Posts Tagged ‘hale organic salon’

The Tribeca Citizen’s “Your Neighbor, the Entrepreneur: Grace Lee”

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Who’s answering these questions?

Grace Lee, CEO and Founder of Nine Naturals.

Elevator pitch?

Nine Naturals creates safe, 100% plant-based, high-performing haircare and skincare products for women during pregnancy and beyond. We want to help women look beautiful while ensuring a safe, healthy start for their children.

Grace-Lee

Intriguing! Tell us more.

The average woman uses 12 beauty products a day—a routine that exposes her to as many as 168 different ingredients! Some of these commonly found ingredients, like parabens and phthalates, can be absorbed into the bloodstream and have been associated with diseases and health concerns such as cancer, endocrine disruption and behavioral disorders. Pregnancy is the stage when babies are most vulnerable to environmental toxin exposure. Women should still be able to use luxurious beauty products without risking their health or the health of their new baby.

When was it founded? Where did the idea come from?

I started Nine Naturals in business school at the University of Chicago where I won the school’s business competition. I was originally inspired by my pregnant friends searching for safe beauty products to use. Many of the products that claimed to be natural still contained harmful ingredients, and many natural products simply didn’t perform well. The shampoos didn’t lather well and the body products didn’t do much for their skin. When I developed the line, I focused on using natural, pure ingredients but also maintaining a high standard for beauty and performance.

Why “Nine Naturals” (as a name)?

“Nine” for the nine months of pregnancy! And “Naturals” because we only use plant-based ingredients in our formulations.

Who else was involved?

I have an amazing team of people, including my business partner, Amanda, as well as a seasoned chemist and manufacturer in California, a Harvard-educated dermatologist, and a highly talented New York packaging designer. And of course, my family has been very involved—my husband and my 21-month-old daughter, Charlotte, help test all of the products before they go to market.

How big is Nine Naturals now?
We are a fast-growing beauty start-up with a direct-to-consumer distribution through our company’s e-commerce site. We have a beauty product lineup of six different products (shampoo, conditioner, deep conditioner, body wash, belly butter and body cream), with more to come soon—including a sunblock and lip balm! Thanks to strong celebrity referrals, great PR and high customer re-order rates, we’re barely able to keep up our production to meet demand for our products. (#humblebrag)

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Where is it headquartered?
Our office and showroom are at 189 Franklin. Come stop by! We love having people over to sample and buy products.

Does living in Tribeca inspire the company in any way?
I am inspired every day by all the fabulous pregnant women and moms in Tribeca. I want every woman to feel confident and beautiful during her pregnancy.

Any company hangouts around here?
Naturally, I am quite particular about the beauty spots I frequent. I love Hale Organic Salon. It’s the one salon where you can avoid the nauseating smell of chemicals! Joe, the owner and my stylist, and I have become close friends and work together on a number of projects between our two businesses. (And Hale sells Nine Naturals products!) Beyond beauty, my team can normally be found at Kaffe 1668 on Beach for business meetings or picking up late afternoon cookies at Locanda Verde —their chocolate chip peanut butter cookie is unreal.

Any testimonials from locals?
“I used the Nine Naturals shampoo and conditioner throughout my pregnancy and—as a blonde with a little help—plan to keep using it post-baby since it has all the nourishing ingredients I need for healthy hair, with none of the sulfates or nasty stuff that strips it.” —Carolyn Pressly-Ryan

“I have been using the Belly Butter since the start of my second pregnancy. After trying several other brands during my first pregnancy, this is the only product I’ll use from now on! My belly always feels moisturized and the smell is just right—not too strong and a really pleasant scent.” —Holly Stein

Organic Hairstylist, Joe Murray, talks about organic salons and dyeing your hair during pregnancy

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Joe Murray is a leading name in the all-natural haircare movement and the owner of Hale Organic Salon—a revolutionary salon that prides itself in using safer, natural products and maintains a “clean air” environment. Hale Organic Salon has been featured prominently in major magazines, including New York Magazine and InStyle.

A personal friend of Nine Naturals founder Grace (the two were recently featured together in a TV special about green haircare), Joe sat down with Grace for an in-depth discussion about haircare, coloring and more during pregnancy at his salon.

How long have you been a hairstylist and what led you down the path of focusing on natural and organic products?

I’ve been a hairstylist for 30 years. I have always had sensitivities to chemicals but they got worse as I got older. My ‘aha’ moment was over ten years ago when I was doing hair and makeup for two bridal parties in the same day. It was a rainy day out and so we were indoors with all the windows and doors shut. After a whole day of work working with hairspray in a confined space, I came down with a severe allergic reaction - I had a fever and felt nauseous. The symptoms didn’t go away until I went home and was able to wash all the product off of me. That’s when I decided I needed to look for a cleaner, healthier work environment.

What sets apart Hale Organic Salon from other traditional hair salons?

We have a clean air salon, meaning that we don’t use any products with ammonia. If we have to use aerosol hairspray, we have a separate room to contain airborne irritants. We also seek out the cleanest, most natural and organic hair products possible to use on our clients.

What are the biggest concerns that pregnant women have when they come to see you?

Pregnant women are concerned about the health of their unborn baby, but they also want to look good. They feel conflicted between their vanity and their baby and feel guilty that they are being a bad mom. Women don’t believe they have options, but I believe they can still have great results with safer products that won’t put their health or their babies’ health at risk.

Should women dye their hair during pregnancy?

If the dye comes in contact with the skin or scalp, that is where the risk of absorption of chemicals comes from. For women who highlight their hair, they should be able to continue to do so since the dye doesn’t touch their scalp. They might still be concerned with the air environment of the salon though where they can breathe in toxic fumes, which is why they should look for a clean air salon like Hale.

For women who want to do single process and dye all their hair, we make sure to get the color as close to the scalp as possible, without touching the scalp. This is a lot of work for a hairstylist but we are happy to do it to make sure our clients feel safe.

What is the biggest challenge for you in running a green salon?

Finding employees who share the same values and ideals.

What is your favorite Nine Naturals product?

The Nine Naturals Restorative Mandarin + Ginger Conditioner!

Nine Naturals products are currently for sale at Hale Organic Salon.

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The Glamorous Side of Science: Featuring our founder, Grace, and hairstylist, Joe Murray

Such an honor for Nine Naturals and our founder, Grace, to be featured with our favorite green hairstylist, Joe Murray of Hale - Organic Salon on CUNY TV about green haircare! Check out the segment!