The ethics of hair
Davines has been on the path of sustainability long before it became a trend. Now they are taking it not one, but several steps forward with its latest launch.
What would you say if we showed you a shampoo that is made with 95 per cent natural ingredients and comes in a recyclable bottle? You’d bite our hand off. Now, more than ever, we are looking for purer ways to look after our hair – a treat for us as well as for the planet. Davines entered the business of haircare with a sole goal to bring our routines closer to nature. It involves taking innovative formulations from the best of mother earth to give us dream results.
A Single Shampoo is their latest launch and has been in development for over four years. It’s the world’s first completely carbon neutral product with the bottle made from polyethelene derived from sugar cane – which weighs 48 per cent less than a traditional bottle to reduce shipping weight and decrease carbon emissions. Not only does it educate the consumers, it also encourages further transparency in the beauty industry. Breaking new ground in haircare, CEO Paolo Braguzzi explains the challenges of the Single Shampoo and how he hopes it will impact the industry.
The process took over four years of research and 262 formulas. Tell us about the biggest production challenges?
It has been a big challenge in many ways. We have faced a number of obstacles across these years, and we experienced failures that led us to question ourselves and sometimes to take new paths. Having to reconcile professional performance with maximum use of natural, traceable and highly biodegradable raw materials has been one of the main difficulties Research & Development has to deal with.
In particular, the major difficulties we faced and overcame were selecting 100 per cent natural surfactants that were also delicate to ensure pleasantness of the foam and cleaning efficacy. Not being able to use canonical conditioning agents, but having to look for new and alternative ingredients (of natural origin) to achieve the same performance in terms of combability and softness of the hair was a challenge. Keep in mind that for ‘100 per cent natural origin’ we mean that the ingredient and the molecule, do not contain any synthetically obtained part. Rather, the legislation most commonly applied throughout the world of cosmetics and trichology defines as ‘ingredients of natural origin’ substances that may be partly synthetic, as long as at least 50 per cent of the molecular structure is of a natural origin.
Will this launch set a new standard in the haircare industry?
Davines’ intention has been to improve even more by creating a product that can set new sustainability standards within the haircare industry. We hope that it is going to generate great business opportunities around matters of sustainability and transparency, while raising awareness and commitment on these topics, and transmitting our own core values.
Talk us through the key active ingredients and why they were chosen?
A quinoa-based conditioning agent offers hair softness, shine and great combability. Multifunctional carbohydrate provides hydration and moisture to the hair; while surfactant derived from olive oil is produced specifically for Davines. This is partly made up of olive oil from Olivo Quercetano Slow Food Presidium, in support of biodiversity. Fermented surfactants with amino acids derived from corn are environmentally friendly and sustainable, providing optimal performance on the hair, mild, soft and with good cleansing power. The main notes of lavender and rosemary have a 100 per cent natural fragrance made up of natural essential oils.
Do you think that today’s beauty industry is doing enough to respect nature and the environment?
Today, many companies carry out projects in favour of the environment and discuss sustainability. We started this path many years ago, when sustainability was not yet a hot topic like it is now. It has always been in the company’s DNA and is part of the systemic development of all our products and projects from research to implementation. Another aspect to consider is that sustainability is never a goal – rather it is a path to continuous improvement. This pushes us and other companies to find innovative and alternative solutions that go beyond just minimising our impact to creating a positive impact on the planet.
It sounds like A Single Shampoo addresses many of these concerns. What hair type can benefit the most from it?
A Single Shampoo is a gentle shampoo for daily cleansing for all hair types. Its formula guarantees hydration and elasticity by combining satisfying cleansing and conditioning power, while maintaining the quality and performance of a professional product. A Single Shampoo was created to be a shampoo that can be used by everyone. It carries with it a message of care for humanity and it embodies our core values of sustainability in an effort to have a far and wide reach to everyone.
What else can we expect from Davines in the next five years?
As a brand, we will continue our journey to create a positive impact on people and the planet, using our products as an opportunity to convey our values and beliefs, striving every day to create something ‘good and beautiful’. We want to continue to be consistent with our mission and vision to drive us to be the best ‘for’ the world and not ‘in’ the world. We want to be seen as creators of a good way of living for all our stakeholders through our values of beauty, ethics and sustainability.
A Single Shampoo is available now at select stores and eideal.com
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