07 January 2022

7 eco-friendly brands for a greener salon | Salon Services

ECO friendly brands

Learn how your hair and beauty business can become more sustainable with these fantastic eco-friendly brands from Salon Services.

7 Eco-Friendly brands for a greener salon

With climate change becoming a major concern, it’s important for all of us to do our part in ensuring a more positive future for our planet. You might not be aware of it, but your hair and beauty business can help by taking steps to become more sustainable. One of the biggest ways is by using and retailing eco-friendly products.

Whether it’s through plastic-free packaging or sustainably sourced formulas, we’ve rounded up the eco-friendly hair and beauty brands that offer a kind haircare experience for your clients, and contribute to a greener planet.

1. Maria Nila

Maria Nila is not a typical hair care brand. As a family owned business, they control the whole process from product development and creating formulations in their laboratory, to product fulfilment and shipping. All products are based on a love for animals and are both 100% vegan and animal-friendly. Maria Nila's chemists carefully select the ingredients in each product, replacing animal based ingredients with plant-based. Maria Nila commits to minimising harm to our plant, donating 20% of profits to charity to make it easy for everyone to take a step in the right direction for a more sustainable and ethical world.

• CO2 compensation: Each year, the total amount of CO2 emissions from both packaging and operations is calculated and by the end of the year, Maria Nila climate compensates for an equal amount. Since 2016 to December 2022, they contributed to planting more than 280,000 m2 of forest in Nicaragua through Plan Vivo.

• Animal friendly: Maria Nila only develops 100% vegan products that can be registered with Vegan Society, PETA and Leaping Bunny. To further protect animals and biodiversity, their charity program ‘The Friendly Year’ gathers their community to raise awareness and funds for endangered species.

• Carbon neutral: Maria Nila proudly became a carbon neutral company in 2023 with 7191 tons of CO2 successfully offset from both direct and indirect emissions.

2. Paul Mitchell Clean Beauty

Paul Mitchell has pledged to be a sustainable brand since its start in 1980, and Clean Beauty is their latest innovation. Offering four unique ranges suited to different hair types, it uses a blend of naturally sourced and vegan ingredients to gently treat your client’s haircare issues. The other steps Paul Mitchell has taken to make Clean Beauty an eco-friendly range include:

• Packaging: Each Clean Beauty bottle is made out of 100% recyclable biodegradable packaging, featuring 90% ethically and sustainably sourced Green PE to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

• Formula: All four Clean Beauty ranges are formulated with their own unique organic botanical and lab-optimised ingredients that are gentle on the hair.

• Energy: Manufacturers use 100% clean energy from zero-emission sources.

3. Olaplex

Olaplex’s dedications go beyond creating a globally renowned (and vegan) bond building haircare system. They are also committed to creating eco-friendly hair products. Some of the achievements they have made in their efforts to be more sustainable include:

• Saving 27 million gallons of water in manufacturing to reduce environmental impact

• Saving 21,000 trees from being cut down by using recycled plastics in their packaging

• Preventing 17 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions by creating non-toxic and sulphate-free formulas

4. L’Oréal Professionnel Serie Expert

The L’Oréal Professionnel Serie Expert range offers more than luxurious haircare that rejuvenates specific hair types. A brand created by professionals and for professionals, its relaunch takes a green approach while offering the same top quality formulas your clients love. Helping haircare and the environment, the steps L’Oréal Professionnel have taken to make their iconic range eco-friendly include:

• Packaging: Made out of 95% recycled plastic, the new Serie Expert bottles guarantee less use of virgin plastic in manufacturing.

• Co2 neutral manufacturing: Reducing the amount of carbon emissions to zero and relying on more renewable energy sources in the main European factory.

• Saving water: Using an industrial water recyclable loop in the main European factory to reduce waste and minimise harm to wildlife.

5. Schwarzkopf Professional Igora Royal

When Schwarzkopf Professional redesigned the packaging for their bestselling Igora Royal hair colour, they knew less was more. Cutting no corners, the changes they took to contribute to a more sustainable planet make for massive changes in the long term, and all while featuring the same formula made by professionals for professionals.

• Tube: The tube that stores the range’s long-lasting hair colour is made out of 100% recycled aluminium and saves 350 tonnes of new aluminium each year.

• Folding Box: Made out of minimum 92% recycled paper and saves 80 tonnes of new paper each year.

• Tube Cap Made out of 100% recycled plastic and saves 340 tonnes of virgin plastic each year.

6. Redken

Redken is a globally renowned brand that offers the chemistry for healthy haircare. When their latest redesign launched, it came with a commitment to be more eco-friendly, but still offer a variety of ranges made for specific hair types from frizzy to colour treated.

• Packaging: The redesigned packaging offers more than a sleek appearance. Each bottle created is now made out of 93% recycled plastic.

• Cradle to Cradle certified: This verification ensures that each Redken product is manufactured safely and responsibly to protect the environment.

• Inclusivity: In Redken’s aims to be eco-friendly, they became more inclusive. Bringing in the Braille Institute, each Redken shampoo and conditioner bottle includes Braille symbols to accommodate the blind community.

7. Marvelash Bamboo Mascara Wands and Micro Applicators

Whether you’re treating your client’s lashes or brows, beauticians can make one small change to protect the environment by switching to the Marvelash Bamboo Mascara Wands and Micro Applicators. Suitable for a variety of treatments including lash removal and tint application, other benefits include:

• 100% plastic free: Applicators and mascara wands are made out of biodegradable bamboo that’s recyclable.

• Hygiene: Bamboo has antibacterial properties, ensuring no cross-contamination when applying mascara on lashes.

• Durable: Bamboo is a highly sturdy material that is more resistant to rotting, ensuring the applicators last longer after you’ve bought them.