Nadine Dilong With organic food, sustainable clothing, and environmentally friendly lifestyles on the rise, it’s not surprising clients want to go all natural when it comes to their skincare regime, too.
While flashy marketing and over-the-top promises may have lured people into your salon a decade ago, today’s clientele isn’t quite as naïve. They’re knowledgeable about what they consume and what they put on their skin.
Someone who can attest to this trend is Natalie Sellars, owner of Kindred Toxin Free Facials, who made a life- and business-changing decision five years ago when she went toxin free.
After working as a skincare therapist for many years, Sellars was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, which “forced me to take a look at everything I was eating, putting on my skin and how I was living my life,” the beauty therapist says.
What followed was many nights spent researching ingredients and their effects on people’s health and wellbeing.
“It took me three years to become toxin free in my own life. When it came to deciding to create a toxin-free salon, I spent about a year testing and trialling many products to know that they would work. Even now I’ll spend at least three months testing a product on myself before introducing it to our rituals and our clients in the salon.”
Since banning ingredients like parabens and fragrances, which are known to cause allergic reactions for some and can often increase skin’s sensitivity, Sellars sees happy clients who book in for more treatments every day.
“I see a lot of clients who are at their wit’s end with their skin – whether it be acne or sensitivity – and together we’ve been able to bring it back to life with gentle care and nourishment – without any chemicals or nasties.”
However, going completely toxin free doesn’t come without its challenges. As there are no preservatives used in any of her products, Sellars had to change the way she orders and keeps stock.
“The shelf life of natural products is similar to some food items as the ingredients are that natural and they don’t have the preservatives of other mainstream skincare products. We have to order every two to three weeks and in smaller quantities than mainstream salons to ensure the products on shelf are the freshest.”
But it’s all worth it as the results of her facials and skincare rival any of the big brands, the beauty therapist explains.
“There are no cheap fillers in any of the ranges we use in the salon and the brands we work with have some incredibly powerful and potent ingredients like Vitamin E, C, A and B3 which are amazing for our skin. Our ethos is about supporting the skin’s integrity rather than peeling it away or constantly drying it out. This only serves to weaken the skin and that’s when you will see issues occurring. All the work we do is about getting a client’s skin operating at its best and nourishing it with the best ingredients.”
