6 minute read
O&M and the Clean Movement
O&M have been the pioneers of the Clean Colour Movement for over 15 years. Founded by Jose Bryce Smith in 2007, O&M is a is a value led business and Clean has always been at the heart of the brand. Passionate about sustainability and caring for the planet, the brand is dedicated to making a positive environmental impact through conscious engagement within the global hairdressing community.
Born out of the need of hairdressers, Jose Bryce Smith, felt that hair professionals didn’t understand the long-term health effects of putting chemicals on hair and their own hands and was positive there had to be a cleaner way to do it. Jose believed that hair colour would become a health choice like, food, make up, skincare and cleaning products and that led her on the journey of creating clean hair colour and hair products that performed at a salon professional level.
Jose Bryce Smith
The innovative founder challenged the artificial norms of hair colour and created the world’s first ammonia free hair colour in 2000, and in the 20 years since, continues to research new ways to reduce harsh chemicals in hair colour whilst still delivering exceptional results. Jose Bryce Smith says: “Health has been my no 1 value and I have always been a lover of life and I just believe that chemical overload is causing disease and haircare and hair colour is my small corner of the planet where I would like to make a difference.
“It’s been a long journey to get to where we are now and I can confidentially say that O&M is the clean alternative that performs as well and if not better than traditional ammonia colour, we tested it on hundreds and hundreds of heads, it took years and years to perfect the formula and there were a lot of challenges. In 2016 we launched CØR.color and that was our third generation, and the performance was so good, hairdressers were becoming more concerned with their health and that of their clients and the business exploded.” The brand is incredibly proud to have recently expanded their range to include Clean Liquids, their Ammonia, PPD and Resorcinol free gel liquid colour collection. JBS says: “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 breathe 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.”
As sustainability continues to evolve, so does O&M’s journey. Did you know 75% of all plastic produced has become waste? O&M did and have been working towards transitioning their whole range into PCR (post consumer recycled packaging). Some of the O&M heroes such as Know Knott and Atonic are already in PCR and the rest of the range will follow by the end of the year. In addition they are transitioning all professional colour to recycled aluminium tubes by the end of 2021. JBS says: “We are committed to the journey, we’ve done lots of small and big changes within our business. While the vast majority of O&M’s packaging is recyclable, we are now developing sustainable packaging across our range of products where possible. Additionally, while some of our products currently use Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) packaging, we aim to have new product packaged in FSC board. FSC forest management certification confirms that the forest is being managed in a way that preserves biological diversity and benefits the lives of local people and workers, while ensuring it sustains economic viability.
“We love Australia, it’s where we were born, O&M is manufactured in Australia in our own solar powered factory. We source all our native ingredients from our home soil. And will continue to support our beautiful country.
“Our O&M factor is 85% solar powered and within all of our workspaces, office and factory we eliminated single use plastics, we use who gives a crap! recycled toilet paper and we are incredibly careful in discerning the need to print emails and other collateral.
“Also, our eco towels and gloves are biodegradable and sold into salons to provide further protection while applying colour; and O&M also advocates salons partner with Sustainable Salons.
"Our core has been to provide a healthy, environmentally friendly product within a chemically driven world, we will continue to blaze a trail in the green beauty space. Health and wellness are at the heart of the O&M brand; and we see sustainability not so much as a challenge, as part of our evolution.” In addition to the brand’s sustainability efforts, O&M is cruelty free and PETA certified with 98% of the range being vegan. “At O&M we are free-from animal cruelty and with only good intentions towards all living beings.”
O&M’s mission is to be the global leader for clean professional colour and high performing kind haircare. In January 2022, they launched Clean Colour Academy, a place for the O&M tribe to learn. An online education portal created for apprentices, senior hairdressers and salon owners to learn from World Class Clean Colourists, Cutters, Stylists, Influencers, Salon Business Mentors & Wellness Coaches. O&M film new content every month with their champions, their customers, their techniques, and their creative genius in their custom built studio at the O&M HQ in Redfern, Sydney. Best of all, this incredible knowledge resource is FREE for all hair professionals.
O&M’s clean, kind and high performing luxury professional hair range is stocked in 17 countries and their commitment to evolving their sustainability journey continues.
You can find out more about O&M at: originalmineral.com.au.
Also, access to their Clean Colour Academy is FREE for hair professionals. Visit cleancolouracademy.com for more info.
