THE STORY OF AVEDA

FROM THE ANCIENT ART OF AYURVEDA COME THE RITUALS OF AVEDA

In India, the founder of Aveda, Horst Rechelbacher, received the inspiration to create Aveda. He gained appreciation for the power of wellness to promote balance in mind, body and spirit, the prerequisite to achieving the guest’s beauty goals. He met Shiv Nath Tandon in the ashram Sadhana Mandir in Rishikesh, India with whom he developed his first Clove Shampoo in a kitchen sink in Minneapolis, together with doctors of Ayurveda, Vinod and Kusum Upadhyay. All have continued to work with Aveda since the early 1970s.

Out of this well-timed collaboration, Aveda was born in 1978 with the vision to bring beauty professionals botanical products that would be good for them, their guests, and the Earth and its communities. Horst’s foresight is a testament to how far ahead of his time he was, and although no longer with us his legacy lives on in countless ways, from the signature ritual of a neck and shoulder massage that Aveda salons are known for, to an ecologically-minded way of doing business, one that celebrates companies with a conscience. Most importantly, Horst taught us that: “Every day presents every one of us with the opportunity to create positive effects. Even the simplest, seemingly insignificant choices we make in our daily lives—what to eat, what to wear, what to use on our bodies and in our homes—have a ripple effect that reaches far beyond us personally.”

AYURVEDIC ROOTS

The indian healing tradition of Ayurveda is based on the knowledge of life and the interconnectedness of all things, it has proven, over 5,000 years, that treating the whole person leads to greater balance and well-being, so we consider the effects of our products not only on hair or skin, but on body, mind and emotion.

Aveda’s relationship with Ayurveda began in 1976, thanks to two renowned Ayurvedic physicians and scholars, Drs. Vinod and Kusum Upadhyay. Globally sought for their expertise in Ayurvedic medicine, pharmacology, botanical research and aromatherapy, they brought 1,000s of years of Vedic and Ayurvedic tradition to bear on Aveda’s work. Their guidance first helped us identify botanical actives for our products, allowed us to pioneer “functional aromas”(with our chakra™ balancing aroma blends), and helped us launch innovative, powerful naturally derived formulas such as invati™ solutions for thinning hair.

In keeping with Ayurvedic principles—and because of Aveda’s concern for the Earth—We are committed to using organic ingredients.