Not Your Mother's started in Tampa, Florida, in 2010. The brand's About page still says it plainly: Est. 2010, Tampa. It was founded by Rocky and Bethany Pagliarulo, a married couple who took over the haircare company DeMert Brands in 2000, and Beauty Independent reports that it launched with just six items in 400 Walmart stores. Clean Freak Dry Shampoo followed in 2011.

Bethany Pagliarulo has said they saw a gap for the tween to college-age shopper who wanted hair care that actually worked. The name does the rest of the talking. This is not the hair care your mother kept under the sink, and the bright bottles and cheeky product names were built to make that obvious.

Fifteen years in, the brand has grown up a bit. In March, Henkel agreed to acquire it, according to BeautyMatter. Not Your Mother's shampoo now comes in several families, and the Aura Boost family, which leads this edit, is built around four needs: hydration, repair, frizz and thickness.

The first grid is eight Not Your Mother's shampoos, including four from Aura Boost, two from Curl Talk, one from Way to Grow and the Clean Freak dry shampoo. The second is the matching conditioners and two Curl Talk masks.

My tip: buy the shampoo and conditioner from the same family. The lines are designed to work together, and mixing them is how people end up with a routine that does two opposite things.

The four Aura Boost shampoos split by hair need. Hydrate is the nourishing, non-stripping wash for dry hair and the one I would start with, because most hair is drier than we think. Restore is for stressed, damaged hair that needs strength. Anti-Frizz tames frizz and flyaways, and Thickening adds volume and strength to fine or stressed strands.

Curl Talk is the curl family. The Bond Building Shampoo is silicone-free and gentle, made to strengthen curls while it cleans. The Clean Slate Daily Shampoo is hard on buildup but soft on strands, and it is free of sulfate surfactants and silicones, so it is a good reset for curls that feel coated.

Way to Grow Long & Strong Shampoo is for anyone growing their hair out. It gently removes buildup and is built around strength, which matters more than speed when you are trying to keep length.

The last one is where the brand's story really took off. Clean Freak Refreshing Dry Shampoo arrived in 2011, a year after launch, and it is still one of the products people know the brand for. It uses an aluminum-free formula for instant oil absorption.

What I would skip: Clean Slate every day if your curls are already dry. Use it once a week as a reset and go back to Bond Building for the rest.

Every Aura Boost shampoo has a matching conditioner here. The Restore Conditioner nourishes and softens stressed strands, and the Hydrate Conditioner keeps dry hair soft. The Anti-Frizz Conditioner hydrates and smooths without weighing hair down, and the Thickening Conditioner boosts volume while it conditions, which is harder than it sounds.

Curl Talk has two conditioners. The Bond Building Conditioner is silicone-free and gives curls deep moisture, and the Clean Slate Daily Conditioner is step two of the brand's curly hair reset, following the Clean Slate shampoo.

Then there are two Curl Talk masks, and they solve different problems. The Bond Building Mask is long-lasting and made for damaged curls, the ones that have been colored or heat styled. The Deep Hydration Mask is for super parched hair, made with rice amino acids and a superfood blend. The brand calls it a hydration vacation, which I like.

A pairing tip: alternate the two masks weekly if your curls are both damaged and dry. Strength one week, moisture the next, and your curls should find a better balance.

What I would skip: the Thickening Conditioner on hair that is already thick. It is designed to add body, and thick hair does not need more of it.

Who are Rocky and Bethany Pagliarulo? They are the married couple who founded Not Your Mother's. They did it through DeMert Brands, the company they took over in 2000, after spotting a gap in hair care aimed at young consumers.

When did Not Your Mother's start? It launched in 2010 with six items in 400 Walmart stores. Clean Freak Dry Shampoo, now its signature product, followed in 2011.

Where is Not Your Mother's based? The brand is based in Tampa, Florida, and was launched there by Rocky and Bethany Pagliarulo. In March 2026 they announced an agreement to sell it to Henkel.

Which Not Your Mother's shampoo is for fine or dry hair? For dry hair, Target and Ulta describe Aura Boost Hydrate as a gentle, non-stripping shampoo with aloe, peptides and magnesium. For fine hair, Target lists Aura Boost Thickening, which is made to add volume and strength.

I think Not Your Mother's shampoo is easiest to love if you shop it by family. Aura Boost covers most hair needs, Curl Talk covers curls, and Clean Freak covers the days you skip washing entirely. The brand started with six bottles in 2010 for young shoppers who wanted hair care of their own. Fifteen years later, it is still one of the friendliest shelves in the hair aisle, and the bottles still make me smile. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together Six Products in 2010 and Paul Mitchell Shampoo and the Black-and-White Bottles of 1980.