It's been a while since we last published a business update. We've been busy with several new initiatives and we're delighted to share 3 of them with you today 🙂.
Sweet treats on Fridays in our Kentish Town salon
Kentish town, watch this space! For the next few weeks, on Fridays, we'll treat you to delicious complimentary chouquettes, courtesy of Bluto London.
Chouquettes are a French specialty; they're chou pastry balls with sugar pearls on top. Bluto delivers fresh artisan bread and viennoiseries straight from the oven to your door in Kentish Town and around 🥐.
It's a good reason to book your next appointment right now, is it not? 😁
Salons waste 25%–40% of hair colour 🤯
So much waste across the industry is absolutely shocking and not sustainable. You may not be familiar with the details of hair colour mixing, so we'll give you a quick overview.
First, in order to get the exact colour you're after, stylists usually mix different colour pigments. With the developer, that's typically between 3 and 5 different components.
Colour bowls are often mixed based on the industry standard; the most common formula volume being 40g – 60g of colour.
Clients' formulas are recorded to ensure consistency. That's where it gets tricky though:
Some stylists break down their formulas in grams;
Others use ratios (1 to 1, 1 to 3 etc);
And some do a mix of both.
Now that we've laid out the scene, let's look into the reasons so much product ends up washing down the drain
First, stylists tend to be generous with their colour bowl to ensure that they don't have to remix during the process. They'll typically mix 40-60g of colour even if their client has thinner/shorter hair.
When they try to mix just the right amount of colour - which is our approach by the way- they face a challenge: they have to work out mentally or with their phone the right amount per pigment to get to the desired total colour mix weight.
Because it's very hard to assess exactly how much product will be required per client, a stylist trying to minimise product waste will inevitably have to remix once, twice, and even up to 3 times per client. It's painful for them: they lose time and they have to do the maths several more times.
Last, as explained earlier, because the way formulas are recorded isn't standardised, it can be very tricky to mix the right amount of colour - especially when it's not a stylist's usual client.
That's how salons end up wasting up to 40% of their colour. It's completely unacceptable. That's why, even though our stylists are trained to minimise waste, we've decided to take it one step further.
Thankfully, we have a solution 😁
We've just introduced a new software in our salons, which, paired with connected scales, will allow us to measure and reduce colour waste.
The system will do all the maths for our stylists, preventing any mixing mistakes and allowing them to remix quickly, accurately and effortlessly. The system also standardises the record keeping of colour formulas.
Besides, it has enough data, the software will come up with a personalised quantity suggestion, reducing the risk of mixing too much product.
We're delighted to be able to our bit for the planet - we only have one earth, let's take care of it 🌎
However, just like with any new technology, there is a learning curve. So please bear with us while we get fully comfortable with the system.
We can host your event!
We're constantly looking at ways to ease the growing costs pressure. We thought we'd give our community the option to let our salons when we're closed.
Whether you're hosting a yoga class, a party or any other events, you can host it in our Highbury salon on Mondays and in our Kentish Town salon on Mondays and Tuesdays 😃
We hope to see you soon.
Warm regards,
The Margaux Salon team