Ten minutes with: ELEVEN Australia's Joey Scandizzo

A while ago I added ELEVEN Miracle Hair Treatment to my haircare arsenal and never looked back. It is quite simply a bloody great product, and everyone I’ve recommended it to has instantly fallen head over heels for its multitasking charms.

Proudly Australian made and owned, ELEVEN AUSTRALIA came into being when haircare distributor Ozdare collaborated with Creative Directors Joey Scandizzo - two time Australian Hairdresser of the Year - and Andrew O’Toole, a highly respected hair and fashion photographer in Australia and the UK, back in (you guessed it) 2011. Needless to say the trio tick all of the boxes when it comes to being experts in their fields, and their debut product was a winner. A leave-in treatment and styling product that boasts eleven key benefits for hair, it put the brand on the map from day one (and gave it its name) and has been a top seller ever since.

Early this month the legendary Scandizzo (pictured above) was invited to present the INDUSTRY 2013 finale show in Auckland, and I was lucky enough to sit down with him for a chat about the brand the following day at Stephen Marr’s beautiful Takapuna salon.

How long were you working on Miracle Hair Treatment before it launched onto the market?

Early in 2011 we came together and decided to work on a brand, so we started by looking at the marketplace and trying to find a gap, the perfect spot for us. From there it took almost a year to nail. We knew it was going to be our hero product and we wanted it to be perfect.

What was key to its mission statement from the beginning?

We knew that consumers wanted something that was no fuss, they no longer want to be dealing with five products every morning to get their hair looking the way they want it to. They wanted one.

Did you envisage that it was going to be the runaway hit that it was?

No way. It was insane. It was in something like 850 salons in Australia within the first eight or nine months. When knew it was a key product and that the only thing out there that was similar was the oil-based category, which was having problems with staining blonde hair and fine hair being weighed down. We went for a light cream that was easy to use and people just fell in love.

Does that early success put a lot of pressure on you to come up with the next wonder product, or products?

We actually have been working on sixteen other products over the past two years and they are almost ready to launch. So much work has gone into the range and it’s almost there - shampoos, conditioners, treatment and styling products…  definitely watch this space.

There are so many great haircare ranges coming out of Australia it seems, why do you think that is?

I have no idea! I guess we’re all so passionate about it and just want to go out and see what we can do. We wanted to develop an amazing product at an affordable price and I think we succeeded.

Hallelujah to that… and most definitely watch this space!