Beauty entrepreneur Lucy Vincent is changing the way we interact with haircare with the launch of Perpetual, a waterless innovation which redefines sustainability and design. <\/p>\n
\n Armed with a paper bag full of cold-pressed juices and tonics, Lucy Vincent marched into Newmarket salon Stephen Marr with the kind of friendly
\n familiarity as someone who owned the place.\n <\/p>\n
She once did, having co-founded the salon in 1994 alongside Stephen Marr, with whom she shares two sons \u2013 Billy and Jonny. <\/p>\n
Five hair and skin clinics followed a while after, including beauty haven Lucy & The Powder Room occupying the upstairs space at Takapuna\u2019s The Department Store. <\/p>\n
The former hairstylist pivoted again in 2007, when she established multi-functional skin, body and hair care brand, Sans Ceuticals. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s clear that building brands that last is one of Lucy\u2019s many talents \u2013 and her latest venture is one that\u2019s sure to boast timeless appeal. <\/p>\n
As she moved towards the station where I was seated, I was reminded of all the times I\u2019d had the pleasure of interviewing her before. <\/p>\n
Our in-salon meeting was our second attempt at an interview, but a blow wave and a green juice made for a happy compromise. <\/p>\n
We were meeting to discuss Perpetual, the world\u2019s first waterless, 100% recycled, zero-waste hair range that fuses high-performance formulations with eco-conscious design. <\/p>\n
The brand\u2019s promise is simple: highly concentrated, refillable haircare in both powder and solid formats that tread lightly on the planet by utilising 100% recycled materials and generate zero waste. <\/p>\n
Sans Ceuticals founder, Lucy Vincent. Photo \/ Mara Sommer <\/p>\n
A hairdresser by trade with a passion for trichology, Lucy developed a haircare line that simplifies the self-selecting process by offering a two-step system that targets common concerns like hair breakage, colour fading but with a priority on scalp microbiome health. <\/p>\n
The pH-balanced formulations of the Hair Cleanser, a pH-calibrated cleanser, alongside the Hair Conditioner, a pure, concentrated conditioner, are designed to not disrupt the hair cuticle, with suite of nourishing ingredients geared towards boosting hair health and promoting a balanced scalp.<\/p>\n
A teaspoon-sized amount of the Hair Cleanser is all that\u2019s required \u2013 the biosphere technology can be activated with the water in the shower, simply smooth between palms to emulsify into a creamy milk to apply to hair. <\/p>\n
The Hair Conditioner (available in light or rich) highlights an advanced peptide technology which works in a similar away to bond-building hair treatments by relinking and rebonding the internal hair fibre, and can be smoothed directly onto mid-lengths and ends. <\/p>\n
\u201cPerpetual is the result of years of innovation, rethinking beauty from the ground up: no water, no waste, and no trade-offs,\u201d Lucy says. <\/p>\n
\u201cJust beautiful, highly functional, future-forward products designed to integrate seamlessly into everyday rituals.\u201d <\/p>\n
Sans Ceuticals current hair care offering includes its pH + Shine Corrector, but Lucy says all three can be used together in what she calls a \u201cuniversal trio\u201d \u2013 a robust haircare routine that suitable for all hair types. <\/p>\n
Comprised of the Hair Cleanser, a pH-calibrated cleanser, alongside the Hair Conditioner, a pure, concentrated conditioner, Perpetual redefines the realms of what\u2019s possible in haircare. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
Lucy\u2019s latest launch builds on the momentum Sans Ceuticals has amassed over the past two decades, gaining traction in both Aotearoa and driving multi-functional formulations on a world stage. <\/p>\n
Hers has always been a conscious approach to innovation, adding only what\u2019s necessary without cluttering up bathroom cupboards or necessitating fussy 10-step routines. <\/p>\n
One of the country\u2019s original pioneers of the slow beauty movement, Lucy\u2019s holistic focus has honed the vision for Sans Ceuticals and staying true to her North Star has seen the brand welcomed into the fold at retail juggernaut Mecca, as well as partner with day spas including Hana, or premium hotel connections like Hotel Britomart. <\/p>\n
Waterless beauty isn\u2019t new, but Lucy says the technology in this field has moved ahead in leaps and bounds in recent years. <\/p>\n
While the majority of beauty products contain between 70-90% water, Perpetual eschews water entirely, producing formulas that don\u2019t require preservatives for stability or drain the use of a global resource under stress. <\/p>\n
The challenge lay in developing packaging that could withstands the demands of keeping a powder dry and protected in a wet, moist environment – promising an elevated user experience that was more sophisticated than what came before. <\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to start with haircare because that\u2019s where I saw the opportunity in terms of formulation potential within that waterless space,\u201d Lucy says. <\/p>\n
More than this, she wanted to shift consumers\u2019 relationship with the products, creating an object of desire to be cherished and reused, time and time again. <\/p>\n
She credits Lindy Woodhead\u2019s War Paint: Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein – Their Lives, Their Time, Their Rivalry as sparking inspiration to want to shift the way consumer interact with a product. <\/p>\n
\u201cSince the 1950s, we\u2019ve been accustomed to purchasing a beauty product, using it and discarding it. When you actually look at the packaging and think: \u201dWow that\u2019s a really beautiful glass container, what has it taken to produce that?\u201c,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s so deeply ingrained in our mind to think there\u2019s no value in that piece once the product inside it is gone. I wanted to change all that.\u201d <\/p>\n
Her deep love of design motivated Lucy to create what she calls an \u201cobject you can cherish forever\u201d. It\u2019s for this reason that the canisters come empty in each kit \u2013 to promote the perception that its an object, not just a beauty project. <\/p>\n
Each canister is designed to shift consumer perception of beauty – positioning it as an object to cherish forever, rather than something to be discarded when the pot is empty. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
In pursuit of a circular beauty model, every Perpetual canister is made from waste \u2013 a mono material crafted from old bottles. <\/p>\n
\u201cMost people don\u2019t realise that a number of products don\u2019t get recycled because they have coatings on them or they contain mixed materials. If they can\u2019t be picked apart, they all get discarded in landfill,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n
To the untrained eye, each canister seems sculptural, a neutral-toned squircle (square-circle) with no obvious branding.<\/p>\n
Trickier still was nailing down the design of the Perpetual Hair Conditioner, a pure, solid concentrate which functions like a refillable deodorant. Earlier iterations were round, and one featured a plastic base plate and spindle hot melted inside. <\/p>\n
It was almost the final product until Lucy challenged one of the engineers working on the project to make it completely plastic-free. Three days later, he\u2019d done it. <\/p>\n
Both products require the user to stop and engage with the product, whether that\u2019s through dispensing the right amount of shampoo or refilling the conditioner solid. It\u2019s a direct reflection of the kind of value shift Lucy is driving in the beauty space. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are on autopilot with everything in a really tapped out, unconscious way. But when you have to pay attention, you become more present,\u201d Lucy says. <\/p>\n
\u201c[Applying Perpetual] is slightly meditative in a way, and it brings so much more value to how you perceive it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The entrepreneur says developing Perpetual was one of the hardest things she\u2019s ever done, calling the project \u201can exercise in sheer grit and determination.\u201d <\/p>\n
In a world where white labelling \u2013 or the process by which brands can \u201cbuy\u201d perceivably innovative products off the shelf and label it as their own \u2013 is rife, Lucy says there\u2019s a certain level of pride that comes with creating something no one knew was possible. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe had two problems. We had waterless products and particularly a powder that needed to exist in a wet, damp space, and then we needed to create packaging that would protect that and be really user-friendly and perform really well. So the two had to work together,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd every time you would refine one thing, then that would change the game for the other. Quite often we would meet dead-end road, after spending a good six months exploring that and putting money into that to realise that that\u2019s not going to work.\u201d <\/p>\n
The self-proclaimed optimist says it was her close friends that motivated her to keep pushing on. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to have this kind of insane optimism to keep the team pushing forward and seeing the vision,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n
\u201cIn steering that ship and then going down another potentially dead-end road, but each time you\u2019re making progress because you\u2019re gaining more knowledge.\u201d <\/p>\n
In time, Lucy aims for Perpetual to act as a blueprint of sorts for the industry to uncover better ways of producing haircare. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s plenty of space for lots of brands to be doing this. The more people that are interacting with these novel technologies, the better,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to change the way we think and interact with beauty. My dream would be for it become mainstream to have a system like this. For it to become the norm to have something you cherish and look after without discarding.\u201d <\/p>\n
That dream extends to user experience, too, and Lucy\u2019s hope for Perpetual is that consumers view haircare differently – treating it as an opportunity to slow down and be present. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not simply a functional act in the morning,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s a moment to be grateful and take care of yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perpetual is priced at $129 for a kit (canister and refill) and $79 for refills only. Available now exclusively from Sansceuticals.com. <\/p>\n
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