Vegan-certified shampoo and treatment “Relance” released

We can seriously consider cutting out plastic bottles that hold shampoos and treatment out of our lives. Of course, there are refill packages available at drug stores, but Tokyo-based company Lond thinks it might be time to take it a step further. The company has made the eco-friendly decision to sell their own environmentally-conscious, sustainable shampoo and treatment by weight at their salons.

The Lond company operates 29 hair salons both in and outside Japan. Their salons have won the Hot Pepper Beauty Award 5 years in a row, and they recently launched a new original brand in August called “Relance.” The name means “restart/resurrect” in French, chosen with the hope that people can reset their lives upon using their products and start life afresh the following day.

The product does not use animal raw materials and does not undergo animal experiments, contributing to reducing its environmental burden. 13 female beauticians, who were selected especially for the project, spent a year developing the product. Their efforts paid off, as the shampoo and treatment earned them a certification from the Vegan Society in the U.K.

So, what kind of ingredients does Relance contain? The product uses scarce plants grown in hot regions with excellent water retention. Moisturizing ingredients include Marula oil, prickly pear cactus oil, and glyceryl glucoside. Glycerin is an environmentally friendly RSPO-certified (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) raw material. In addition, the ingredients for hair care added in the treatment include hydrolyzed pea protein, shea butter, and tamarind gum. Moreover, the following commonly used animal raw materials were replaced by vegetable raw materials:

• Keratin protein → Hydrolyzed pea protein
  Silk protein → Pulquenetia borbilis seed oil
  Collagen protein → Glyceryl glucoside
  Honey → Maltitol

Relance is now available at their salons and official online store. Concerned about climate change and marine plastic waste, Lond is eager to reduce the number of shampoo and treatment bottles people use to cut CO2 emissions. Therefore, when making Relance, they created refill packages that use less oil. They ask for people to get into the habit of reusing their shampoo and treatment bottles. Furthermore, since June 2020, they have been experimenting by selling their original shampoo by weight at their salons. With the support of their customers and the response they have received on social media, by August 2021, Lond had managed to sell 152 liters of shampoo by weight. It estimates succeeding in reducing the use of 506 shampoo bottles.

This idea is another great way to live a more sustainable life. If everyone started using animal-free shampoos and treatment in recycled bottles, think about the positive impact on the environment. These kinds of innovations are essential if we want to protect this one planet we all live on.