Yet again...it's been a while since we added to the blog (things are starting to get a tad busier at the shop now and the word is starting to spread around Perth) and we saw that we hadn't really gone into too much detail about the products.
There's been some mention of the OiOi Head Gear products, but...lets quickly explain what the rang is: We have Matte clay, Gum, Sea Salt Spray, Matte Dust, Tea Tree Shampoo and we're about to launch the OiOi Beard Gear range including oils, balm, butter, beard combs.
We've been asked a few times "why go through to trouble of creating your own product when you can just stock and sell an already established brand?"...and the simple answer is...we pride our selves on providing clients something different and better than they can find anywhere else! If we supply the same products as everywhere else what's the point? Not ALL products work with ALL hair types and styles!
Over the past few years the attitude gents have towards their hair and beards has changed dramatically, going from just grabbing the cheapest thing they find in the local super market etc to now taking an interest in the products them selves, what's in them, effects on scalp, hair loss, hair growth, and even down to the "shelf appeal" of the branding (what does this brand say about the individual who buys it etc) so for the past 2-3 years we've been compiling the research and knowledge of what ingredients and products are best for what hair types and styles, what imagery is both eye catching and appealing yet projects the right message and understanding of what the product is going to achieve.
Smell and look was important from the get go! The matte clay was one of the first to hit the range and we wanted a low scent firm hold but with out the usual need for mass amounts of shampoo to remove. The Gum was a lot of fun producing as the look and smell of it was reminiscent of the bubble gum Alex used to chew when he was a child and invoked a lot of nostalgia, but again...needed to be great all day hold, great smell and amazing look...but easily washed out at the end f the day with out the use of too much shampoo.
Dust was a challenge! Powder/dust has become incredibly popular over the past couple years with the rise in popularity of messy textured crops - and like the rest of our products we wanted to provide something that was a little different! "don't want to reinvent the wheel" but there's a huge variety of products on the market and we wanted to identify an aspect we could improve on...and that was the way the dust is applied! Most dust/powder products use a "salt shaker" approach to distributing on the hair...which is fine if your barber is applying the product for you...but doing it your self at home before a big night out, you tend too dump a load of powder in one place and then don't get the desired effect or end up using too much...so...we decided to add a pump action applicator to our dust! works just like a hairspray and evenly distributes the powder on your hair!
Sea Salt spray needed to be as natural as possible (all our products are vegan) but sea salts tend to leave the hair slightly sticky if too much is used. We really wanted to produce a product that goes back to what the sea salt spray is meant to achieve...the "day at the beach matte" feel, and again same as the dust we wanted to make sure the pump applicator worked in such a way that you got the perfect distribution of spray over your hair.
Tea Tree Shampoo...
This is a product developed from a necessity!!! As barbers we encounter and engage with a huge variety of gents using an even larger variety of products...some good...some not so good...but one thing we noticed, was almost ALL gents were using the wrong type of shampoo still and using far too much, washing far too frequently. Explaining that anything on TV that says "gives the look of healthy hair" isn't really that good! but...strangely...there isn't a huge range out there for mens shampoo, and unfortunately the best options for men are still...lets say...a little feminine looking in image! So instead of recommending the usual shampoos you can get from Boots/Superdrug etc...we thought why not actually produce a shampoo for fellas?! Something that smells good while in the shower, looks like it's for men and more importantly...looks after the scalp and hair!
We would go into a bit more detail about the upcoming range...the OiOi Beard Gear...but we're still in the final testing phase...so there will be another blog entry to cover all things beard!!!!