The Salon Movement

Moving Salons Forward Sustainably

Simple Ways to Keep Your Skills Fresh and New

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It’s all too common – mastering a skill only to get stuck in a rut after. However, the beauty industry is extremely competitive. To become the “go-to” salon or stylist in your area, you have to get and keep people talking and stand out from the crowd. In other words, stay out of that rut!

One of the best ways to keep your customers happy, and gain new clients is to keep your training up-to-date, offer the latest styles and services. When you show new techniques to your clients, you gain their trust and respect. In turn, they end up recommending you to others. Besides, when a new person comes in to request something, you want to make sure you know what they’re asking for, right?

Have we convinced you that ongoing training is super important? We hope so. And best of all, it doesn’t have to cost a lot of time or money. Here are a few easy tips to keep your skills fresh:

Follow Trade and Fashion Sites/Publications

This is the simplest, least expensive way to keep up with current trends and techniques. Popular fashion and beauty sites will show you what’s hot right now, and therefore what clients may be asking for.

Trade Shows and Conventions

Much like above, conventions and trade shows showcase the latest offerings of new products and techniques that you need to know. And PS – they’re also a great way to network and get your name out there, too.

Contact Your School

Most hairdressing and beauty schools will offer their alumni opportunities to upgrade every so often at a low – or sometimes NO – cost. These are typically evening events or online seminars. If you haven’t kept in touch, reach out to your school now.

Online Resources

The world of technology has made it so we can all have training right at our fingertips! As mentioned above, you can often find courses through beauty training schools, but even following stylists and beauty personalities you admire on social media or YouTube can help you pick up some important new tips and tricks.

But don’t forget to give back. If you’re an expert in something, let others in on the secret by sharing your training tips online. It will help you get your name out there, too.

In-Salon Training

Get your staff together for some ongoing training a few times a year. These evening or Saturday morning events can include skills workshops, new equipment demonstrations and social management skills. You can have your staff share their own new techniques with each other or bring in an expert.

This will not only create some comrade among your staff but keep everyone up-to-date.

Keep Up With Green Resources

If you can find a sustainable way to do your craft, that’s a step-up on most of your competition. In 2018, sustainable and organic products are becoming increasingly important to clients. Keep up with these services, and make sure you let your clients know exactly what you offer.

Remember: You are your brand so keep it fresh. People will notice!

ECOHEADS – Making Your Salon Efficient with Sustainable Products

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The Salon Movement has a passion for bringing you sustainable beauty ideas, and we love that the world is listening. We’re proud that The Movement is gaining popularity among salons and individuals, and we’re excited to see this continue into 2018. It’s our pleasure partnering with several sustainable beauty companies and brands to bring awareness to protecting our planet. And by doing that, it offers us a huge step towards making our salons more efficient.
 
We’d love to take this opportunity to introduce one of our awesome partners – ECOHEADS!
 
ECOHEADS is a fabulous company that truly cares about the environment and works to make the life of both clients and hairstylists easier. What a fabulous combination!
ECOHEADS is a relatively new company but with a LOT of thought and love behind it! Established in 2012 in Sydney, Australia, this company has taken the sustainable beauty world by storm. They’re changing things for the better with their amazing philosophy and products.
 
Some of the products we LOVE and highly recommend from ECOHEADS are:
 
Showerheads
 
We must start with the ECOHEADS showerhead – a truly innovative product! These amazing showerheads are a necessary addition to your sustainable spa as they reduce water usage by an amazing 65%, keeping both your finances and carbon footprint low. Water pressure is doubled, helping save water and a time by cutting your rinse time in half. Also, the added pressure allows your clients to experience an amazing massage type experience with their rinse. That’s a triple win in our books! As an added bonus the nozzle cradles nicely in the stylist’s hand to give a pleasant washing experience for everyone.
 
These showerheads are easy to install and will adapt to most sinks. If they don’t, not to worry, they only need an inexpensive hose instead.
Bang Face Shields
 
Another exciting must-have product for your salon is the ECOHEADS Bang Face Shields.
 
Use bang shields to protect your clients face against irritation from hair, product and colour. These inexpensive face shields are one of your best and easiest investments if you want to make everyone’s experience better.
 
And don’t worry about waste – these are 100% recyclable!
The Ping
 
Even sustainable dyes can be a bit on the smelly side so ECOHEADS offers The Ping to offer fume-free mixing of colour products!
 
Mixing hair colour perfectly every single time is The Ping’s speciality and will reduce colour waste in your salon. The colour mix comes out noticeably creamier and smoother than with traditional hand mixing methods. With The Ping, your stylist saves both time and energy. A detachable blade and smooth bowl offers cleaning that’s just as easy as cleaning the traditional bowl and spatula mixer.
 
We thank you ECOHEADS for thinking outside the box and offering us amazing earth-friendly products. Salons all across Canada and the U.S. are experiencing and loving the ease and sustainability of these products. Check them out today!

A Green-Inspired Holiday

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At a loss for what to buy friends and family over the holidays that they’ll cherish and won’t throw out after? We create so much trash around the holiday season from extra parties to gift wrapping and the unnecessary gifts themselves! Here at Salon Movement, we want consumers to vote with their dollar and also think about the kind of company and it’s ethics that they want to be supporting. Below is a small list of simple but thoughtful gifts that say “I care.”  

Abeego — In 2008, Toni Desrosiers decided to make a living, breathable food wrap that was entirely sustainable. This gave birth to Abeego!  You may have seen this incredible idea on Dragon’s Den or Buzzfeed but if you haven’t, it’s a food wrap made entirely of beeswax. You can reuse it, shape it, wash it and cut it to any size you need. These wraps are great stocking stuffers or part of a “green” centred gift.

Davines Products — As you know, we’re huge fans and supporters of Davines for a host of reasons. Ethical, sustainable and good for your body are just a few. Davines can be given as a whole gift or travel sizes can be popped into stockings too! With recyclable packaging and a large variety of hair and body care, there’s a little something for everyone.

An Outing — We don’t know about you but planning an event or outing with someone you want to give a gift to is even BETTER than a physical present. Going for a hike, paint night or an evening out on the town are all great ways to rekindle connection and create more memories. By planning and creating a special day or night with the one you care for shows how much you deeply care. Anyone can run to the store and grab a gift card but a unique event is much more thoughtful.

Jusu Body Products — Nothing says that you care about self-love more than gifting some beautiful non-toxic, organic body care products. Jusu Body is a line based out of Victoria, B.C. and they have a full range of amazing, pure, pulp-based lotions, scrubs, soaps and face care, too! Two of our personal favourites are the body lotions scented with essential oils and with no chemical fillers and the lip balms which are super creamy and nourishing.

We want you to have a “green” holiday and feel good about the purchases you’re making. This is not only going to force you to think about what you’re spending money on but also introduce new products to friends and family that may not be as familiar with the sustainable lifestyle! Happy Shopping!

What is Sustainably Beautiful?

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holding plant

You’ve probably heard of sustainability initiatives related to recycling, making eco friendly products, and being a more conscious consumer, but did you know beauty can be sustainable? Yes Sustainably Beautiful is a thing!

Let us first define what sustainably beautiful means to us. This is a new mindset that makes us think long term in product development. “It is actually a combination of imagination and science where we evaluate the long term environmental impact of whatever beauty product we are formulating. Before its production, during its production and its lifecycle once it is released in the environment, (source).” There are 4 large aspects that go into making a product sustainable and all have to be taken into account when formulating and distributing new products.
• ethical sourcing of natural raw materials
• cosmetic production (energy and water consumption, waste management)
• packaging (compostable, biodegradable, recyclable)
• biodegradability of the finished product

greenery

These 4 pillars are merely a framework to begin to define sustainable products. Many companies are able to quickly implement one or two but usually larger companies struggle to maintain all four. It’s time we truly start to look at our beauty products as being just as important as the food we put into our bodies. We’ve long ago ditched the heavily processed, chemically laden food but are much slower to transition away from chemical based products. The green beauty market has changed dramatically from “the days of poorly pigmented ‘makeup’ products from your health food store, skincare that smells like a greenhouse, or ‘natural perfume’ of pure patchouli oil in a bottle, (source).” We now have beauty and hair products that are far superior for not only the planet we coincide with but for out bodies as well. Instead of harsh chemical products alternative ingredients are found in nature to get better results.

According to the SBN “Sustainability in the beauty industry has become a hot topic due to a rise in environmental awareness, new global standards, its profitability and consumer demand, (source).”

This movement is not only beneficial from a green perspective but also from a consumer and business standpoint. As a business looking to interest a growing conscious consumer market differentiating yourselves is essential in tapping into that consumer base. Being socially responsible is not only the right thing to do but also benefits business regardless of size. Consumers want to know that you as the business owner really care about the environment and that this care translates over to truly caring for them.

deisgnhousedavines

Here at the Salon Movement we embody “A unified grassroots movement of sustainability-conscious Davines stylists and salon owners who actively care and love our planet, culture, and craft.” We truly care and value the importance of education, marketing, environmentalism and retail in implementing green salons. “Loving, kind, considerate, cooperative, balanced, and connected are just a few adjectives to describe a Davines stylist and salon owner when it comes to their commitment to the eco-social organism.” We believe above all that we have a positive role to play into spreading sustainability values and educating others on the benefits of green beauty.