Died in Malibu, California

Paula Kent Meehan died on June 25, 2014, at her home in Malibu, California, at the age of 82. Her death was widely reported in beauty industry publications and mainstream media, including The Washington Post and American Salon, reflecting her enduring stature as a pioneer of the professional hair-care industry.

By the time of her death, Kent Meehan had long since sold Redken Laboratories (in 1993, to Cosmair/L'Oréal) but remained a celebrated figure for having built the company from a small startup into an internationally recognized brand still sold in salons worldwide. In her later decades she devoted significant energy and resources to philanthropy, funding scholarships, educational initiatives, and cultural institutions in the Malibu and greater Los Angeles area.

Tributes following her death emphasized her role as a trailblazing businesswoman who empowered hairdressers professionally and financially, and who demonstrated that a woman could found, lead, and successfully exit a major corporation in a male-dominated business landscape. Her passing marked the end of an era for the first generation of modern professional hair-care entrepreneurs.

She is remembered as "Mrs. Redken" — a nickname reflecting her deep and lasting identification with the brand she co-created and the lasting impact she had on beauty industry standards, ingredient science, and salon professionalism.