7 minute read
bhave Yourself
bhave™ was established in 2011, an Australian-owned family business with a brand that smells divine, delivers on promise and won’t cost the earth.
Initially developed by hairdresser Neil Cleminson and tested on the two frizzy-haired mops of co-owners Sheryl & Michelle, the ethos of the brand is that when your hair is healthy, styling is easy, your colour lasts longer, it feels better, it grows faster, is more manageable, stronger and more resistant to damage, frizz and flyaways.
Advertisement
“First and foremost we are hairdressers, formulators, designers, artists, parents and above all, a family,” says Neil. “Our entire company is family oriented and many of our staff have been with us since the inception of the brand.”
bhave™ started with Neil, Michelle and Sheryl working from Michelle’s house, slowly moving stock from a bedroom to the garage, and then to their own office/warehouse within 2 years. Neil educated salons and worked with formulators and the team started with a keratin smoothing treatment, two shampoos/conditioners and an argan oil.
THE TEAM
Having worked in the hairdressing industry for 31 years in 3 different continents, Neil Cleminson, the hairdresser/formulator, worked, trained and mentored under Akin Konizi, four-time winner of British Hairdresser of the Year, in the UK for 9 years. His strengths are in precision cutting and an in-depth ability and understanding of ingredients and actives to help him work together with formulators to bring these award-winning products to market.
Neil Cleminson
Michelle Noriskin, one of Neil’s best friends and guinea pigs, met Neil when he arrived in Australia in 2006. Michelle realised that she was on to a winning streak when she had her first blow-dry with Neil. “If anyone can handle my hair, they’re a magician!,” she says. Michelle is the numbers lady and book keeper in the business, also looking after international distributors.
Sheryl Cleminson and Michelle Noriskin
Sheryl Cleminson, Neil’s wife, another guinea pig and BFF of Michelle, works together with the companies designer, social media and marketing. Sheryl and Michelle also work together to source packaging etc.
“We know what frizzy feels like.” says Sheryl about herself and Michelle. “We are intimate with that frizzy feeling from the tips of our follicles to the hollows of our ventricles. So, it’s only natural that we would double as Neil’s guinea pigs.
We test all our own products to give us insights from the perspectives of both hairstylist and consumer. It gives us complete control over what goes into our products. Because we’d never put anything in your hair that we wouldn’t happily put in ours.”
And then there is Chad Noriskin, Michelle’s son, who looks after logistics in Australia and internationally and thankfully someone with a calm demeanour which has certianly helped in dealing with the COVID challenges!
“We are all on the same page in terms of our vision for the brand,” says Michelle. “We all carry our own strengths that don’t cross over. We have a mutual respect for one another and our abilities and are also human and have our differences, but we love and care for each other and move on very quickly. We’ve faced many challenges over the time we’ve worked together, and we can honestly say our relationship is stronger for it.”
And when it comes to work/life balance? “What’s that? Haha!” laughs Sheryl. “Michelle and I both enjoy working out (keeps us sane) and we do a lot of that together. We also have mutual friends and hang out together. We love our dogs (some would call it obsessed), going for walks and also both love working in the house/garden. Neil loves socialising with friends and is a big petrol head! He’s had a passion for cars since he was young and is now moving to a love of motor bikes too!”
THE PRODUCTS
The key products in the brand are:-
Keratin smoothing therapy - bhave™ originally launched with keratin smoothing therapies. Now, there are two different keratin smoothing therapies which address different hair needs/types and results.
bhave™ 360 colour – The 10-minute processing colour. The range consists of 71 intermixable colours with more to come. bhave™ 360 Colour is perfect for salon efficiency and ability to cover more services per day. Formulated with Prophyte™ plant-based keratin technology consisting of 18 amino acids which improves hair elasticity for stronger hair while delivering anti-aging and conditioning. Full grey coverage is achieved within a fraction of the time. A hybrid colour with as little as two minutes for toning.
LIFT & LOAD is a dual action lightening service that both lifts & deposits colour in one single application. Lift & load has the ability to lighten hair by up to 7 levels while removing previous tones and achieves excellent grey coverage too. Enriched with a blend of oils and keratin, hair is supported and protected during the process resulting in soft and shiny hair every time. Available in 6 colours and a clear with 3 new colours launching next year. Rescue Therapy – A truly unique product on the market. Rescue therapy’s main ingredient is bioactive keratin. This keratin technology is gently extracted from natural, renewable sources and provides varied solutions to enhance hair health. This bioactive keratin is an active ingredient that binds strongly to severely damaged hair, supporting the internal structure and restoring strength, condition, elasticity and shine. One bottle, many uses… 1. Intense repair treatment 2. Pre-colour treatment – helps create more natural, even, vibrant colours while repairing damage at the same time. 3. In-colour treatment – Mix with bleach, semis and tints to achieve overall shien and even tone while repairing at the same time. 4. Porostiy equaliser 5. Cuticle treatment
Bioactive keratin is extracted from Pure New Zealand wool and is a 100% natural material. The keratin is then extracted from the wool using environmentally sound proprietary processes and is the purest, most environmentally sustainable supply available. Farmed throughout the pristine countryside of New Zealand, the sheep grow a thick fleece of wool to protect themselves from the harsh winter. This wool is harvested during the Spring so that the sheep do not have a full fleece during the Summer. During Autumn the fleece grows back. The wool is harvested by shearing using electronic clippers. Following the shearing, the sheep return to the fields to continue grazing and raise their young.
In addition to the key products listed, bhave™ also boast a plethora of Award-wining salon exclusive retail.
THE SUPPORT
The bhave™ sales team and educators conduct one-on-one training with salons not to mention a library of eye-catching imagery, advertising and social content that our salons can draw on. Salons are also supported by helping to create and supply chosen bhave imagery for store windows as well as posters. “We share a lot of our salons work on our social media platforms and promote them and their work too,” says Sheryl.
THE FUTURE
As for the future, bhave™ have already expanded into many international territories and are investing a lot into larger markets. “We feel as these markets grow, we will be able to reinvest back into the brand and into our salons as one of our core brand values is supporting hairdressers by providing SALON-EXCLUSIVE products only. We also aim to have moved to be completely sustainable and for our packaging to be earth friendly within the next few years.” Says Neil. BOOST is the next NEW innovative product for this fun ‘family’. A direct dye which is a deeply restorative colour-enhancing treatment containing Prophyte™ plant-based keratin technology. Gentle on the hair structure ensuring vibrant intense and long-lasting colour and launching with 13 colours to start plus a clear tone to help create pastels.
Neil is constantly working on new, innovative products and one thing you can be sure of is that he always strives to fill a niche with all product development.
“We are so grateful to be part of such a creative, exciting, supportive, passionate group of people and industry,” says Sheryl. ”We are always learning and value feedback from our team, our salons and the end consumer. We are always striving to learn and improve and truly believe that if your team are happy, this in turn translates to your salons and their clients. We work hard, but don’t take ourselves too seriously. We laugh at ourselves and each other, but above all, we love working together building something exciting.”
