then work through in sections. For detangling, start at ends with a wide tooth comb and move up in two inch steps. Do not yank from the top. Use a dime sized extra amount on knots, wait one minute, then comb through again. Leave it in. Do not rinse. Air dry or diffuse on low heat for five minutes, then air dry the rest.

For a teenager starting a first routine, keep it to three steps. Shampoo scalp, leave in ends, oil only if dry. Write down what you used and how much. Change one thing at a time so you know what helped.

You have been open that Playa was acquired by Forma Brands in 2020 and that you left in 2021, with social posting stopping in 2022 and direct stock listed as sold out. Looking back honestly, what did selling change, and what part of the work do you still stand by.

Selling changed the day to day. I built Playa at night and on weekends, then ran it with a team of seven including me. After the acquisition by Forma Brands in 2020, decisions moved through a larger system. I left in 2021. By 2022 the social accounts had gone quiet and the direct site listed as sold out. That is hard to read, and I want to say it plainly.

What I still stand by is the method. Wash well, condition where hair needs it, protect before the ocean or pool, use small amounts, repeat. I would rather ship larger volumes less often than ship every two to three weeks on a shoestring, because constant small parcels never fit the calm routine I wanted. I believe in fewer, better steps. I believe in combining nature and science in small, careful doses. Playa allows you to be your own stylist with minimal effort on your end. That sentence still describes the hair I like. Clean scalp, soft ends, wave that moves when you walk.

If someone finds a bottle now, check the date, smell, and texture, and stop if anything seems off. If hair loss, scalp pain, or a child skin flare worries you, see a dermatologist or pediatrician. Products support appearance and feel. They do not treat or prevent conditions.

For households buying now, a partner beard, a teen routine, a baby bath shelf, what is a simple shared method that respects different hair types without buying a separate system for everyone.

Keep the base shared and adjust the finish. One gentle shampoo for the household. One leave in that everyone uses differently. One oil with a dropper so amounts stay honest. That is it.

At the sink, lather once, rinse well, then section. Straight or wavy hair gets one pump of leave in mid lengths to ends. Coily or dry hair gets two pumps in four to six sections, then two drops of oil pressed over the ends. A beard gets a pea sized amount of leave in, combed through, with the grain when shaving around it. A teenager gets the same three steps and a note on the mirror with pumps and minutes. For a baby bath, keep hair washing brief with lukewarm water, rinse well, pat dry, and follow any pediatrician guidance for skin.

Massage in, comb through, pat dry, layer only where dry. If hair looks dull, use less oil and rinse longer. If it tangles, add water before product, then comb from ends up. Keep what works. Give it three weeks before you change the plan.

Closing note from the desk

What stays with us is the discipline of less. Wild tested about twenty variations per product after going through about seven chemists, then asked shoppers to do fewer steps, not more. That tension gives the brand its shape. Beach hair, only better, with minimal effort, and repair that shows over time.

Playa set out to let women stop thinking about styling tricks and start washing well. The company history is stated plainly here, including the 2020 acquisition, the 2021 departure, and the quiet that followed. The method still stands at the sink and in the shower.

Product spotlight

Monoi Milk Leave-In Conditioner, $24. A light leave in for wash and go hair that detangles and softens without heavy styling. Use on damp hair in sections from mid lengths to ends, comb through from ends up, and leave in while hair air dries. Good first bottle if you want laid back movement.

Ritual Hair Oil, price and size as listed by the brand archive. A daily oil for shine and pre swim coating that supports the appearance of smooth ends. Warm 2 to 6 drops between palms by hair length, comb through dry hair before water, or press one drop over dry areas after leave in. Keep off the scalp if roots turn stringy.