Rosy and Maria Carita, founders of the Carita luxury beauty brand in 1945, were pioneers with their holistic approach to beauty — starting with hair.

The sisters, who began as hairdressers, took a head-to-toe approach to beauty. They claimed to be “entrepreneurs of metamorphosis,” and their treatment of hair and scalp was described as “haute coiffure.”

At the time, Rosy and Maria’s white-glove approach was unique and still resonates strongly today, as France’s prestige hair care sector booms. Carita returns to the category in full force with a high-end line, while Sisley, Clarins and Caudalie have entered the category, too.

On Dec. 15, 1952, Rosy and Maria Carita inaugurated their glamorous beauty institute on Paris’ Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, an elegant, multistory building. The Duchess of Windsor cut the ribbon with golden scissors, and 3,000 high-society Parisians attended the event.

More than 200 beauty experts, including hairdressers, were on staff at the institute, where Brigitte Bardot, Sophia Loren, Greta Garbo, Françoise Hardy, Joséphine Baker, Isabelle Adjani, Jane Fonda and Grace Kelly were among those who ultimately flocked from the worlds of cinema, theater, fashion and royalty.

In 1956, the Carita sisters launched their first products, Rénovateur and Fluide 14, which were multiuse — for skin and hair care.

Such “skinification” of prestige hair care is now à la mode. Carita is making its comeback in the category with the launch of Hair Rejuvenic, a four-product line, which marks the brand’s first step into hair care with dedicated products.

For Carita, it all “started from hair and this vision that everything comes from the roots and the scalp,” explained Chiara Allegri, chief executive officer of the brand.

She said Carita’s founders believed “that to transform what you see, it’s always necessary to activate what you don’t see — meaning the scalp.”

The iconic products Le Rénovateur and Fluide 14 became the starting points for Hair Rejuvenic. It was inspired, as well, by Carita’s antiaging skin care line Or Rejuvenic, containing the active 24K Biotech Gold.

“It has also an effect on the scalp,” Allegri said. “That is why we are bringing this to the heart of our range.”

Carita’s hair products are billed to detoxify, energize and restore.

Over at Clarins — the skin care brand founded by Jacques Courtin in 1954 with a spa on Paris’ Rue Tronchet — the team zeroed in on the scalp’s connective tissue cells called dermal papilla, which impacts shine, quality and density of the hair, and how aging and environmental aggression affect those cells’ functioning.

The team identified plants that could diminish such adverse effects: a combination of white iris rhizomes and polyphenols of saffron.

“We have demonstrated that it is able to boost all the key growth factors for denser hair,” said Marie-Hélène Lair, Clarins spokesperson and responsible innovation director. “When you speak about the scalp, it’s quite close to the skin in terms of content, in terms of functioning, metabolism.”

Caudalie, the French skin care brand with formulation centered on Vineferine, the molecule stemming from grapevines, is launching hair care, too.

“The hair follicle needs exactly what the vine delivers,” said Mathilde Thomas, cofounder of Caudalie. “The scalp is skin, and we treat it exactly that way.”

For its eponymous line, Caudalie worked on a patented molecule, VineOxyl, derived from hydroxylated grapeseed oil and that acts on VEGFα and PGE2, the same vascular and regenerative mechanisms the brand targets in skin.

Caudalie’s hero product in the collection is the Anti-Hair Loss Serum, of 99 percent natural origin. It contains VineOxyl as well as a complex of soothing and AOX organic French plant peptides, Thomas said. In Caudalie’s clinical study, the serum reduced hair loss by 53 percent and increased its thickness by 87 percent.

Sisley — another French skin care brand at its origins — launched hair care with a six-product line called Hair Rituel in 2017.

“It was an instant success in all the regions of the world,” said Philippe d’Ornano, president of Sisley. Cut to today, and it’s a double-digit growing business.

The brand, which now has about 30 hair care products, still sees tons of potential, he said. It just relaunched its bestselling hair product, a serum, thanks to scientific breakthroughs in the study of microbiota linked to the scalp.

“We got amazing results,” d’Ornano said. “There’s still a lot to do. We’re really excited about the possibilities.”

He added: “It is a gratifying adventure, the building of this new brand.”

Hit Parade

Carita Hair Rejuvenic Masque Restructurant, 90 euros

The treatment was created for deep fiber care to restore hair’s fluidity and boost light-reflecting capabilities. Its formula includes 24K Biotech Gold with a reparative active called Fibergen.

Caudalie Density & Volume Shampoo, $38

The shampoo is billed to help boost the appearance of volume and support fuller, denser-looking hair without weighing it down. The formula contains VineOxyl, is vegan and made of 95 percent natural-origin ingredients. 

Clarins Hair Therapy L’Elixir Multi-Care Luminous Hair Oil, $56

This oil is said to give hair a glow-up with an ultralight texture. Its formulation has three oils — milk thistle, jojoba and cashew — to strengthen hair fiber, plus mastic tree extract.

Hair Rituel by Sisley Revitalizing Fortifying Super Serum, $280

This reformulated serum has been clinically proven to give more hair density and thicker-looking hair within one month.