Hair-care tycoon Carolyn Aronson enters mass with Cloud: ‘It has the callouts Gen Z is looking for’

Very few beauty entrepreneurs have had more success than Carolyn Aronson.

In 2006, the longtime hairstylist and salon owner launched professional hair-care brand It’s a 10 with one hero product: Miracle Leave-In spray. The $21 formula was an immediate success for its ability to hydrate, smooth, condition, defrizz and protect hair with one formula. The brand had immediate success by seeding the product to professional hairstylists before entering Ulta Beauty, Target, Sally’s Beauty, Cosmoprof, SalonCentric and Amazon, and selling DTC. 

Using Miracle Leave-In as the anchor for expansion, the company added formulations through the years for various hair types and preferences. This includes new Miracle Leave-Ins for coily, blonde and men’s hair; keratin- or color-treated hair; and lite, fragrance-free and dye-free variations. Each new collection includes shampoo, conditioner, masks and a variety of other offerings. The brand also sells body care.  

In 2017, Aronson bought out her co-founder to become the sole owner of It’s a 10. She’s taken on no investors. The brand currently brings in around $500 million in gross annual sales and is distributed in more than 125 countries. 

On a personal level, Aronson has also provided inspiration for women in the beauty industry. She entered the foster care system at two weeks old, began working in salons as a teenager and is currently one of the beauty industry’s few self-made billionaires. She’s also known for her philanthropy. For example, It’s a 10 donated $250,000 worth of products to the Los Angeles Dream Center in January to help victims of the Los Angeles wildfires. 

This year, Aronson is expanding her empire with Cloud Haircare, a new, Gen Z-focused line of shampoo, conditioner and styling products sold in two collections: nourishing and volumizing. Each SKU sells for $11.99 in CVS, Walmart and DTC. 

The line features colorful, flat lay-friendly packaging and Gen Z-focused values: vegan, Leaping Bunny-approved formulas free of parabens and SLS, and sold in bottles made from post-consumer plastic resins. 

Aronson’s expansion into mass comes at a time when the sector has experienced a renaissance, of sorts. New, fresh brands are currently flooding the market, many of which are priced at $11.99 — like Odele, Saltair, Being Frenshe, Laura Polko and Function of Beauty —  while bargain formulas like Suave are back with new branding. 

Beyond Cloud Haircare, Aronson entered the home hair-color space in 2023 with Rewind it 10, a line of men’s home hair and beard dyes. She partnered with friend and rapper Fat Joe on the collection, as well as her husband Jeff Aronson. It sells for $15 per box DTC and through Sally’s Beauty, CVS, Walmart, Amazon and more retailers. 

To entice shoppers, each shade of hair dye is modeled by an influential figure like model Tyson Beckford, football star Travis Kelce, DJ Khaled and celebrity face Brody Jenner, among many others. 

On this week's episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast, Aronson provides Glossy listeners an inside view of her move into mass hair care with Cloud and insights into navigating the men’s marketplace with Rewind it 10. She also gives listeners a teaser on her entry into women’s hair color and her hopes for Cloud Haircare.