Émilie recently opened her own hair salon, when she was only 22 years old. She decided to tell us regarding it via the orange Alert us button because her business is rather special: all the products there are natural and eco-responsible. She practices zero-waste there, in particular by recycling the cut hair of her clients to clean the Walloon waterways.
The hairdressing salon that Émilie opened, in Moxhe (a section of the municipality of Hannut, in the province of Liège), is out of the ordinary. From the height of her 22 years, the young woman created Natu’Racine, the first eco-responsible salon in the region. Everything has been thought out to minimize its impact on the planet, and to take care of its customers, thanks to totally natural products. Among its specificities: the recycling of hair to clean the oceans.
After a year of hairdressing at home, Émilie decided to launch her own hairdressing salon in early March 2022. “It started with the brand I’ve been using for a year. I had already been using these products in my internships for three years, and I fell totally in love with the brand.” she says. This brand that she loves so much wants to be totally natural, that’s what gave Émilie the idea to create Natu’Racine: “I said to myself that I was going to try to shoot the show entirely on it, because I realized that it did not exist at home“. Faced with this observation, the young hairdresser embarked on the adventure of entrepreneurship.
In her living room, Émilie insists on staying away from classic products: “We try to avoid anything that can damage the hair, we’re really going to focus on as much naturalness as possible.“In one month, the young woman realized that the demand is there, even in her village.”PDuring the confinement, people have started to take an interest in all that is essential“, she rejoices. Among her clients, she says she meets many profiles who come for different reasons: “Ladies who want to avoid anything chemical in their hair, those who come with their children and want to keep them away from all chemical fumes, or people who want to come back to the local“.
The hair has a really great feature
Hair to save the rivers
The specificity of the salon is not only found in the products used. Émilie tries to get as close as possible to “zero waste”, by using reusable products. Even the cut hair of its customers does not go to the trash thanks to its collaboration with the non-profit organization Hair Recycle. This association sends “hair bags” to participating salons, intended to be filled with “all hair, whether white, greasy or dry, everyone can go through it“. This hair is then recovered by the association.
Patrick Janssen, its manager, explains that “the hair has a really great particularity, it is lipophilic, that is to say that it absorbs fat and oils, moreover one kilo of hair can absorb 8 liters of oil“. Hair Recycle therefore uses them to make sausages “with geotextile sheaths, which allow liquids to pass on one side, but not on the other“. These sausages are then placed in waterways in Belgium, in order to wash them of hydrocarbons which would have been spilled there. “We are still contacted today by people who had their cellars flooded this summer, and that caused the oil to rise.“, says Patrick Janssen.
The idea is very popular with the young hairdresser, who pays a yearly subscription to be able to participate: “It’s really a big help with not-much. Paying for that or my trash, it’s the same thing, I just like doing it that way“. Even more, Emilie believes “that it should be compulsory in Belgium, because when you see the tons of hair that you throw away in hairdressing salons, it’s huge“.
I have no doubts regarding the desire of customers to move towards something better
A great success
The Hair Recycle project is still in its infancy and yet, it seems to be off to a very good start. The association works with nearly 400 hairdressers in Belgium, “each hairdresser provides us with 2kg of hair per month, i.e. one ton per month“says Patrick Janssen. The ASBL hopes, in the future, to convince even more hairdressers to take the step.
For its part, Émilie’s salon is doing very well, the clientele is there and supports the young hairdresser’s project, “it’s fun to think that even in small villages, it’s possible“. She hopes the future will be just as successful, and soon her living room will be full,”but I have no doubts regarding the desire of the clientele to move towards something better“.
