Colourist who care

It’s well known that beauty comes at a price, but, at the moment, it seems it’s also coming at a cost to our environment. Hair salons are sending more than 1.5 million kilograms of aluminium and colour tubes into landfill every year, a nasty statistic that was enough for hairdresser Haras Tarlinton to cut out waste and make a difference.

Is your hair salon part of the solution or part of the problem? It’s a question that many of us should ask ourselves the next time we head to the salon.

On average, women get a colour and cut every eight weeks. Every week, salons turn over more than 7500 foils, and that’s not including the colour tubes and chemicals, hair clippings and plastic that also go down the drain and into landfill. While a pamper is often well deserved, salons are one of the biggest industries that generate waste that is potentially costly and damaging to our environment.

It’s an industry that Haras Tarlinton loved, but she knew it needed to change.

“You see first hand the waste. Even your hands were sore from the chemicals on your skin, even when you were shampooing,” says Haras.

“I was interested in the products, where they come from and where they are made. Ten years ago, when it came out that big brands and companies, which we thought were safe, that they were testing on animals, I became super aware about cruelty-free products.”

It’s from this training that Haras moved from Toowoomba to the Sunshine Coast seven years ago, with nothing more than her suitcases, seeking out a seachange. Two years later, Haras opened up her own salon, Haras and Co. It’s a space that encourages limitless individual style, but, when you combine the team, their creative forces make them leaders in the hair industry.

While helping clients discover their true hair potential was fulfilling, it wasn’t enough for Haras. She wanted her team members’ attitudes and ethics to make a greater impact and have a greener focus. It wasn’t until Haras stumbled across Sustainable Salons on instagram that she knew it was right for her brand.

To read the complete story, pick up Profile Magazine today.