All about: making more Conscious haircare choices

When I first started writing about beauty, finding natural products was near impossible, especially at a time when online shopping for green goodies wasn’t that easy and New Zealand was woefully under resourced. Since then, the genre has grown leaps and bounds, and that includes conscious, eco-friendly products for your hair.

One of the first brands that I fell in love with both for its philosophy and its effectiveness was Sans [ceuticals], which was founded by stylist and eco mama Lucy Vincent and is still made in New Zealand today. In French, sans means without, and all Sans [ceuticals] ingredients are pure and sustainable, with no harmful additives. Made fresh in small batches, their entire collection is 100 per cent naturally derived, using 100 per cent biodegradable ingredients
that come in 100 per cent recyclable packaging. They even use vegetable ink for all of their print materials, and on a purely aesthetic level, their goodies look luscious in your bathroom. Sans [ceuticals] products are also a holy grail for minimalists in that they are largely multi-use, meaning fewer items in your bathroom that are used more frequently. This reduces clutter and softens their environmental footprint, while also being kinder on the wallet. My favourites from their haircare offering are the beautiful Balancing Hair Wash and locks loving Nourishing Hair Hydratant Ultra +, a conditioner that really cares.

A name from farther afield that is above reproach when it comes to caring for the planet and its humans is Italian beauty brand, Davines. The environmentally conscious house offers a fantastic colour service in the form of A New Colour, which utilises the likes of melanin, carotenoids, Vitamin C, quartz powder and vegetable vaseline to provide velvety, intense, multifaceted results. Add to that maximum comfort for customers and full respect for the hair's structure and you have a seriously inspired product, and unlike many organic and natural colour systems in the past it can deliver some dramatic results. Lately I’ve been using their range of foolproof scalp and hair masks known as The Circle Chronicles (see, above). Each mask is unique and dedicated to a specific hair and/or scalp issue and you can even use them to “multi mask” according to where your hair is at on any given day. Formulated with a high percentage of natural ingredients such as clays, charcoal and seed oils, they are created using 100 per cent renewable energy sources and feel and smell incredible. Vegan, silicone-free and without parabens, they also contain no artificial colours – it is the natural-origin active ingredients that give each mask its own unique hue. They come in cute little packets that are single-use and highly portable, and the packaging is CO2 neutral, fighting climate change by offsetting 100 per cent of their carbon emissions through reforestation. My favourite is The Spotlight Circle, which delivers serious shine and is perfect if you’re preparing for a party or important event.

At Stephen Marr salon on Ponsonby Road they offer another, strong, conscious haircare brand in the form of Original + Mineral. The Australian-founded, but globally respected name created CØR.colour, which took their original ammonia-free colour offering and dialled things up. Way up. Designed for salons “dedicated to giving their clients and stylists the cleanest, healthiest colour experience”, it is gluten and soy-free so more people can safely experience a hair colour session without the itching and tingling, and has no animal-derived ingredients. Free of PPD and Resorcinol, CØR.colour is kind on people and also on the drains that its excess is washed down, which is a win-win for us - and the planet. The brand’s home care and styling products are also incredible, with my favourite being Surf Bomb Sea Salt Texture Spray, which delivers that effortlessly sexy, tousled look without drying out your hair.

Last up, I’d like to talk about Kindred Human + Earth (see, below), a salon with lots of soul that appeared gently on the local landscape earlier this year in the space originally known as Good One at 42 Douglas Street. Owner Cat Frost told me that when she first began thinking about the salon – the location of which took three years to find – she set out to create a “new salon model”, one that would nurture the soul and reduce the chemical load on clients and the environment. One of their main product offerings is the aforementioned Davines, a brand that Cat trusts implicitly. “You know they take the nurturing aspect very seriously,” she says, “and their products are leeching nothing from the earth.” 

Alongside salon services, Kindred also has a brow taming offering and beauty therapy, and is soon to begin yoga and meditation sessions developed with Auckland yoga identity, Yogamani Saraswati. Cat is passionate about caring for the whole human as opposed to just their hair, and key to this is her commitment to what she likes to call the “green glamour movement” that is driving consumers to question brands about their integrity. By the time this comes out Cat will be almost ready to open a café space adjacent to the salon, which will be called Next of Kin. Serving Allpress coffee and vegan treats, it is set to be a neighourhood favourite – much like the salon itself.