What Makes a Best-Selling Shampoo? Exploring the Secrets Behind TREECE

Do you always end up having a bad day if you don’t have a morning shower? Or do you only feel ready for bed after an evening bath? Whatever your bathing habits, the latest addition to Skin Cupid’s haircare range, TREECELL, has got you covered!

Founded in Korea, TREECELL offers aesthetic but functional haircare products that are specially formulated to cater to the time of day you prefer to wash your hair. After surveying 3,200 Korean consumers, they found that 43% of respondents preferred showering in the morning, 34% in the evening, and 22% liked to shower both at morning and at night – a fairly equal divide. But shampooing isn’t just about getting your hair clean: if you’re a morning showerer, you probably want to prep your hair for styling and get rid of overnight grease, while if you tend to shower in the evening, you’re most likely looking to wash out any pollutants that have accumulated in your hair over the day, or to save time on getting ready the next morning. But even though shampooing in the morning serves different purposes than shampooing in the evening, most brands don’t differentiate their products based on whether they should be used in the morning or in the evening. Not so with TREECELL! The brand’s most distinctive and best-selling products, the Day Collagen Shampoo and the Night Collagen Shampoo, have unique formulas that are tailored for use in the morning and evening, respectively.

Part of the L&P Cosmetics Group, TREECELL describe themselves as a “lifestyle brand” as much as a haircare brand, offering a range of products that help you to incorporate moments of refreshment and relaxation into your day, no matter how busy. In fact, the brand’s CEO was inspired to create TREECELL as a reaction to the drudgery and intensity of modern work culture. With their thoughtful formulas, aesthetic packaging, and mood-boosting fragrances, TREECELL’s products help elevate everyday hygiene routines, encouraging you to find beauty and calmness in the most basic of self-care acts. Meanwhile, the brand’s name, which alludes to both “the vibrant energy and vitality of nature” and “the fundamental unit of life”, was coined to “symbolise the harmony between nature and science-driven technology”: each TREECELL product blends natural ingredients and scents, and is informed by continuous R&D work and customer testing.

You can view the whole TREECELL collection available at Skin Cupid here, but in this blog we’re going to explore the brand’s most iconic products – the Day and Night Collagen Shampoos. Just how did the brand manage to put a fresh twist on a staple haircare product? Read on to learn more!

The Packaging:

The first thing that you notice about the Day and Night Collagen shampoos is their ultra-distinctive packaging: sinuous, twisting bottles with the brand name embossed beneath the pump. We asked the TREECELL team about what inspired the packaging design, and they told us they were inspired by the “organic curves” found in nature, as well as wanting to land on a bottle that looked as good in Instagram photos as it did in real life. The packaging went through multiple iterations before they landed on the current version, and we think the effort was well worth it!

Aside from its looks, the bottle is also designed with function in mind – the curve that you can see at the top right of the packaging accommodates the shape of your hand as you grasp it, making it easy to both hold the bottle and pump the shampoo from the dispenser at the same time.

The Fragrances:

Once you pump a little shampoo into your hand, the next thing you’ll be struck by is the scent! TREECELL worked with expert perfumers to develop the unique fragrances in their Day and Night Shampoos, which boast a subtly tropical, floral scent (“Morning of Resort”) and a sweet, herbaceous aroma (“Midnight Forest”), respectively. But that’s not all – these fragrances also contain ingredients that help to keep your hair healthy!

The Day Collagen Shampoo’s fragrance, which the brand describes as a “floral bouquet” scent designed to accompany you in moments of “dreaming” and “diversion”, has the following notes:

Top notes: Bergamot, Neroli, Rosemary, Pink Pepper

Middle notes: Tuberose, Jasmine

Base notes: Ylang-Ylang, Cedarwood

As well as smelling delicious, Bergamot Fruit Oil is antimicrobial, protecting your scalp from bacteria, and helps to moisturise dry and frizzy hair; Ylang-Ylang Oil balances your scalp’s sebum levels, and Cedarwood Oil reduces breakage and promotes hair growth.

Meanwhile, the Night Collagen Shampoo’s fragrance, which the brand describes as a “healing” scent that mimics the “inner peace” inspired by “a walk in the forest at dawn”, consists of these notes:

Top notes: Orange, Rosemary, Bergamot

Middle notes: Clary Sage, Lavender

Base notes: Ylang-Ylang, Cedarwood, Provence Herb

Not just a soothing fragrance, the TREECELL team told us that the fragrance of the Night Collagen Shampoo, in combination with the Menthol in the formula, also helps to lower your core body temperature, something that also occurs naturally as part of the sleep-preparation process. As a result, you should find falling asleep quick and easy after using this shampoo in your evening bathing routine!

On top of that, the Lavender and Orange Oils in the fragrance help to calm irritation, strengthen hair, and prevent overnight frizz, Rosemary Leaf Oil fights dandruff, and Clary Sage Oil heals dry, itchy scalps.

The Formulas:

Finally, it’s the formulas that make up the Day and Night Collagen Shampoos that have K-beauty fans hooked! While the formulas differ in various ways, designed as they are to be used at different times of day, they both share the same hero ingredient: fish-derived Collagen.

While Collagen is a relatively common ingredient in skincare, you might be more surprised to find it in shampoo. However, Collagen is an excellent haircare ingredient, thanks to its amino-acid-rich composition. The building blocks of protein, amino acids help to rebuild hair that has been weakened by age, styling, and lifestyle, encouraging thicker, shinier, and healthier locks. TREECELL derives their Collagen from fish, which has a lower molecular weight than animal-derived Collagen – meaning that the ingredient can penetrate deeper into the hair follicles, where it is most effective.

Both shampoos also contain Carrot Leaf Extract, rich in Beta-Carotene to smooth split ends and support hair growth; Salicylic Acid, to exfoliate dead skin cells on the scalp that can lead to greasiness and dandruff; Glycerin, to soften, strengthen, and prevent frizz, and Kelp Extract, to soothe irritation and reduce hair breakage.

Both shampoos also contain Sunflower Seed Oil – a rich source of Vitamin E and Linoleic Acid, this ingredient is a powerful antioxidant that helps to protect hair from damage as a result of heat exposure and environmental stress.

The Day Collagen Shampoo produces a light foam that helps to soften hair and prepare it for heat-styling, and is enhanced with Niacinamide, to add shine and volume, Wakame Extract, to calm an inflamed scalp and infuse the hair follicles with moisture, Hydrolysed Keratin, to replenish lost protein and smooth dry, frizz-prone locks, and Calcium-rich Milk Protein Extract, to keep hair feeling soft and silky.

The Night Collagen Shampoo, on the other hand, features a heavy foam texture ideal for deep-cleaning and clarifying the scalp, and is also infused with antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory Plankton Extract to soothe itchiness, stimulate hair growth, and reduce breakage; Centella Asiatica Extract, to keep the hair and scalp hydrated and strong; Panthenol, to seal moisture into the hair cuticles and minimise hair fall; and natural cleansing agent Sea Water, which spirits away excess sebum and helps lift the hair follicle, for increased volume.

Because each shampoo contains ultra-hydrating, hair-softening ingredients, you also don’t need to follow them up with a treatment unless desired – they’re nourishing enough on their own!

This run-down made you want to try these shampoos for yourself? You can buy the full-sized (360ml) and travel-sized (100ml) versions of both the Day Collagen Shampoo and Night Collagen Shampoo, now at Skin Cupid - just click through the images below!