With the increase of beauty trends flooding the internet, immersing ourselves in the beauty world has never been easier. However, the concern now is: Are these beauty products ethical and healthy for our bodies?

Even your favourite beauty companies may mask their ingredients list leading you to believe that their products are really as healthy and safe to use as marketed. It can be extremely difficult to find ethical hair products that actually moisturize our scalps and add life back to our luscious locks. We had the opportunity to speak with Sarah Hess, Founder of Preveú Hair, to learn about how her company changes the hair game through their effective hair products made with honest ingredients that nourish and protect one’s hair.

IBU: Hello Sarah, thank you for providing us the opportunity to feature Preveú Hair on our third edition of IBU Links! This month, we’re shifting our focus to ethical beauty. With that being said, what inspired you to start Preveú Hair?

Sarah Hess: We wanted ethical products, made in Canada that were designed for Salon use. We started to look closer at ingredients and a lot of our favourite products were not as clean as we had been led to believe. In 2019 my mom died after an almost five-year battle with cancer, and it caused us to really look at ingredients a lot more closely. Emotionally, it was a really hard time for me and as we grow we want to give back to women’s mental health initiatives.

The passing of Sarah’s mother pushed her to pay more attention to the products we put on our bodies. As a result, she took matters into her own hands by creating salon-quality products that are good for our health such as the Milk Balm and Hair Oil, which are all vegan, cruelty-free, paraben-free, and silicone-free.

‍

IBU: What is unique about Preveú Hair?

Sarah Hess: We really wanted to make sure we supported as many local and Canadian businesses that shared our values. When looking at a manufacturer, we looked for someone that really wanted to create clean products and got their ingredients from other reputable companies. In addition, all the vendors that we have used so far have also been women-owned or co-owned and operated.  It is clear that Sarah puts a lot of thought into choosing her suppliers to ensure the best ingredients go into her products, while showing her support towards the small business community.

IBU: Could you tell us more about the creative process?

‍Sarah Hess: We want a really feminine brand with women in mind from the packaging to the hair products. As a salon owner and hair stylist for almost 20 years I work with hair products everyday. We look at products that help our clients stay healthy as well as look and feel beautiful.

Sarah’s passion for creating ethical beauty products has driven her to give back to her clients by providing them with the best hair products and tips in her salon, Pretty & Co Salon in St. Catharines, Ontario. Not only does she help her clients feel beautiful on the inside, but also the outside.

IBU: What are the two main struggles you’ve encountered since starting Preveú Hair, and how did you overcome them?

Sarah Hess: We really want this to be an online brand. We have a hair salon to support the local sales but really have no experience in online sales and marketing. There is a lot of information online as well as tons of wonderful people that have been able to share their experiences with us. It’s been really incredible to see people buying our products from all over Canada and even some in the US. For example, some of our first orders came from Vancouver, Saskatoon, and Texas.

Another struggle was that sourcing some of our materials and vendors was really difficult. There was a lot of just leg work making lots of phone calls and emails until we found people and companies that we wanted to work with.

Tapping into digital marketing for the first time is often a struggle that many businesses do not acknowledge, so we’re glad to hear how Sarah took the initiative to educate herself on the social media marketing realm to put Preveú Hair’s name out there.

‍

IBU: Thank you, Sarah, for your time today; it’s been a pleasure learning about the story behind Preveú Hair. We admire how you are able to manage two businesses while still being able to make time for yourself. Last but not least, what do you hope to get out of being a part of the IBU Community?

Sarah Hess: I want to connect with like-minded people and business owners to help grow our businesses.

Our interview with Sarah opened our eyes to all the cruel beauty products out there on our local drugstores’ shelves and how we should be paying more attention to what we’re putting in our hair. With so many choices, it can be hard to find quality hair products suitable for many hair types, and Sarah fulfills this need with her salon-grade products.