Being

Being (stylized "being") is a haircare brand that launched in July 2024, selling shampoos, conditioners and treatments organized around hair type rather than a single one-size range. It was founded by Jaimee Lupton and sits within the beauty portfolio of ZURU Edge, the consumer-goods arm of the New Zealand toy and FMCG group ZURU [6]. The brand entered the market exclusively at Walmart in the United States and has since expanded to Australia and the United Kingdom, positioning itself as an affordable, accessibility-minded line for all hair textures.

The brand is still in its early years and remains active, distributed across several markets and supported by a maintained website and social channels.

Being was created by Jaimee Lupton, a serial brand-builder within ZURU Edge who is also credited as the founder of Monday Haircare and Osāna Naturals. The line made its debut on Tuesday, 11 July 2024, launching in the United States both in stores and online through Walmart, and was selected for Walmart Start, the retailer's mentorship and accelerator program for emerging beauty brands [6].

According to the company, Being was built to address what it calls a "literacy problem" in haircare, where shoppers "don't know what their hair needs because ranges are either one-dimensional or super confusing." Lupton has framed the project around access, saying she did not want "cost or usability to be hurdles for shoppers" [6]. That brief shaped both the price point — products launched under seven US dollars — and an unusually detailed approach to packaging design.

Being is held within ZURU Edge, the consumer-brands division of ZURU, and its website footer identifies it as a property of ZURU International Limited [3]. Sourcing differs on exactly which entity to name: launch coverage in Retail Dive listed the parent company as Monday International Limited, the holding vehicle through which the group's beauty brands are run [6], while the brand site cites the top-level ZURU International Limited [3]. These describe the same corporate structure — the ZURU group, its ZURU Edge consumer arm, and beauty brands held via Monday International — rather than competing owners.

The parent group itself has a separate, longer history. ZURU is a toy and consumer-goods company founded in 2003 by New Zealand-born siblings Nick, Mat and Anna Mowbray [8]. It is worth distinguishing the two founding stories: Jaimee Lupton founded the Being brand in 2024, whereas the Mowbray siblings founded the ZURU group two decades earlier. One editorial profile of ZURU Edge appeared to conflate the two, but Wikipedia records the group's three sibling co-founders as Nick, Mat and Anna Mowbray, distinct from Lupton, who leads brand development within ZURU Edge [7][8]. Within that portfolio, Being sits alongside sister brands including Monday Haircare and the later-launched Daise.

Being presents itself as a "community-led" haircare brand whose aim is to "finesse and de-stress what you have, rather than trying to make it something it's not." Rather than sorting products by concern alone, the range is mapped to hair types on the 1A–4C scale — from straight and fine through waves, curls and coils — so that shoppers can assemble what the company describes as "a custom routine that works for your hair, rather than against it." The tagline, "Haircare for Being you," reflects that emphasis on working with existing texture.

Inclusivity extends to the physical product. Coverage of the launch described accessibility features built into the packaging: soft squeeze tubes for one-handed use, a lipped-lid design for limited dexterity, high-contrast labels, large typography, and tactile indicators to help visually impaired users tell products apart. The brand cited market research finding that 79% of surveyed customers struggled to find products tailored to their specific hair type [6]. Development drew on trichologists and an advisory board — "The Being Board" — that included beauty editor Akili King, journalist and Cripple Media founder Emily Flores, hairstylist Alyx Liu and creator Shahd Batal.

The range centers on shampoo-and-conditioner pairings and treatment masks named for their function, among them Nourish + Shine, Curl Power, Bye Bye Frizz and Big Hair, alongside leave-in conditioners and masks such as the Mega Moisture Mask. The company says formulas are made without sulfates, parabens, silicones or phthalates, are dermatologically tested, and are developed with trichologists.

Being also states that all of its products are vegan, containing no animal-derived ingredients, and cruelty-free under Leaping Bunny certification [4]. The brand notes that while its formulas include some naturally derived ingredients, they are "not all-natural or made from only natural ingredients" — a candid qualification of the clean-beauty framing. Packaging is described as recyclable and ingredients as ethically sourced.

Being remains active. Launched in mid-2024, it is distributed in the United States exclusively through Walmart, in Australia nationwide through Woolworths [4], and in the United Kingdom through Superdrug, where products were priced at £7.99 [6]. The brand maintains its own website and active accounts on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook, and is backed by the well-funded ZURU Edge group, whose beauty portfolio launch coverage placed at expectations of around $300 million in 2024 sales across roughly ten personal-care brands [6].