Two enterprising mums have started their own line of affordable natural hair care after discovering the damage supermarket products can do to people’s tresses.
Renee Lee has quit her job in corporate marketing to go into business with her friend Jade Hart Everbluea natural luxury hair care line without the price tag.
Jade was on a fertility journey and through her research she discovered that some chemicals in shampoos and conditioners from many supermarkets contained hormone disrupting additives such as parabens.
Renee, on the other hand, told FEMAIL before Everblue that she had to wash her hair once every day to keep oil buildup at bay because of the generic brands she used.
The pair, both from New Zealand, spent 18 months trying and testing the formula which they believed would not only treat hair in the long term, but also be good for the body and the earth.
Moms Renee Lee (left) and Jade Hart (right) started their own natural hair care line after learning about the nasty chemicals found in supermarket brands
In June 2021, Everblue launched in Countdown, the New Zealand equivalent of Woolworths, and saw six months’ worth of stock disappear from shelves in just five weeks.
Renee said she always had oily hair, but never thought it could be the result of the big brand shampoos and conditioners she used.
“When we started, we were just regular customers who would just grab whatever brand was off the shelf and not really think about what was inside,” she said.
‘Jade has had a very personal journey trying to conceive, which has led her to become more aware of the ingredients in it.’
When Jade and Renee worked together, they started researching what was really in the hair care they were using and were shocked by what they discovered.
Renee quit her corporate marketing job to create Everblue with friend Jade Hart, a natural luxury hair care line without the price tag
‘We learned about things like silicone along the way. It’s in so many products. It coats your hair and makes it feel great afterwards, but the truth is it’s not really healthy for your hair,” Renee explained.
‘Many supermarket products are too harsh and strip your hair and scalp of their natural oils, causing them to overproduce – this means a lot more washing.’
They also found that parabens, found in many cosmetic products including hair care, can disrupt the normal function of hormone systems, which is a major concern for parents trying to conceive.
Parabens can be absorbed through the skin and interfere with the hormones in both the female and male reproductive systems.
With this in mind, the co-founders began working with chemists to formulate natural hair care products without the nasty chemicals at an affordable price.
Going into business was a daunting prospect for Renee, who had worked in corporate and marketing roles.
‘It was so nerve-wracking, especially as I was in my early thirties and had been given a very high position. My comfort was definitely there,” she said.
There were nervous moments and challenges in starting Everblue and Renee said she often thought they might not get their beloved brand off the ground
“You haven’t had to really think about your spending for a while and then have to look at every dollar that goes out and make sacrifices.”
There were more nervous moments and challenges during the process of getting Everblue to market, and Renee said she often thought they wouldn’t get their beloved brand off the ground.
The night before Renee and Jess were to send the final design details to the manufacturers to create the 80,000 bottles and labels, they suddenly changed their minds.
They felt the brand’s original name, Earthling and Co, was not a good fit and changed it to Everblue at the eleventh hour, before the trademark was approved.
“Sometimes it drives you crazy, but then you get this nagging feeling that it’s not quite right, and you think, ‘Am I brave enough to make that change now?'” she recalled.
“That’s why it’s great to have a few people in the company… because you want to have someone with those perspectives, who you can bounce ideas off of.”
‘We took a bit of a risk there, but it paid off. We love where the branding ended up and where the name ended up.”
The pair fought tooth and nail to get Everblue onto Countdown shelves.
Fortunately, customers responded quickly and Renee and Jade had to work overtime to meet the demand.
“I remember the first week of sales, we were 50 percent ahead of forecast and still rolling out to all stores and we thought, ‘Oh gosh, we’re going to have to accelerate this quickly,'” Renee said.
After using natural hair care products, Everblue now only washes her hair two to three times a week instead of daily because it takes much longer for oils to build up
‘Then we had to bring in a second bottle manufacturer, because we saw that we might not be able to make more in time. It’s a good problem to have, though.’
In addition to her business successes, Renee, who now has a three-month-old daughter, said Everblue has helped her and now mother-of-two Jade on their fertility journey.
Both she and Jade “took a little longer to get pregnant,” but they partly credit the switch from hormone-disrupting, paraben-heavy hair care to their own natural products for their eventual success.
“We sometimes joke that using Everblue can get you pregnant,” Renee laughed.
Renee also noticed a huge difference in her hair after making the switch, but she wasn’t convinced at first.
Everblue has just launched its hair care range in Australia and is available exclusively online at Coles. The supermarket giant sells one bottle of shampoo or conditioner every minute
“Since the natural products didn’t make my hair feel great right away, due to the lack of silicones, I just went back to what I was using before,” she said.
“But to understand that, no, I have to kind of commit to it and then seeing the change in my hair has just been a really cool journey to go on.”
She now only washes her hair two to three times a week instead of daily because the oil takes much longer to build up.
“It’s like anything: you go to the gym once, you eat something healthy once and there’s not going to be an immediate change,” she said.
“But we know in our minds that it’s really good for us in the long run, and that includes beauty products and hair products.”
Everblue has just launched its range of hair care products in Australia and is available exclusively online at Coles from $15.
Aussies also love Everblue, with one bottle of shampoo or conditioner sold every minute at the supermarket giant.
The range includes repair and hydration, volume and shine, anti-dandruff shampoos and conditioners, as well as an intensely hydrating hair mask.