O&M have been pioneers of the clean colour movement for 15 years, with the founder Jose Bryce Smith launching her first range of colour in 2007 whilst managing her Paddington hair salon. We take a look at the evolution of the brand and their new Clean Liquid Colours, writes Cameron Pine.
Jose has always believed that hairdressers needed to be more aware of the long-term health effects of breathing in chemicals for up to ten hours a day in a salon. She was deeply concerned for their welfare and that of their clients. It’s proven that the forehead and scalp are 60 per cent more absorbent than the legs and arms, and Jose could see that absorbing chemicals such as ammonia and PPD could be potentially toxic to the body.
Using the slogan ‘hair colour is a health choice’, O&M is built on the mantra that, just like food, make up, skincare and cleaning products, it’s all part of a journey to create a cleaner living. For Jose the main thing was to create clean hair colour and hair products that performed at a salon professional level. It wasn’t a smooth or easy journey but O&M is now stocked in 17 countries and is fast growing its network, with over 200 products in the range that make clean air in salons a reality.
“During COVID we focused on the care and support of our community, we made sure they were ready to future proof their business, and in turn, saw a huge uptake of new customers making the choice to be cleaner in their businesses next chapter post- COVID,” said Jose.
O&M recently expanded their range to include Clean Liquids, which are ammonia, PPD and resorcinol free gel liquid colours that took several years to develop.
“We wanted high shine, gloss, performance with a clean formula, the smell had to be pleasant. Smell is really important to us, or lack of it, we don’t want hairdressers or their clients to breath in fumes. We have had amazing feedback since launch on the gloss and shine, it’s a great edition to CØR.COLOR, our permanent colour,” Jose said.
In January 2022, O&M launched the Clean Colour Academy, a place for the O&M tribe to learn. The CCA is an online platform created for apprentices, senior hairdressers and salon owners to learn from World Class Clean Colourists, Cutters, Stylists, Influencers, Salon Business Mentors and Wellness Coaches. O&M film new content every month with their clients in their custom-built studio at the O&M HQ in Redfern, Sydney.
“We love to work with our customers, they know O&M better than anyone and we want to share what they do and offer education to the whole salon, from the apprentice, to the senior to the salon owner,” said Jose. “We have come a long way since I started the business with Alex, my PA and former receptionist of our salon, in my kitchen. Our new HQ is exactly what the industry and our business needs and a dream come true. We now have 35 people in Australia and we employ 20 ex-salon owners and hairdressers.”
“From our Sales Director Matthew Kilty, Education Director Gary Prigge, Head of Digital Daniel Mostyn and US Technical Director Wayne Lewis, who was the original colourist in the first O&M salon, to our educators, business development managers and customer service team, we love to keep that industry knowledge close to our brand’s DNA,” she continued.
Environmental sustainability goes hand in hand with the clean products movement. All haircare is manufactured in Australia in the brand’s own solar powered factory. For the last few years the whole range has been transitioning into PCR (post-consumer recycled packaging) and with some of the O&M heroes such as Know Knott and Atonic already in PCR, the rest of the range will follow by the end of the year.
With that to come and the brand’s already Vegan and PETA cruelty free certification, as Jose says, “we are committed to the journey”. With sustainability at the core, O&M is a value led business centered on clean, kind haircare, with so much still to come.
For more information visit www.originalmineral.com.au
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