Vera & Vine emblem

Botanical hair care · made properly

Your hair, full of life.

A botanical hair and scalp oil and a guided brushing ritual — for stronger, fuller-looking hair and a healthier-looking scalp. Rooted in Ayurvedic heritage, claimed honestly, and being tested rather than retold.

A natural hair and scalp oil rooted in Ayurvedic heritage

The idea

A clearing in a jungle.

The world of hair wellness is a jungle — dense, loud, overgrown with miracle serums, suspicious photos and promises nobody checks.

We're not trying to out-shout it. We're trying to be the clearing: a calm, honest, well-lit space inside it. A botanical oil made properly. A ritual taught properly. Language that never claims more than we know.

Even our mark is the idea, literally — a dense ring of leaves drawn from our own botanicals, around a lit, empty centre. The clearing is the mark.

“We'd rather prove it than promise it. I built this formula over many months and used it on myself first — and now we're designing a real study, on real people, run properly.”
— Avilash Selvakumar, Founder
Vera & Vine 30ml amber glass dropper bottle VERA & VINE HAIR & SCALP OIL
30 ml · amber glass · pipette dropper

The oil

What's actually in the bottle.

A hair and scalp oil: four heritage botanicals — bhringraj, ashwagandha, hibiscus and amla — infused into cold-pressed carrier oils. Thirteen ingredients in total, every one disclosed on the label.

  • Nourishes and conditions the scalp and hair
  • Supports and strengthens the hair you have
  • Improves shine, softness and manageability
  • For stronger, fuller-looking hair and a healthier-looking scalp

No synthetic preservatives, no fillers, no fragrance hiding the formula. Made in the UK, with a full independent safety assessment — now underway — before a single bottle ships.

Contains sesame — our base oils are sesame-infused. If you have a sesame allergy, this one isn't for you, and we'd rather say so here than in the small print.

How you use it

Two halves of one thing.

01

The oil

A few drops, worked through the scalp and lengths. Unhurried, a few times a week — a ritual that cares for your scalp and hair rather than one more thing to rush.

02

The ritual

A guided brushing practice we teach one to one — the half you can't pour from a bottle. Most people were never actually shown how to care for their scalp and hair. We think that's the missing piece.

What we're building

Naturally derived

No synthetic preservatives, no fillers, no claims we can't back up.

Rooted in heritage

Bhringraj, hibiscus, ashwagandha, amla — and the wisdom of generations.

Made properly, not hyped

Formulated with care, with a full independent safety assessment — already underway — before a single bottle ships.

The botanicals

Heritage, taken seriously
enough to check.

Tradition tells you what people have valued for a long time. Evidence tells you what actually happens, measured properly. We won't let one stand in for the other.

  • 01

    Bhringraj

    Eclipta prostrata

    Tradition gave it the Sanskrit title keshraj — “ruler of the hair”. That title was earned over centuries of use. Not in a study.

  • 02

    Ashwagandha

    Withania somnifera

    One of the most storied roots in Ayurveda, infused into our base oils for a slow, patient extraction.

  • 03

    Hibiscus

    Hibiscus rosa-sinensis

    Long loved in Ayurvedic hair care and prized for its deep, natural colour — infused for a botanical, sensory blend.

  • 04

    Amla

    Phyllanthus emblica

    The Indian gooseberry — a fixture of hair-oiling rituals passed down through families for generations.

The honest bit

“But will it actually
do something?”

It's the only question that matters, so here's a straight answer — including the part most brands leave out.

What we can say

  • It nourishes and conditions the scalp and hair
  • It supports and strengthens the hair you have
  • It improves shine, softness and manageability
  • Hair looks fuller; the scalp looks healthier

Cosmetic claims, the kind a formula like this can stand behind.

What we won't say

  • That it regrows hair, or reverses anything
  • “Clinically proven” — we have no human trial yet
  • Anything borrowed from a supplier's study on a raw material
  • Anything backed by a before/after photo

Not because we doubt the botanicals — because we haven't earned those words yet.

Most of the published research on these botanicals is early-stage: lab and animal work, plus small trials that rarely get replicated. Promising signals, real gaps. So instead of dressing that up, we're designing our own study — on our own product and our own ritual — and we'll publish what it finds, including if the results are unremarkable. We'd rather prove it than promise it.

Avilash Selvakumar, founder of Vera & Vine
Avilash Selvakumar Founder · biotechnology student, University of Nottingham

Who's behind this

One person, and no marketing department.

I'm Avilash. I'm a biotechnology student in Nottingham, and Vera & Vine is a company I'm building around a question I can't answer yet.

A while ago I experienced something with my own hair that I couldn't explain. I know what I'm supposed to do with a story like that — dramatise it, sell the outcome, let the implication do the work. I'm doing the opposite: instead of turning it into a claim, I'm turning it into a study.

That's why this site won't show you a miracle photo, and why I wrote a claims rulebook before I wrote a homepage. If that's the kind of company you'd rather buy from, you're in the right place — and the sessions below are me, personally, starting with a free twenty-minute review.

— Avilash

Vera & Vine · consultations

Start with a free hair review.

Every consultation starts the same way: I look at your hair properly, then we talk. The first step is free.

How it works. You send a short questionnaire and five photos of your hair — front, top, back and both sides, with a simple guide showing exactly how to take them. Then we meet for twenty minutes on video: I review what you've sent, we talk through your routine, and you leave with one thing you can start the same day.

Your photos stay private. They're used only for your consultation, never published, and deleted if you ask.

Free 20 minutes, one to one, on video
Book your free review

Email us and you'll get the questionnaire, the photo guide, and we'll find a time that suits you.

Then, if you want to go deeper: the ritual, taught properly. The full guided session — your hair, your brush, your own routine, shaped around how you already care for it. The craft, one to one. Not a demonstration, not a promise.

£28 45 minutes on video · £20 for the first 10 with code FOUNDING
Book the full session — £28

Payment holds your slot — you'll pick your time straight after. In-person sessions are also available — ask about them on your free review.

This is where the ritual becomes yours: guided, unhurried, shaped around how you already care for your hair. You'll finish with a practice you can keep — a few quiet minutes that belong to you.

Straight answers

Questions worth asking.

What this oil will and won't do

No — and we won't tell you it will. Regrowing hair is a medicinal claim in the UK, and making it requires medicine-grade evidence and authorisation we don't have. Vera & Vine is a cosmetic hair and scalp oil. If a brand promises you regrowth without that evidence, that tells you something about the brand.

So what will it actually do?

It nourishes and conditions the scalp and hair, supports and strengthens the hair you have, and improves shine, softness and manageability — for stronger, fuller-looking hair and a healthier-looking scalp. Those are cosmetic claims a formula like this can stand behind. Anything beyond that is what our study exists to examine.

Why won't you show before-and-after photos?

Because in the wild they're almost unfalsifiable — lighting, angle, wet versus dry hair, a haircut, six months of time, all invisible to you and all doing the persuading. Under UK advertising rules a before/after isn't decoration, it's a claim, and it needs the same substantiation as the words “this works”. If images ever appear, they'll come from our controlled study with the methodology attached — including if the results are unremarkable.

What's in it — and are there allergens?

Four heritage botanicals — bhringraj, ashwagandha, hibiscus and amla — infused into cold-pressed carrier oils. Thirteen ingredients in total, every one printed on the label. No synthetic preservatives, no fillers. Important: our base oils are sesame-infused, so it contains sesame. If you have a sesame allergy, this product isn't for you.

Is it safe, and is it tested?

Every cosmetic sold in the UK needs a safety report, a product information file and a portal notification before it can be sold. Ours is underway now: we've commissioned and paid for a full independent safety assessment, with stability testing running alongside it, and no bottle ships before it's complete — that's a legal requirement, and it's also the reason we're not shipping yet. Not tested on animals; that's been illegal for cosmetics in the UK for years.

When can I actually buy the oil?

We're targeting autumn 2026, in a small first batch. The real gate is the safety assessment — now underway — not our marketing calendar. So we'd rather give you an honest “when it's ready” than a date we might miss. The early-access list hears first.

What happens on the free hair review?

Before we meet, you send a short questionnaire and five photos of your hair — front, top, back and both sides, with a guide showing exactly how to take them. Then we spend twenty minutes on video: I review what you've sent, we talk through your routine, and you leave with one thing to start the same day. If the full session or an in-person visit would help, I'll say so plainly — and if it wouldn't, I'll say that too. Your photos stay private, are never published, and are deleted if you ask.

What actually happens in a 45-minute session?

It's one to one, on video, and it's built around your hair and the routine you already have — not a script. We look at how you currently care for your hair, and I teach you the guided brushing ritual properly, in real time, so you finish with a practice you can actually keep. It isn't a sales call and it isn't a webinar. Bring the brush or comb you normally use; nothing else to prepare.

Why would I pay to be taught to brush my hair?

Fair question. We're all taught to brush our teeth properly and almost nobody is ever shown how to care for their scalp and hair — you inherit whatever you picked up as a child, usually rushed. The ritual is half of what we're building, and it's the half that can't be bottled. People ask me to just post the technique; I don't, because half-taught is badly taught, and because the method is the craft of the company while we study it.

What if I need to move it, or it isn't right for me?

You can move your session to another time with 24 hours' notice, free, as often as you genuinely need — just reply to your confirmation email, or write to hello@veraandvine.com. We don't offer refunds on booked sessions: a paid session never expires, so if life gets in the way we'll simply rebook you. (Your statutory rights — including the 14-day cooling-off period for online purchases, where it applies — are unaffected.)

Do I need the oil to do a session?

No. The ritual stands on its own — the session is about the practice, and you can begin it long before the first bottles ship. If you already have an oil you like, bring that.

Who am I actually speaking to?

Me — Avilash, the founder. Not a therapist, not a trichologist, and not a medical professional: I'm a biotechnology student building this company, teaching a practice I've developed. If you have a scalp or hair concern that needs clinical attention, please see your GP or a dermatologist — I'll say so in the session too.

Limited first batch

We're producing the v1 formula in small quantities, and opening a first, small round of guided sessions alongside it. The early-access list closes when the first batch is allocated.

Join the early-access list

Be first when Batch 01 drops this autumn — plus founding-member pricing. No spam, just the launch and the story behind it.