We Will Always Choose Trust Over Trends

Dear Reader,

We Will Always Choose Trust Over Trends

There is a particular kind of pressure that comes with building a brand today.

Everything moves quickly.

A new idea appears.

A new ingredient becomes popular.

A new phrase starts appearing everywhere.

A new routine is suddenly considered essential.

A new product becomes the answer to a problem we didn’t know we had.

And before long, everyone seems to be talking about the same thing.

It can be tempting to join the conversation simply because everyone else is there.

But I have always felt that there are some things a brand should be willing to move slowly about.

One of them is trust.

Because trends ask for attention.

Trust asks for time.

And if I have to choose between the two, I know which one I want Soumm to choose.

Trust.

Every time.

Popular is not the same as right

Something being popular does not necessarily make it meaningful.

It does not necessarily make it effective.

It does not necessarily make it appropriate for everyone.

And it certainly does not make it true.

This seems obvious when we say it aloud.

But it can be surprisingly difficult to remember when we are surrounded by constant information.

A claim can become familiar simply because we have seen it many times.

An ingredient can become desirable because everyone is talking about it.

A routine can feel necessary because it appears in thousands of videos.

A promise can begin to sound credible simply because it is repeated confidently.

That is why I think discernment matters.

Not skepticism for the sake of skepticism.

Not rejecting everything new.

Simply asking:

What do we actually know?

Where did this idea come from?

What evidence supports it?

What remains uncertain?

Who is this appropriate for?

And perhaps most importantly:

Do we need to say this at all?

I believe a trustworthy brand should be comfortable with all of those questions.

The temptation to move quickly

There will always be pressure to move faster.

To respond to what is trending.

To create what people are searching for.

To say something before someone else says it.

To make a bigger promise.

To use stronger language.

To turn curiosity into urgency.

Some of that may be useful.

But speed and wisdom are not the same thing.

Sometimes the responsible thing is to pause.

To research.

To ask another question.

To wait for better evidence.

To listen to someone who knows more.

To admit that the answer is not yet clear.

That may not be the most exciting approach.

But I think it is a more honest one.

Especially when we are speaking about people’s bodies, health, appearance and wellbeing.

The stakes are different when someone may make a decision based on what we say.

That is why truthfulness cannot be a marketing preference.

It has to be part of the foundation.

Advertising principles in major consumer-protection frameworks reflect the same basic idea: claims should be truthful and not misleading, and evidence should support claims where evidence is required. ()

For Soumm, I want that standard to be something we aspire to even beyond what regulations require.

Not because we have to.

Because we believe it is right.

Transparency is more than telling the truth

I think transparency is sometimes misunderstood.

It is not simply avoiding lies.

It is also avoiding the impression that something is more certain, more universal or more extraordinary than the evidence allows.

There is a difference between saying:

“This may help.”

and saying:

“This will change everything.”

There is a difference between:

“Traditionally, this has been used for…”

and:

“Science proves this works.”

There is a difference between:

“Some people experience…”

and:

“Everyone can expect…”

These differences may sound small.

They are not.

Language shapes expectations.

Expectations shape decisions.

And decisions affect real people.

So I want Soumm to be careful with language.

If something is well established, we should say so clearly.

If evidence is emerging, we should say that.

If evidence is limited, we should not dress uncertainty up as certainty.

If something comes from traditional knowledge, we should honour its origins without automatically presenting tradition as clinical proof.

And if we do not know something, I want us to be comfortable saying:

We don’t know yet.

There is no shame in that.

In fact, I think it is one of the clearest signs that a brand respects its audience.

Authenticity is not a style

The word authenticity is used often.

Sometimes too often.

We see brands describing themselves as authentic, honest, transparent and human.

But I don’t think authenticity is something a brand can simply declare.

It has to appear in decisions.

What do you do when a trend does not fit your philosophy?

What do you say when a product has limitations?

Do you publish information that helps someone make a choice—even when that information might lead them away from your product?

Do you acknowledge when another approach may be more appropriate?

Do you correct something when you discover that you were wrong?

Do you show people enough information to make an informed decision?

These are quieter questions.

But they are the ones that matter.

Authenticity is not a tone of voice.

It is a pattern of behaviour.

We will not confuse novelty with progress

There is a natural excitement around something new.

New ingredients.

New technologies.

New formulations.

New research.

New ideas.

And newness can be wonderful.

But new does not automatically mean better.

Sometimes an old idea deserves to be revisited.

Sometimes a simple practice is more appropriate than a complicated one.

Sometimes the most useful information is not the newest information.

And sometimes research changes what we thought we knew.

I want Soumm to leave room for all of this.

We should be curious about new ideas.

But curiosity should not require immediate belief.

We can explore without exaggerating.

We can be interested without being convinced.

We can learn without pretending that every new discovery has already become established knowledge.

That balance matters.

Because wellness should not be a race to discover the next miracle.

It should be a process of understanding what genuinely deserves our attention.

The quiet responsibility of a wellness brand

A wellness brand has a particular responsibility.

People often come to wellness because something matters to them.

Their hair.

Their skin.

Their health.

Their confidence.

Their family.

Their sense of wellbeing.

Sometimes they are simply curious.

Sometimes they are worried.

And when someone is worried, language becomes especially important.

Fear can make almost anything sound urgent.

“Fix this.”

“Stop this.”

“Don’t let this happen.”

“Your hair needs…”

“Your body is telling you…”

There is always a temptation to turn concern into a reason to buy.

I don’t want Soumm to do that.

I don’t want someone’s insecurity to become our marketing strategy.

I don’t want fear to be the beginning of a relationship.

I want understanding to be.

If someone comes to us with a question, I want them to leave with more clarity—even if the answer does not lead to a purchase.

That is what trust means to me.

Trust is built in the small decisions

People sometimes imagine trust as something created through one big gesture.

A beautiful campaign.

A famous person.

A powerful statement.

A large promise.

But I think trust is usually quieter.

It lives in hundreds of small decisions.

Whether the ingredient list is clear.

Whether the language is honest.

Whether a limitation is acknowledged.

Whether an image represents reality.

Whether a review is genuine.

Whether an endorsement is disclosed.

Whether a claim has evidence.

Whether a mistake is corrected.

Whether a customer is treated like a person rather than a conversion.

These things may not create headlines.

But they create memory.

And over time, those memories become reputation.

Current consumer research continues to show how important trust is in brand choice. Edelman’s 2026 global brand research reported that 88% of respondents considered trusting a brand an important or critical purchase criterion, roughly alongside quality and value. ()

I find that interesting.

But I don’t want Soumm to pursue trust because research tells us it is commercially valuable.

I want us to pursue it because it is the right foundation for a relationship.

The commercial value is a consequence.

Not the purpose.

We will sometimes be slower

This may be one of the consequences of choosing trust.

We may not always be first.

We may not respond to every trend.

We may take longer to make a claim because we want to understand the evidence.

We may choose simpler language when louder language would get more attention.

We may say less when there is not enough to say responsibly.

We may choose not to launch something simply because it is popular.

And there may be moments when that feels like a disadvantage.

I am willing to accept that.

Because I would rather Soumm be remembered as thoughtful than fast.

As careful rather than loud.

As honest rather than impressive.

As trustworthy rather than fashionable.

We will change when we learn

Choosing trust does not mean pretending we will always be right.

We won’t.

No person knows everything.

No brand knows everything.

Knowledge changes.

Evidence changes.

Understanding develops.

And sometimes the responsible thing is to change your mind.

I hope Soumm remains capable of doing that.

If we discover stronger evidence, we should follow it.

If we learn that something we believed was incomplete, we should say so.

If a better way exists, we should be willing to consider it.

Consistency should not mean stubbornness.

Integrity sometimes means changing direction.

I think there is something deeply reassuring about that.

A trustworthy relationship does not require perfection.

It requires honesty.

What I want trust to feel like

I don’t want trust to mean that you believe everything Soumm says.

That would not be the kind of trust I am looking for.

I want something better.

I want you to feel comfortable questioning us.

Reading the evidence.

Comparing perspectives.

Speaking to professionals when appropriate.

Taking your time.

Making your own decision.

If our knowledge helps you make a better decision—even when that decision is not to choose Soumm—I would still consider that a meaningful outcome.

Because the purpose of knowledge should be to give people agency.

Not to take it away.

That is the kind of relationship I hope we build.

Trends have a place

I don’t want to make trends sound like the enemy.

They are not.

Trends can introduce people to new ideas.

They can make useful information easier to discover.

They can create conversations.

They can bring attention to practices or ingredients worth exploring.

The problem begins when popularity becomes the measure of truth.

That is the line I want Soumm to remember.

We can observe trends.

We can learn from them.

We can even participate in them when they genuinely align with what we believe.

But we should never allow a trend to decide what we believe.

That responsibility belongs to evidence, experience, thoughtful judgement and time.

The promise I want to make

I don’t want to promise that Soumm will always know the answer.

I don’t want to promise that every decision we make will be perfect.

And I don’t want to promise that we will never make mistakes.

Those would be easy promises to write.

But they would not be honest.

Instead, I want to make a quieter promise.

That we will keep trying to deserve your trust.

That we will keep learning.

That we will question our assumptions.

That we will be careful with claims.

That we will respect your intelligence.

That we will not use fear to create urgency.

That we will not confuse popularity with truth.

And that when something is uncertain, we will try to say so.

Because trust is not something a brand earns once.

It is something a brand has to keep earning.

Years from now

I hope there are things about Soumm that have changed.

I hope we have learned more.

I hope our knowledge has become deeper.

I hope our understanding of wellness has expanded.

I hope our products, if we continue making them, become better.

I hope our conversations become richer.

But I hope there are also things that have not changed.

The willingness to listen.

The courage to say “we don’t know.”

The patience to research.

The discipline to avoid exaggerated claims.

The respect to let people decide for themselves.

And the belief that a relationship built slowly is worth more than attention gained quickly.

That is the kind of brand I want to build.

Not the brand that follows every wave.

The brand that knows which principles it wants to carry through every wave.

Because trends will always have somewhere to go.

They will arrive.

They will peak.

They will disappear.

Something else will take their place.

Trust is different.

It grows quietly.

And when it is cared for properly, it can last.

That is why we will always choose it.

Not because trust is fashionable.

Not because it is good marketing.

But because if Soumm is going to become part of someone’s life, I believe we owe them something more enduring than popularity.

We owe them honesty.

With warmth,

Supriya BhandaryFounder, Soumm

Key takeaways

• Popularity is not evidence of truth or effectiveness.
• Trust takes longer to build than attention, but can endure longer.
• Transparency includes communicating uncertainty, limitations and context.
• Authenticity is demonstrated through decisions rather than declared through branding.
• New ideas deserve curiosity, not automatic belief.
• Wellness communication carries a responsibility because people may make meaningful decisions based on it.
• Fear should never be used as a mechanism for creating urgency.
• Trust is built through many small acts of consistency and honesty.
• Changing one's mind in response to better evidence is a sign of integrity, not weakness.
• Soumm should earn trust rather than ask people to grant it.

A note on evidence

Hair responds to many things at once: sleep, nutrition, hormonal changes, scalp condition and stress among them. Published here for education only; individual concerns should be discussed with a qualified healthcare professional.