Vegan friendly hairdressers?

One of the things about being vegan, is that you often need to apply your principles to all sorts of aspects of your life, which only goes to show how much the exploitation of animals permeates throughout modern society. For example - hairdressing salons. A vegan needs to consider what products the salon may use on them. I would say your chances of finding one that exclusively uses vegan friendly products is pretty slim, so start with trying to find one that stocks and uses a line that is, and insist that is what you want them to use on you for shampooing, conditioning, bleaching, tinting etc. If worse comes to worse, and they hold nothing that is suitable for a vegan but you want to use their services (ie the hairdresser has an awesome cutting/tinting/ etc technique), ask them if you can bring your own products for them to use. I have had success with this in the past. Oh, and while you are at it, politely suggest that they consider stocking and using some vegan product ranges and why.

A little while ago, I went and had my hair done at Wildilocks. They have salons in Melbourne, Wellington NZ and in Perth. Infact, they started out in Perth! They do cuts, colours, and styling, as  you would expect, but they also offer dread extentions. Oh, and if you like your colours kinda wild, they have those too. I went for "Nuclear Red" by Special Effects whose products are also vegan friendly.

Here is a photo of me with my new 'Do'---->
Finding a complete vegan hair product line is pretty hard. Wildilocks uses  Everescents and some of their products DO contain animal ingredients such as beeswax, silk amino acids, lanolin & shellac, however, so  double check specific products. I emailed them, querying their vegan suitability and they sent me a document  with full ingredients lists of every product, plus a document from their supplier, for the silk amino acid ingredient they use. With this information, I can pick and choose what is suitable for me, call the salon when I make my appointment and make sure they have it in stock to when I come in for my appointment.
Wildilocks also use products from Margaret River Hemp Co. From their webiste: "Our Margaret River products are certified cruelty-free. All use
plant-derived ingredients and so are suitable for vegans, with the
exception of the lip balm and the shaving bar which both contain bees
wax." Again, pick and choose, accordingly.
Instant Rockstar is another line Wildilocks uses, which does not test its products on animals. I have not been able to ascertain if they use any animal ingredients or not, however. I tired looking on their website and contacting them, to no avail. So, it would be a case of peering at the physical bottles to work out the suitability of this brand, I am afraid.

All in all, some research and investigation is required if you want your hair salon appointment to be vegan friendly. How willing a salon is to accommodate you, is the key to it all. If they treat your queries as a 'nuisance', go elsewhere. I am confident you will be treated well, and have your vegan concerns respected at Wildilocks, as I have been in touch with the owner and she has been sympathetic to my needs and queries. Try them out!