Our # 1 Best seller…. Your do-it-all oil.
Our Story
In Haitian, zaviwon means oar. An oar doesn’t change the current — it helps you steer. Your hair journey may twist and change. You don’t have to go it alone. Grab your oar.
Zaviwon is the wash-day ritual coily hair has been waiting for.
It began with a gap. I grew up in it — Haitian heritage on one side, a pharmaceutical biochemist's training on the other. The ads. The jars. The TV. "Good hair" showed up everywhere, and it was almost always curly or thin. Coily texture? Almost never there. And in too many countries, in too many languages, coily hair has a name: "bad hair."
I spent years working with coily hair — as a pharmaceutical biochemist, an herbalist, a trichologist. I saw what worked, and what fell short. People were left choosing between hair that felt hydrated but heavy, or strong but stiff and dry.
I believed there was a better way.
So I turned my training into a different approach to your haircare: a delivery system, not just a list of ingredients. At the heart of it is the NouvoRacine-6™ complex — six actives, chosen for what they do and how they work together, with emu oil as the carrier that rows the other five deeper into the shaft. Zaviwon is made to deliver the slip, the moisture that actually reaches the shaft, and the healthy-looking coils I wanted you to experience every wash day — not just the day you style it.
We're on a mission to make you feel good about your coily hair again.
Because great coils can change how you walk out the door. How you show up. How you feel when you catch your reflection — and your coils are doing exactly what you asked them to.
Whether your coils are fine or thick, color-treated, in locs, in twists, in a TWA, transitioning, protective-styled, changing with life, or simply asking for something different — we're here for every step of your coily story.
How you feel in your hair is why I keep going.
— Paola Altine, Founder · meet the woman behind the oar
Our Packaging
We believe your daily hair routine should feel like a moment of luxury — not a chore. That's why we design every detail, from the way the bottle feels in your hand to the way it sits on your shelf, to remind you that you're worth the investment.
Coily hair has been handed the basics for too long. The one thing you reach for every wash day should feel like more than that.
Our Scent
Before your hair ever meets the formula, something happens. The moment you open a Zaviwon bottle, you're transported — a bright, clean lift of lemongrass and peppermint, with the green warmth of the herbs behind it. Our signature scent is the beginning of your ritual — your daily escape, your moment.
"My coils have never felt this soft — and the smell? I'm obsessed." It's the feedback we hear before people finish the first bottle. Because luxury announces itself the moment you arrive.
Our Process
Every product starts with a problem coily hair has been handed for too long. From there, I work as a biochemist and herbalist to select each active with intention — the NouvoRacine-6™ complex, emu oil as the carrier — formulating, refining, and testing until it meets the standard, then crafted to be worthy of being in your hands.
Our Haircare Standard
Thoughtful formulas. Clear choices. No unnecessary extras.
We believe you deserve to understand what you're putting on your hair and scalp. Our formulas are created with coily and textured hair in mind — thoughtful ingredient selection, a focus on performance, feel, and everyday rituals.
What we leave out
Silicone-free
Mineral-oil-free
Sulfate-free
Paraben-free
Drying-alcohol-free
Fragrance-free
Dye-free
The scent you smell is the botanicals themselves — never added fragrance. That's what "fragrance-free" means here.
What we believe in
Thoughtful formulation. Ingredients chosen for a reason.
Transparency. Clear language about what's inside — and what's not.
Heritage. Haitian-inspired ingredients and traditions have a meaningful place in our formulation story.
Science. Formulation decisions grounded in understanding, not hype.
Coily hair, considered from the beginning. Not adapted as an afterthought.
No miracle promises. Just thoughtfully formulated hair care — and the knowledge to use it well.
Made with intention
Our formulas are manufactured with a GMP-ISO 9001 manufacturing partner in Alabama — the same standard that makes your medicine cabinet trustworthy — using standardized quality and manufacturing processes.
Because we don't think "clean" should mean vague.
You should know what you're using. You should know why it's there. And you should be able to make your own choices.
That's the Zaviwon standard.