Pome is a low-scent salon that uses unfragranced, natural cleaning products,  prefers essential-oil fragranced, plant-based styling products, uses non-ammonia colour and highlighter plus unfragranced colour, donated 1% of service prices in 2009 to protect BC’s natural habitats, offers bottle refills, recycles anything that can be, and advocates for plastic recycling …details below.

New products

1. A strengthening treatment for coloured and damaged hair made with organic Goji Berry, Argan oil and Rice Protein.

The manufacturer claims goji berries have more protein than wheat and that rice adds a thicker feeling and volume,and  argan oil softens the strands.  Free from: artificial colourants and fragrances, silicones, PEG’s, paraffin/mineral oils and parabens. $23

2. A hydrating treatment for thick, coarse, brittle and unruly hair, rich with the essence of Organic Aloe Vera, Native Olive Oil and Panthenol. This thick, creamy paste provides intense action enabling moisture to seep into the hair, softening brittle, dry hair and preventing frizz and flyaway. Free from: artificial colourants and fragrances, silicones, PEG’s, paraffin/mineral oils and parabens. $23

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Thanks LouLou magazine!

The March 2009 issue named Pome on a list of 5 Canadian salons that “treat the planet with as much care as they do your hair.”

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Hair Products

Men’s Styling Paste: unfragranced/ undyed/ free of pvp, petroleum and silicone/ ingredients may include tapioca, hemp seed oil, beeswax

Irritated scalps: fragrance-free shampoo with chamomile and salicylic acid to soothe and exfoliate/ no sodium lauryl sulphate/ no paraben/ no dye

Dry/damaged hair: ultra-rich, foaming, sulphate-free shampoo with vegan protein and without dye or DEA, lots of plant extracts. Only one has paraben. The rest don’t.

Split ends: prevent, repair or mask split ends with two strengths of Phyto’s  botanical hydrating cream made with plant extracts and a minimum of synthetics.

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you+me=1% for Earth

Together, you and I donated 1% of the price of your hair services in 2009 to The Land Conservancy -a non-profit, charitable Land Trust that buys land, through fundraising, to protect natural habitats throughout B.C.. I donated to preserve 27-acres of farm/forest/ponds close to downtown Victoria. This unique spot in the city includes a  farm that provides 170, 000 lbs of food a year, 13 acres of forest (3 of which are of Garry Oaks), and wildlife ponds.

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Recycling Advocate

All my products are brought to the salon without delivery trucks. I pick-up my stock using sustainable transportation and also carry a product line made in Vancouver. If packaging is not recyclable, I’ve urged the companies to change their ways.

1. A local company was bottling plant-based hair products in non-recyclable plastic containers(!?), so I cancelled my first order in Spring 2008.

2. Schwarzkopf: They have one eco-conscious brand that they boast is in 100% recyclable packaging: another brand is not.

E-mail from April 2009:

Dear Shai,I have forwarded your e-mail to our international marketing department, as I believe it is important for the research and development team to know how important it is to our clients that our packaging being recyclable. You should know that our Canadian team is really putting pressure on them to develop eco-friendly packaging. We hope to see some changes in the future.

3. Shower filters: I asked a local manufacturer if their filters are recyclable. I meant, do they take them back and break down the parts for recycling but they misunderstood.

“Hi Shai, We put them into the recycle box and never hear that’s a problem.” -April, 2009

Whoops, that’s irresponsible advice. I replied: “I checked with the Recycling Council of BC’s hotline  and they said that shower filters are not allowed in blue boxes.”

The company did not reply back.