CHI

CHI is an American professional haircare and styling-tool brand owned by Farouk Systems, Inc., a privately held company based in Houston, Texas. The name is an abbreviation of Cationic Hydration Interlink, the moisture technology around which several of its hair treatments are built. The brand is best known for ceramic flat irons and salon-oriented hair products, and its parent company exports under the CHI, BioSilk and SunGlitz labels to more than 106 countries [6].

Farouk Systems was founded in 1986 by Farouk Shami, a hairdresser who developed CHI as one of several brands in its portfolio [7]. The company remains active: it introduced the CHI Harmony color collection in February 2025, and its tools continued to draw editorial attention through 2025 [8].

CHI traces back to its founder, Farouk Shami, a Palestinian-American stylist born in Beit Ur al-Tahta, a village near Ramallah in the West Bank [6]. According to the company, Shami developed a severe allergy to ammonia from the hair products of his era — a reaction so significant that doctors at one point encouraged him to leave the profession. Rather than do so, he set out to remove the chemical from professional hair color, and is credited with inventing the first ammonia-free hair color [6].

That experience shaped the wider business. Shami founded Farouk Systems in Houston in 1986, and the company frames its mission around a safer working environment for hairdressers. As he put it, his aim was "to provide my fellow hair artists with a safer workplace environment — free of harsh chemicals" [7]. The CHI brand grew out of this portfolio, which over time came to span styling tools, hair care and professional color products.

CHI is a brand of Farouk Systems, Inc., which functions as its parent company and manufacturer [6]. It sits alongside sister brands including BioSilk, a line of ammonia-free hair products, and SunGlitz, a hair-lightening range launched in October 1986 [7]. Farouk Systems is privately held and headquartered in Houston, where it operates an 80,000-square-foot manufacturing plant and two warehouses; the company has reported employing more than 600 people in the United States [6][7].

The brand positions itself as professional haircare "crafted by professional stylists," and its messaging centers on performance without chemical compromise. The company poses the question of "what if professional hair products didn't require compromise" and could be "safer for stylists, clients, and the environment — without sacrificing performance." Across its catalog, CHI describes its formulas as cruelty-free, paraben-free and sulfate-free, with a separate sulfate-free range marketed as cleansing "without stripping essential oils."

A fully vegan range is more limited. CHI markets vegan-friendly products as "hair care with a conscience," but the dedicated vegan selection is narrow — the broader catalog is cruelty-free and paraben-free rather than uniformly vegan.

CHI's defining product is the ceramic flat iron. The company introduced its straightening iron in the early 2000s, and it became Farouk Systems' most important brand [7]. The tools are built on pure-ceramic plates rather than ceramic coating — a technology the company says it developed in collaboration with NASA scientists to achieve faster heating and better humidity resistance [7].

Beyond hardware, the range includes the CHI Silk Infusion leave-in treatment and heat-protection and keratin lines. The brand's hair treatments draw on its Cationic Hydration Interlink technology, described as locking moisture into the inner structure of the hair, alongside ingredients such as silk protein, keratin and botanical extracts. In January 2023 the company launched CHI Care, a collection of natural shampoos and conditioners that it says are housed in recyclable packaging and formulated to be sulfate-free, paraben-free, cruelty-free and gluten-free [3].

CHI's styling tools have received editorial recognition. In 2025, editors at the beauty publication Byrdie named the CHI LAVA 4D Hairstyling Iron the "Best Overall" hair straightener in a tested round-up of the year's straighteners [8]. The same year, the CHI LAVA AirGlam Multi Styler was recognized at the New You Beauty Awards, and the CHI 44 Iron Guard heat-protection spray was cited among top-rated heat protectants.

CHI is an active brand. Its most recent documented activity includes the February 2025 launch of the CHI Harmony color collection and a series of 2025 editorial awards for its styling tools [8]. The brand and its parent, Farouk Systems, continue to distribute internationally, including in the Nordic market.