revolution

I

t’s not just the current climate that everyone’s talking about right now, it’s also the state of our

environment. From campaigns urging us to decrease our carbon footprint, to statistics showing the terrifying rise of sea-levels and of course, stark alerts about global warming, the message is well and truly out there: eco is on the agenda, big time. Subsequently your clients will probably

care, or at least want to be more aware of the eco-status and natural benefits of the products you use, more than ever before. Some might even ask about how your business affects the local, and global, environment. But while we’ve all read and heard the

labels ‘organic’, ‘natural’ and ‘ecological’ bandied about, do you know what they actually mean and what they might mean for your salon? Salon Business is just as confused as some of you might be, which is why we’ve gone in-depth on everything eco.

ORGANIC

So, first things first, let’s dispel the myth of what an organic product actually is. You, and of course your clients, will have been inundated with numerous advertising campaigns with brands proclaiming that their products boast organic status, but while those brands’ products may well contain organic ingredients – to varying degrees – they are almost certainly not an actual organic product. HOB Salon’s haircare expert, Tracey

Snow, breaks it down: “I think that the issue of whether a

product is organic or not is a big point of confusion for many salons and their clients. Yes, lots of product ranges contain organic ingredients, but basically, if something were 100 percent organic then it would have a shelf-life – like milk – and would have to be kept in a fridge. And you don’t see many of those on the shop floor!” she says. Essentially, when products claim

to be organic it generally means that they contain a proportion of organic, and organically sourced, ingredients – however, how can you tell whether a range is made up of 95 or just five percent organic material? A good indicator is EcoCert; a private

Images courtesy of Aveda

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organisation founded in France that controls and certifies food and personal care products in over 95 countries.

In order to receive EcoCert certification,

a beauty product must meet the following standards: 95 percent of the product (including water) must be of natural origin, 95 percent of its plant materials must be certified organic, 10 percent of the entire formula must be certified organic and the product must be manufactured in a facility that meets EcoCert’s standards. So basically, if a range has been

Eco-certed that is about close as you can feasibly get to using an actual organic product in-salon. Unless you are considering taking tips from Cleopatra’s beauty regime…

NATURAL

Aveda, for example, is a brand that is fully Eco-certed. However, many other product ranges, which are largely made up of organic or natural ingredients and take environmental issues into account, do not have EcoCert status right across the board. This where you can draw a line

between what is an organic and what is a natural product. Matrix’s Biolage clearly defines itself as belonging to the natural camp, despite actually having an EcoCert product within its range. Matrix’s Head of UK and Ireland Marketing, Darragh O’Connor, explains why: “Biolage offers a unique,natural

approach to professional haircare that unites natural botanicals with modern technology to create gentle, high- performance formulas for healthy-looking hair and scalp. “As a brand dedicated to minimising

our environmental impact, we care not only about what is in our bottles but about the bottle itself. Since 2008 we have introduced 10 products with up to 25 percent post-consumer-recycled content (PCR) and in 2010 we are introducing new one litre bottles that contain up to 50 percent PCR content and use 15 percent less plastic and 96 percent of the products we sell globally do not use outer cartons.”

GREENWASHING

Most importantly, Biolage does not overclaim. Also known as greenwashing, overclaiming is a worrying trend amongst some manufacturers keen to cash in on the current consumer demand for ‘greener’ products, by over-claiming the ‘greenness’ of its own lines.