By Alyssa Reeder, Vanity Fair
The Bollati family in 1984.
Sometimes for entertainment (or maybe out of boredom), I force myself to answer difficult questions. Questions like: If you could read only one book for a year, what would it be? Or, if you could only use one hair-care line for the rest of your life, which would you choose? For the latter, my answer is simple: Davines____.
It’s an easy answer for two reasons. The first: The products are amazing. My hair feels healthier, fuller, and smoother—and every product smells like it fell straight from heaven. And the second: What the products stand for. This family-owned company has always been transparent about the natural ingredients they use and how they use them to benefit the world we live in. Since founding the company in Parma, Italy, in 1983, the Bollati family has put a huge emphasis on sustainability and environmental awareness. Lucky for their loyal clientele, they are a family of consistency.
Despite their incredible growth, now selling in more than 75 countries worldwide, the Bollati family has stayed true to their promise to produce quality products that are by all standards sustainable. They have been working with a number of nonprofit organizations on this mission, the first being the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation____, dedicated to planting fruitful trees and plants to alleviate world hunger, combat global warming, strengthen communities, and improve the surrounding air, soil, and water. Its programs strategically donate orchards where the harvest will best serve communities for generations. Also, once a year, in an effort to bolster giving and increase awareness, 10 percent of the proceeds from their carbon-neutral Zero Impact products (the Essential, SU, OI, and More Inside collections) are given directly to F.T.P.F. Fruit trees specifically harness oxygen to offset waste, offer a food source for locals, and can be a viable source of income through the sale of harvested fruit. Then, throughout the year, the Davines team heads to impoverished areas—the southwestern U.S., Brazil, Mozambique—to plant fruit trees and help share their support with the communities at large.
Mococa, Brazil (2012). Fruit Tree Planting Foundation executive director Cen Akin and Davines stylist and salon owner Chantal Girard with students of the the school in Mococa where a fruit-tree orchard was planted.
In Febuary, they are launching the new Essential Haircare line__,__ which reaffirms their original family-businesss commitment to environmental sustainability. For this new line, they have paired with the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity, joining its Presidia project. Slow Food Presidia technically and financially supports more than 10,000 small producers so that they can continue growing indigenous plants to support local agriculture. And as part of the LifeGate Zero Impact Project, the CO2 emissions generated by the production of each piece of Essential Haircare are offset by funding the creation and protection of forests in Madagascar.
Taking it one step further, Davines has incorporated one specific active ingredient from a Slow Food Presidium in each product. And the packaging has been manufactured using food-grade plastic, so that you can re-use them as containers or planters. Needless to say, their products are also manufactured using only energy from renewable sources.
As their mission states, “By creating ‘beauty’ we want to encourage people to take care of themselves, of the environment in which they live and work, and of the things they love.” It goes on to explain, "Our ideal of beauty works through practical and 'sustainable' efforts. For us, sustainability deals with the responsibility we owe to ourselves, the people with which we work, our customers, and the world in which we live and operate."
They have clearly made a huge effort to do their part for the environment, while still producing a product that we (I) can’t live without. While we hold our breath for the new line to launch, we're happy to indulge in the existing products. If you need a New Year's resolution for 2015, I have a suggestion: Try out Davines. Your hair and conscience will thank you.
New sustainable packaging of the best-sellers Love Shampoo, Conditioner, and Smoother.