Built around her philosophy that “hair is a fabric,” Kimberly Michelle, a Texas-based artist, educator, and entrepreneur, has launched her brand, Saint Kyumé. The development of Saint Kyumé came from Kimberly’s belief that hair professionals have not always been adequately educated on caring for non-straight hair, and that women and girls with wavy, curly and coily hair deserve beauty experiences rooted in skill and understanding. Kimberly designed her first products to help bridge that gap, both behind the chair and at home.

The brand debuts with a botanical scalp and hair ritual offered in two versions:

MINT WELL At-Home Wash Day Scalp & Hair Tonic for at-home use.

MINT WELL Pro Wash Day Scalp Concentrate developed specifically for salon professionals.

MODERN asked Kimberly Michelle about building the brand, and about why many people with non-straight hair may put so much time and attention into styling that wash day is an afterthought. We also dive into the formulas and their ingredients which are unique and very well-thought out. Meadowfoam Seed, anyone?

Creating Ritual and Care Around Hair Wash Day

MODERN SALON: As a hairstylist, we know you have been focused on scalp care. What gap did you keep seeing in clients’ wash-day routines that inspired MINT WELL?

KIMBERLY MICHELLE: After working as a hairstylist and educator for more than 25 years, the gap became very clear: we give tremendous attention to the hair, but comparatively little care is given to the scalp.

We would never think it was acceptable to consistently neglect cleansing and moisturizing the skin on our face, yet we often treat the scalp as though shampoo alone is the entire conversation. As a hair professional who specializes in hair health, that never sat well with me. Hair undeniably responds to the environment it grows from. When the scalp is clean, balanced, and cared for, we can create a better foundation for everything that follows.

I saw this concern quite often, especially among clients who shampooed infrequently, a beauty maintenance habit that is particularly common with non-straight hair.

I like to describe non-straight hair as having a “big personality.” We tend to interact with it constantly. We curl it, scrunch it, iron it, braid it, stretch it, and set it. We may wear it curly one day and smooth the next. That versatility is one of the beautiful things about non-straight hair. It allows for creativity, expression, and a very fun relationship with beauty.

But so much of that attention stays focused on the hair we can see. After all of the styling, manipulating, and maintaining, we often delay wash day and forget there is still a scalp underneath it all that is in need of intentional care. That is what inspired Saint Kyumé & MINT WELL.

I wanted to create a “Wash Day” ritual that moved scalp care from something we think about only when something feels wrong to something we practice intentionally as part of our weekly beauty routine. That intention is reflected in the formula. At its center is our 3B Leaf Blend of peppermint, eucalyptus, and tea tree, selected to create a fresh, invigorating, scalp-focused experience.

Around that, we built a supporting botanical oil system with meadowfoam seed oil, jojoba, and argan. Those oils are not there simply to make the ingredient list longer. They help create a more balanced, conditioned, and refined environment around the 3B Leaf Blend.

Saint Kyumé’s MINT WELL is not about cleansing harder. It is about recognizing that the scalp is skin, the scalp deserves care, and every wash day should acknowledge that.

MS: Meadowfoam seed oil is less familiar to most people than argan or jojoba. What does it bring to the formula that the others don’t?

KM: One of the principles behind the formula was that every oil had to earn its place. I did not want to create a product where we simply gathered unnecessary ingredients and heavy oils that would add surface benefits. Instead, meadowfoam seed oil interested me precisely because it gives what I call a silkening blanket to the hair strands.

What makes meadowfoam especially interesting for hair is its distinctive long-chain fatty-acid profile. Those fatty acids help create slip along the surface of the hair fiber, which can reduce friction between strands. This allows the hair strands to move past one another more easily during combing, styling, and manipulation, while supporting a smoother, more reflective hair surface.

Our 3B Leaf Blend of peppermint, eucalyptus, and tea tree is intentionally expressive. You notice it right away. You immediately understand that this is a scalp-focused experience first, with an aromatherapeutic journey and hair care benefits woven into the treatment. Playing alongside age-old beauty oils like jojoba, which contributes a lightweight conditioning quality, and argan, which brings richness and nourishment, meadowfoam adds that silkening quality and helps round out the botanical oil system.

So in this particular MINT WELL formulation, I think about these six oils in layers. The 3B Leaf Blend is the active botanical core, designed to create a fresher, more invigorating scalp experience, while meadowfoam, jojoba, and argan support the conditioning, nourishment, and overall feel of the treatment.

MS: The fact sheet notes this is designed for non-straight hair. What is it about non-straight hair that changes what a scalp treatment needs to do?

KM: Non-straight hair gives us incredible versatility, and that versatility often changes the rhythm of our routine. Styles may be intended to last days or even weeks, which naturally can mean longer stretches between wash days.

During that time, products are often layered on top of natural scalp oils, exfoliating skin cells, and debris, which means the scalp environment continues to change even when the hair still looks great. This is where the needs of the scalp and the hair can begin to pull in different directions. The scalp often benefits from more frequent cleansing, while the hair fiber may benefit from being left alone so we are not constantly disrupting the style, over-shampooing, or increasing the risk of dryness.

So the question became: How do we give the scalp a meaningful reset without treating the hair as collateral damage? That question drove the 3B Leaf Blend and the supporting oils, a scalp-first treatment that still respects the hair.

MS: Why single-use 7 mL vials instead of a bottle you’d measure from yourself?

KM: I believe today’s beauty professionals and our clients prefer to be more intentional when choosing and customizing beauty treatments, so we strategically tested the exact volume of our Scalp & Hair Tonic for mixing with a favorite conditioner in our 2.5 oz blender bottle. With concentrated botanical oils, it is easy to assume that if a little is good, more must be better. But that is not necessarily how a thoughtfully formulated treatment using quality-grade oils works. We believe in keeping it super simple and wanted to prevent any guesswork, so we decided to make proper dosing part of the ritual.

One vial. One wash day. One treatment. Once a week.

But there is another reason I love the vial: it changes the mindset around the product. You are not simply reaching for another bottle in the shower or on your backbar. You are reaching for an experience. You are creating a custom blend. You are taking a few minutes to focus specifically on the scalp first.

To support salon and head spa businesses, we developed a concentrated, professionals-only version called the Wash Day PRO Concentrate, with application options that allow for proper dilution using either a mist or mask method. This gives professionals the opportunity to elevate the backbar treatment experience for their clients while also offering an additional scalp service.

Whether at home, in a salon, or in a head spa environment, that wash day ritual matters to me because one of the larger goals of Saint Kyumé’s MINT WELL is to change behavior and make the scalp a forethought rather than an afterthought.

MS: Where do you see MINT WELL fitting in relative to clarifying shampoos and scalp scrubs that already live in this “reset” space?

KM: I see Saint Kyumé’s MINT WELL as expanding the idea of what a reset can be. Clarifying shampoos have a very clear role: they are designed to remove buildup. Scalp scrubs also have an important role by introducing mechanical exfoliation. Those tools absolutely have a place.

But I kept coming back to a different question: Does every reset have to begin with doing something more aggressive to the scalp?

Sometimes deeper cleansing is necessary. Sometimes exfoliation is appropriate. But scalp care can also be about treatment and allowing the product to provide a cooling, calming experience. That is the space I want Saint Kyumé’s MINT WELL to occupy.

You shampoo first, which begins the cleansing process. Then, instead of immediately moving on to thinking only about the hair, Saint Kyumé’s MINT WELL creates a dedicated scalp treatment step. That is where the 3B Leaf Blend becomes the focal point, supported by meadowfoam, jojoba, and argan.

You give the scalp a moment, a wash day moment. Then you shampoo the treatment away and finish by applying conditioner through the lengths of the hair. Rinse, and you are done.

I do not think of MINT WELL as competing with a clarifier or scrub. It serves a different purpose. A clarifier asks, “What needs to be removed?” A scrub asks, “What needs to be exfoliated?”

Saint Kyumé & MINT WELL ask, “What needs to be cared for?”