Marlborough Express - Weekend Express
Organic hairdresser a cut above
Once every two years, Marlborough gets together to celebrate those doing their bit – big or small – to help the environment. Ahead of the Marlborough Environment Awards, Maia Hart visits some finalists.
Second up is Kalita Cresswell from Two Small Rooms Organic Hair Studio. ‘‘I wanted to use products that I agreed with and have my own niche market really.’’
Kalita Cresswell’s goal to have a sustainable, organic hairdressing studio goes as far as her using foils made of paper in order to avoid any single use tinfoil.
The owner of salon Two Small Rooms, in Blenheim, Cresswell said it was when she was living in London she saw petitions and learnt some ‘‘hideous’’ things that were done to animals when hair products were tested.
When she moved overseas, she decided not to do any hairdressing, only cutting and barbering, because of what she had learnt.
When she returned to Blenheim in 2012, she said she did not want to work for anyone in New
Zealand that used products tested on animals or with chemicals.
‘‘I wanted to use products that I agreed with and have my own niche market really,’’ she said.
Cresswell said a lot of her clients were vegans or wanted to steer away from toxins or chemical use in their hair.
‘‘When I first thought about doing it, it took me a year from the training to decide, because I thought Blenheim would be a little too conservative to change over to it,’’ she said.
‘‘But when I did set up my salon it actually made more of an impact with clients than I thought, rather than just being another salon.
‘‘I didn’t think there were many vegans around, but all of these vegans came out of the woodwork and people who were really conscious about what they put on their skin.’’
She worked with Organic Colour Systems, which was a UK brand.
‘‘I’m just really passionate about the products and the whole ethos behind my business,’’ she said.
‘‘Everything is completely cruelty-free. I look into all of my products that I get to see if they meet the same ethos as me, and then everything I bring in to sell, I research it.
She said her approach to hairdressing was ‘‘holistic’’.
‘‘So if someone came in and their hair was blitzed or something like that, I wouldn’t colour it,’’ she said.
‘‘I would prescribe products to get their hair in the optimum condition for colouring.’’