As our world moves faster, we often forget to take care of the things that are truly important. We forget that we need to stop and smell the flowers, or better yet: stop to plant the flowers. The point of this article is not to lecture you on the rights and wrongs of climate change, or how you should totally uproot your life and make radical changes. It is instead to help you consider some smaller changes you could be making that have an impact on the world.
I would love to tell you that social and environmental responsibility issues change the way I think about everyday life but I would be lying. I make certain decisions based on sustainability, while when making other decisions these issues do not even cross my mind. I think that it is human nature to want to be good and help make changes. I make decisions like recycling and buying less food to minimize waste, and eating only locally sourced meats. Probably since these decisions are easy and inexpensive to adapt to. When buying beauty products like shampoo and hair dye I never stopped to think about: Why? Perhaps it is just too much of a change, or perhaps it is my lack of knowledge about sustainable brands.
After starting my new role as Education and Event Coordinator for Salon Centre I was impressed by three particular brands; Loma Hair Care, ColorProof, and Davines. I also learnt some concerning facts about the hair industry. Each day the hair industry creates 63,180lb of hair clippings, 42,122lb of hair colour, 109,512lb foils and colour tubes, 206,392lb paper and plastic. This totals 421,206 lb (211 tons) of waste generated by North American salons daily. Green Circle is fourth company I want to mention in this article. They are a superhero company that is attempting to combat this waste!
Loma is a brand that focuses on pure, organic and sustainable beauty products. The company’s founder David Hanen has been recognized for his innovation in the formulation of such products. The company’s focus is to source, formulate and manufacture all of their own products. Their mission statement and promise to consumers is:
“We promise quality and longevity, and our passion is in the process – we research and test each raw material to ensure they’re as clean as they claim to be. Our products are Paraben, Sodium Chloride, Gluten and Soy free, and have Sulfate-free cleansing. We are also vegan friendly. And, of course, we NEVER test on animals!”
What can you expect as a consumer? To see and smell the quality in the product, from its fresh, fruity fragrances chosen for their aromatherapy properties to the texture and longevity of the product. In addition, all of their packaging uses a minimum of 25% recycled plastics. Considering a switch? One whiff of their product and you will be a goner. Did I mention they also make candles!?
ColorProof is a brand that was designed to be carcinogen free when a close friend of the founders was diagnosed with cancer. They learnt very quickly that their newly formulated product was not only the first brand to be free of sulfates but was also great at preserving color! ColorProof focuses on making products using “all of the good, and none of the bad.” The products they make are Free of; gluten, sulfates, salt, phthalate, paraben, paba, mineral oil, keratin, and all known carcinogens. They also pride themselves on also being 100% vegan, and never tested on animals. After reading everything their products are free of you may be wondering what they are made out of. To repair your hair the brand uses vegan proteins derived from potatoes and soy. For preservatives they use coconut and palm, which provides a gentle cleansing and helps retain your colour. To protect your hair they have full UVA/UVB colour protection from sunflowers and corn. ColorProof has also just recently released another industry first. This fall they welcomed shampoo and conditioner that is completely fragrance free, and hypoallergenic. Supersheer was created to provide a haircare routine that was safe for people with allergies or sensitives to fragrance. This is the perfect product to use on every head!
Davines is another incredible brand. It was created by a family in Italy who wanted to explore sustainable hair care. In 2016 they became a certified B Corporation, or benefit corporation, after being recognized for its sustainable production. All of Davines’ products are sourced from and crafted in Parma, Italy, in the Davines Village. The village is said to be the physical incarnation of sustainable beauty. The initiatives are driven by the family’s unique eye for the harmony between science and nature.
With this brand you can expect unique smells, textures, and product. Davines can easily become a lifestyle instead of just a brand. Davines produces several hair care products from hair colours and dyes, a styling line, to shampoos and conditioners. Each line has an interesting quirk to it; for example, their essential hair care products support bio-diversity by each containing an active ingredient on the verge of extinction. All of their products use the highest percentage of biodegradable ingredients as possible. To offset their carbon footprint of the energy used in packaging their products they support reforestation projects around the world.
Davines has a long-standing history with Green Circle which helps to reduce the waste created by salons.Green Circle works with salons to help salons Make Beauty Beautify. They focus on four major components to help your salon: be green, building revenue, save money, and gain clients. They do this by offering a comprehensive recycling and repurposing program that ensures everything from hair to excess colour is diverted out of our landfills and
waterways. Recently Salon Centre has collaborated with Green Circle to help grow the number of waste free salons in our markets. All of our educations centres now feature the Green Circle recycling program as well!
Who would have thought that the bottle of shampoo that you reach for everyday can make such a big impact on the world we live in. If you are encouraged by this article to reduce your footprint and want to learn more, I have listed my sources below.
For more information on any of these brands or if you are interested in starting a relationship with Green Circle contact your salon representative, your local Salon Centre or email info@saloncentre.ca
Sources:
https://www.lomahaircare.com/About_Us/About_Us/Our_Story
https://us.davines.com/pages/lifestyleprojects
https://us.davines.com/pages/about
https://greencirclesalons.com/about/
https://www.colorproof.com/our-story
Written by Riley Morningstar
Education/Event Coordinator
204-786-0001 ext. 248
