Aveda was founded by Horst Rechelbacher in 1978. In 1970, Horst, on a trip to India, was introduced to the science of Ayurveda, and suddenly his vision for his company was born. Horst formulated the first product, a clove shampoo, in his kitchen sink. Today Aveda is part of Estée Lauder Companies Inc., based in New York. Rechelbacher sold Aveda to Estée Lauder Companies, Inc., in 1997 for $300 million, although Aveda continues to be run as a semi-autonomous entity. Upon selling the product to Estee Lauder Companies Inc., Horst also sold off the chain of salons to his successor, David Wagner. The salons formally known as Horst and Friends was renamed Juut Salonspa. In 2004, Aveda was awarded the prestigious Corporate Achievement Award at the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. Aveda was one of the first beauty companies to endorse a set of principles designed to encourage greater environmental responsibility in business, known as The Ceres Principles. While the company's website previously stated that "Aveda" is Sanskrit for "all knowledge". The website currently states on their about page, "A LIFE OF EXTRAORDINARY LEADERSHIP 1978 — Horst founds Aveda with the mission of creating holistic beauty through wellness; Aveda is “knowledge of the whole”" removing the Sanskrit connection. "Aveda" written phonetically as "अवेद", translates to "non-vedic" a term used by the ancient Indians originally to indicate the uncouth and incomprehensible speech of foreigners and then extended to their unfamiliar behavior, and also used as a derogatory term in the sense of "impure" and/or "inferior" people This word was commonly used for 'outer barbarians of whatever race or colour'
Business
Aveda sells natural and organic cosmetics. Aveda also offers certifications to some spas, and training to employees of its affiliated salons and spas. Aveda has a partnership with the Yawanawa tribe of the Amazon Basin as a source of annattopigment. Since 1995, Aveda has financed the construction of and training for a babassu processing facility, a soap-making facility, and a paper press for processing babassu fibers in the Amazon. Aveda does not test their products on animals, but rather on willing human participants.
Environment
Through a partnership with Aveda has helped fund wind turbines. Aveda claims that it purchases enough wind energy to power its primary manufacturing facility. The company "sends sustainability surveys to publications to help decide where to place its ads".
Controversy
Aveda was criticized for using the brand name "Indigenous" and subsequently discontinued the product line to demonstrate its support and respect for native people.
