Frequently Asked Questions
About Us
At Odele we make clean, premium beauty essentials for you + your people. We are relentless in our pursuit of what works, and we settle for nothing less than what delivers on our high standards for quality, effectiveness and safety. We think a clean list of ingredients should be the industry norm and not the exception, we know that crazy good does not have to equal crazy expensive, and we believe that beauty is worth sharing.
Odele ingredients are sourced from all over the world, but our products are predominantly made "nicely" in Minnesota (ever heard of Minnesota nice? We're nice up here!). Our packaging is made just north of the MN border, but the formulation, labeling, and manufacturing of our products takes place in Minneapolis, MN.
Odele products are fancy from formula to package design. When it comes to our formulas, we have chosen to use non-commodity, high-end raw materials and our percent of solids (aka the good stuff in our formulas) surpass benchmarks of products that cost over 2x what we do. Balance was the focus as we would not settle for anything less than beautifully composed formulas that deliver on performance.
Finding your perfect shampoo isn’t about age, gender, race or any other measure. It’s about your hair type. At Odele, we focus on the three most common factors when formulating products:
- Shape: Hair shape is important as it impacts the protective barrier of the shaft, or cuticle, of the hair. The more the hair curls, the more the cuticle breaks. The more it breaks, the more moisture it needs. So our curly friends need extra love, but too much love on waves or straight hair will weigh it down.
- Thickness: Fine hair is easily weighed down and easily broken, so it requires lightweight products that protect. Coarse hair is stronger but can easily dry out, which also leads to breakage—requiring heavier-duty products that lock in moisture. Medium hair is, as you guessed it, somewhere in the middle.
- Moisture: Lots of factors contribute to your hair’s dryness or how much moisture you need, including shape and thickness. But your environment and what you do to your hair is just as impactful (bleach, heat styling, chemical treatments, hairstyles, living in a big city, living in the desert or living in a see-saw climate like we have in Minnesota with hot summers and tundra winters.).
Then, we formulate to find the right balance of cleansers, conditioners, and proteins that speak to each set of needs, without overwhelming you with options.
- Volumizing: Our lightest-weight moisture formula, Volumizing is best for straight to wavy (shape), fine to medium (thickness), and hair that is more oily than dry (moisture).
- Smoothing: Our middle-weight moisture formula, Smoothing is best for wavy to curly (shape), medium to coarse (thickness), and hair that is more dry than oily and prone to frizz (moisture).
- Curl Defining: Our ultimate moisturizing formula, Curl Defining is best for curly to coily (shape), medium to coarse (thickness), and hair that is prone to dryness, frizz and breakage (moisture). This is also a great formula for extremely dry or damaged hair, regardless of shape.
Standards + Ingredients
Since there is no clear definition of “clean” when it comes to beauty products, we focus on the intersection of safety and high performance when developing our products.
We never use SLS + SLES sulfates, formaldehyde, phthalates, or parabens, and all of our products are compliant with EU, Target Clean and Ulta Beauty standards. All our products are vegan, cruelty-free, and dermatologist tested, and our 100% natural fragrances are certified to meet ISO 9235 standards to ensure the highest quality and integrity of ingredients.
Safety is incredibly important to us, so we are always seeking continuous improvement. We won’t ever make a product that we wouldn’t use on our own children (literally, because they also use Odele). To learn more about our ingredients and their uses, check out our Ingredient Glossary.
Odele products are made up of natural ingredients, ingredients derived from natural components and clean synthetic ingredients. Our priority is to meet leading industry clean standards while focusing on using the best ingredients—both natural and synthetic—that work together to support the integrity of the effectiveness of our formulations.
We do not use any animal-derived ingredients in our products. Our manufacturing partners may work with animal-derived ingredients in their facilities, but they take precautions against cross-contamination. We are also cruelty free and certified by Leaping Bunny.
Certified by Leaping Bunny, our products are never tested on animals. Our product testers are humans, including friends, family, former colleagues and their friends and family. These are real people with real opinions who represent a diverse set of needs and have been showering their entire lives.
Certified by Leaping Bunny, our products are never tested on animals. Our product testers are humans, including friends, family, former colleagues and their friends and family. These are real people with real opinions who represent a diverse set of needs and have been showering their entire lives.
As a company founded by mothers who have children with severe skin sensitivities, we understand first-hand the challenges personal care products can cause. All Odele products go through extensive lab testing–supervised + reviewed by a dermatologist–to ensure our formulas, while effective, are also non-irritating.
As a company founded by mothers who have children with severe skin sensitivities, we understand first-hand the challenges personal care products can cause. All Odele products go through extensive lab testing–supervised + reviewed by a dermatologist–to ensure our formulas, while effective, are also non-irritating.
At Odele, we create clean, premium beauty essentials for you + your people, kids included! We won’t ever make a product that we wouldn’t use on our own children (literally, because they also use Odele). For infants, we recommend speaking to an expert to decide what is best.
Our gentle shampoos and conditioners are safe for dandruff sufferers, as they are gentle enough to remove dirt and excess oil without drying the scalp. However, Odele products currently do not contain any medicinal ingredients specifically targeted to treat dandruff.
While the causes of dandruff vary, contact dermatitis or a dry scalp are common culprits. Those with mild cases of dandruff will benefit from the gentle cleansing properties of our sulfate-free shampoos, but in cases of severe or persistent dandruff, we recommend using a medicated shampoo or seeking a recommendation from your dermatologist.
The biggest risks to color-treated hair are harsh surfactants (like SLS and SLES) and aggressive solvent systems that can strip color and moisture from the hair. All Odele products are sulfate-free and formulated to be as mild but effective as possible. In addition, our products are lab-tested to ensure no adverse impacts on color-treated hair.
The chelation technology found in our Curl Defining No-Lather Shampoo and Clarifying Shampoo is specifically formulated to target minerals and metal deposits commonly found in hair, without removing moisture and nutrients curls need. Since chelation shampoos are slightly more powerful, they should not be used more than twice per week in order to avoid dulling color over time.
Based on years of professional research, our priorities as parents of young kids and our own family’s experiences with fragrance sensitivities, we believe all-natural fragrance is the best and safest choice for our products.
Our 100% natural scents are always subtle and never overpowering. They are also dermatologist-tested, allergy-tested and certified to meet ISO 9235 standards to ensure the highest quality and integrity of ingredients. We also recognize that some people prefer products with zero scent, so we offer several fragrance-free options as well!
Our hair care products feature our signature scent Marine, a light + neutral fragrance with notes of fresh cucumber, oakmoss + ylang-ylang. It is 100% botanically sourced from essential oils and naturally derived materials, including:
- Cananga Odorata (Ylang Ylang) Flower
- Citrus Aurantifolia (Key Lime) Fruit Extract
- Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Fruit Extract
- Evernia Prunastri (Oakmoss) Extract
- Ferula Galbaniflua (Galbanum) Resin Oil
- Juniperus Virginiana (Red Cedar) Oil
- Michelia Champaca (Champak) Flower Oil
- Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil
Our Moisturizing Body Wash features a light + refreshing scent with notes of fresh grapefruit + citrus peel. It is 100% botanically sourced from essential oils and naturally derived materials, including:
- Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Peel
- Citrus Paradisi (Grapefruit) Peel Oil
Our Clarifying Body Wash features an invigorating + complex scent with notes of orange peel, eucalyptus, bergamot, rosemary + mint. It is 100% botanically sourced from essential oils and naturally derived materials, including:
- Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Peel
- Mentha Arvensis (Cornmint)
- Eucalyptus Globulus (Eucalyptus)
- Citrus Aurantium L Bergamia Risso Et Poit (Bergamot)
- Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary)
Our Soothing Body Wash features a complex + calming scent with notes of cucumber + aloe. It is 100% botanically sourced from essential oils and naturally derived materials, including:
- Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed
- Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Fruit Extract
- Linalool
Some (but not all) of our conditioners and stylers contain water-soluble silicones that are far milder (yet much more effective at adding slip, preventing frizz and protecting hair color) than traditional silicones. Most importantly, they are lightweight and easy to wash off, so they’re less likely to build up and block out hydration.
All of our shampoos and body washes are silicone-free, as well as the following conditioners and styling products:
Our products do not contain gluten. But read on, because if you're asking this question, there's more you should know. *cue ‘90's music from NBC*
We don't actively market our products as gluten-free, primarily because we believe this can be confusing. There are a number of myths surrounding the impact of gluten in personal care vs. food.
According to the Mayo Clinic, shampoos and conditioners that contain gluten would need to be swallowed or come into contact with an open wound for someone with Celiac disease to react. This is even true for different types of dermatitis that can arise from Celiac, but still it is required that the gluten be ingested vs. topically applied (with the exception of things like lipstick where you'd easily ingest product or application on or near a wound).
So if you're gluten-intolerant or have Celiac disease, it's worth talking to your allergist or doctor about your personal care needs. You may not be as limited as you think!
We never use SLS + SLES sulfates, formaldehyde, phthalates, or parabens.
Products + Usage
Choosing the right hair care shouldn’t require a PhD. Take our short quiz and we'll find the perfect combo for you and your locks.
Feel free to mix and match to find your perfect combo. For example, if you have oily prone hair but need extra moisture, use the Volumizing Shampoo with our Smoothing Conditioner or Leave-In Conditioner. If you have curly hair but prefer a lather, use our Smoothing Shampoo with Curl Defining Conditioner. No matter what combination you choose, all Odele products work together (in your hair and on your shower shelf!).
The hair shaft is made up of many shingles from root to tip. Depending on several factors—pH being a large one—you can influence whether the shingles lay flat or not. As a result, the pH level varies by product in order to deliver differing results by hair type.
The pH levels for each product can be found under the “Best for Hair That’s” or “Best for Skin That’s” tab on each individual product’s page.
All Odele products are free from SLES + SLS sulfates, and as a result, our shampoos may not lather as much (or in the same way) as you are used to. That being said, all our shampoos (except for our Curl Defining No-Lather Shampoo) have a luxurious lather when used correctly. For the best results, we recommend rubbing the shampoo in your hands, adding water until you get a nice lather, then applying it to sopping wet hair.
Clarifying shampoos are kind of like normal shampoos on steroids. They are formulated to purge your hair and scalp of any excess build-up (of hair products, hard water minerals, chlorine, and more), which can leave your hair feeling dull, greasy, or limp.
In comparison to regular shampoos, clarifying shampoos generally have a higher concentration of surfactants, the soap-like ingredient responsible for cleansing and clarifying your hair. So while clarifying shampoos can be a wonderful addition to anyone’s hair regimen, overuse can strip the scalp of essential oils that keep your hair looking healthy. Think of it as washing your hands too frequently – too much cleansing can lead to dry and cracked hands.
We generally recommend using our clarifying shampoo no more than once per week, but it really depends on what your hair goes through on a daily basis. For instance, if you use a lot of hair styling products, have hard water, or swim in chlorinated pools, you may need to use a clarifying shampoo more frequently. The same goes for infrequent hair washers or those with more significant oil buildup.
All Odele products are sulfate-free and formulated to be as mild but effective as possible. That being said, the chelation technology found in our Curl Defining No-Lather Shampoo and Clarifying Shampoo is specifically formulated to target minerals and metal deposits commonly found in hair, without removing moisture and nutrients curls need. Since chelation shampoos are slightly more powerful, they should not be used more than twice per week in order to avoid dulling color over time.
At the end of the day, our biggest advice is to listen to what your hair and scalp are telling you. Do they feel healthy? If so, you’re probably washing and clarifying often enough. If not, it could be time to tweak your routine ‘til you find your sweet spot. Check out this post on our blog for more tips and tricks.
Shipping + Returns
We currently ship in the U.S. and Canada.
Shipping fees are waived on domestic orders exceeding $40 and Canadian orders exceeding $50 USD. For orders below our free shipping threshold, we share the cost of shipping with our customers and charge a flat fee of $8 for domestic orders and $15 USD for Canadian orders.
Please keep in mind that the free shipping threshold refers to the final cost of the order - if you use a discount code that brings the order total below the threshold, you will no longer qualify for free shipping.
Domestic shipments are typically received within 5-7 business days upon placement of the order, and orders shipping to Canada are typically within 8-10 business days. If your order has not shipped by the end of that window, please contact customer service right away.
Once you have placed your order, we will send you a confirmation email to track the status of your order. Once your order is shipped we will send you another email to confirm you the expected delivery date as well as the link to track your order (when the delivery method allows it).
Our fulfillment team works fast, so we are unable to cancel or change orders once they are placed. Please double check to make sure your shipping address and cart items are correct before checking out.
If you entered the wrong shipping address during checkout, please contact UPS once you receive your tracking number. They may be able to reroute your package. Otherwise if you are unhappy with your purchase, all full-sized items purchased domestically can be returned or exchanged within 30 days (click here for more details).
All full-sized products purchased domestically can be returned or exchanged within 30 days. Exchanges are free, but returns are subject to a $8 restocking fee regardless of qualification for free shipping at the time of purchase. Refunds will be received via the original payment method or store credit. For Canadian customers, all purchases are final.
If you purchased Odele at Target, Ulta or CVS, please visit the retailer site for more details on how to process a return.
We process returns and refunds as soon as your package is scanned by the post office, but it can take your bank up to several additional business days to post the refund to your account. Please allow 1-2 weeks for the refund to appear on your credit card statement.