KMS

KMS is a professional hair care and styling brand founded in 1976 in Redding, California, by Dick Kornfield, Jamey Mazzotta and Gary Smith [1]. The name comes from the founders' surname initials — Kornfield, Mazzotta and Smith [7]. Originally known as KMS California, the brand has been part of the Japanese Kao Corporation since 2002, when Kao's Goldwell division acquired it [6]. It operates today within the Kao Salon Division, where its products are sold through professional salons.

From the start the company set out to combine laboratory science with natural ingredients. Mazzotta, a biochemist, helped shape a range built for varied hair textures, and that pairing of "Nature and Technology" remains the brand's stated organising idea [7].

The three founders launched KMS HAIR in 1976 with a stated goal of fusing what the company calls "innovative technologies with the best that nature has to offer." Among its earliest products was a shampoo marketed as NEFA. The brand describes its purpose as developing professional hair care and styling for diverse hair textures, supported by research and what it terms its finest ingredients.

The brand built its reputation through styling and heat-protection products. In 1984 it introduced an early heat-styling product; the brand's own history page names it Thermal Style Protection, while parent company Kao records the same 1984 launch under the name Control, describing it as "one of the first heat styling products on the market" [1][6]. In 1995 came FLATOUT, presented as the first professional non-chemical straightener and sold today as THERMASHAPE Straightening Cream. The following year the company launched HAIRPLAY Molding Paste, which Kao describes as a "breakthrough product" [6].

Later milestones included the Sea Salt Spray in 2002 and HAIRPLAY Dry Wax in 2008, both noted as long-running sellers. The brand marked its 40th anniversary in 2016. More recent launches reflect a shift toward sustainability: a temporary hair colour called STYLE COLOR in 2018, solid shampoo bars in 2021, and the CONSCIOUSSTYLE range in 2024 [6].

KMS California was acquired by Goldwell in 2002 [6]. Goldwell had itself become part of Kao Corporation in 1989, so the purchase brought KMS into the wider Kao group. The brand now sits in the Kao Salon Division, described as one of five professional salon labels in that portfolio alongside Goldwell, Kerasilk, Oribe and Varis [5]. While the brand's current website and packaging use "KMS," the earlier name KMS California is still used by the parent company and by many retailers [3][6].

KMS positions itself as a stylist-focused brand, with products it says are "designed with stylists, for stylists" [5]. Its range is organised around a three-step framework — START, STYLE and FINISH — intended to let stylists combine products for individual looks. The company sums up its outlook with the tagline "It isn't good if it doesn't do good," and frames its approach as performance paired with sustainability.

The product line is grouped into collections such as MOISTREPAIR, ADDVOLUME, CURLUP, THERMASHAPE, HAIRPLAY, HAIRSTAY, HEADREMEDY, COLORVITALITY and ALLSMOOTH. Underpinning them is what the company calls TRIfinity Technology, tied to the START. STYLE. FINISH. system. The brand describes the START step as using an "AHA Structure Complex" that works on the hair internally and externally to prepare it for styling.

A defining theme is the use of upcycled natural ingredients — materials reclaimed from byproducts that would otherwise be discarded. The company highlights pomegranate, rice, olive oil, tomato extract, seaweed and ash among these. KMS also states that its products have passed PETA's "Beauty Without Bunnies" programme certification and are not tested on animals [3]. Performance claims attached to specific lines include heat protection up to 230 °C and hold lasting up to 72 hours.

KMS remains an active brand within the Kao Salon Division following its 2002 acquisition, operating globally and aimed at the professional salon market. Its most recent recorded launch is the CONSCIOUSSTYLE range in 2024.