This Business of Aging and My Quest for a Cruelty Free Hair Salon

This search made me a little apprehensive.  It was the very first time in my life I had considered going to a cruelty free salon.  It never dawned on me before.  

After salon visit

I sort of welcome the transition from the Spring years of life into my Summer season.  By sort of I mean, I had a meltdown turning thirty, but now a ripe old turrteetree I'm excited to embrace societal norms and settle into married life, put roots down, get a mortgage and have children.. alright steady on.. not that excited... yet.  Lets just pause at mortgage for the time being.    

The inevitability of aging, lets get physical.   

After salon visit

I am horrified and I mean aghast at the physical changes I have to contend with on a daily basis.  I saw a picture of my 23 year old self last week and as Cher so melodically put it "if I could turn back Tii - imme".  Youth is wasted on the young for sure, staring at that photograph I appreciate now what I really didn't then.  Don't get me wrong I am absolutely grateful every day for my health but I'd like this vessel that I travel around in daily to be just a Teeny. Bit. Shinier.  

You know how it is when you stand in front of the looking glass and you don't recognise everything reflected back at you.  You can't resist leaning in bit closer to further inspect every line, wrinkle and lumpy dimple.  Poems and tomes have been written about the age old discussion on aging.   




My husband and I have a "thing", we have forbidden the action of getting in and out of a chair or bending down to be accompanied by a groaning soundtrack.  Those noises sometimes sneak out, involuntarily, kind of croaky or farty and we all know nature is a force to be reckoned with.  I rise from said chair looking like I'm acting out the evolution of man and most of time I don't make it upright to the homo-sapien.  I'm stuck there in the missing link's position dragging my knuckles and my hairy feet due to a stiff hip and my crunchy knees.  

I am an active enough person and the Ultimate Ironman champ of scrolling endlessly through Instagram fit girl and bikini body befores and afters, all while eating an ice cream ruminating on the diet of tomorrow, yes I'll start (again) tomorrow.   I am proud to say I do walk the legs off myself every other day but that's for the mind more than the mass.  

My phone rang yesterday and it was "Ripley's Believe It or Not"; they have an

opening for the "bearded lady" and they heard I was out of work.  Not really, it was the "girl werewolf".  Incredulous I hung up.  Facial hair, my foe and an attribute of aging for many is another reminder of the inevitability of growing older.  This for me is a good enough segue back to my quest for a salon.    

I love getting my hair done so it was important to get this right.  As I'm now on this mission to be more animal friendly, cruelty free and eco conscious all rolled into one, I need a good new hair salon to cover up the grey.  

I was curious to find out the price of the services and my fabulously judgmental mind pictured a sort of hippie chick dying my hair with blueberries and charcoal smelling of cress and Nag Champa (incense).  Yes I'm fully aware at how ridiculous and unenlightened my mind actually is, but if you meet me I know you'll think I'm totes hil-air.

As I do with everything,  I Googled.  I sifted through the information on the PETA and The Leaping Bunny websites followed by a trusty "yelp" search of cruelty free salons in my area.  My nose is never out of my phone and right then it paid off.  The clouds parted, the heavens opened and all of the hippie angels rejoiced, there it was the Silhouette Hair Salon, Washington Blvd, Culver City.   

I trust Yelp and probably rely on it too much for everything.  With 4.5 stars, The Silhouette's reviews were all positive.  I dialled the number nervously.  As an aside, speaking on the phone living as a foreign national can be tricky, my beautiful Irish lilt can sound unintelligible to some.  I know, I know, I'm just as shocked as you!  

What occurred next was a very pleasant experience.  Understood by all and inexpensive to boot. I asked if they used cruelty free products and "yes" was the answer, alrighty I'm in!  I booked my appointment for a root coverup and some ombre for that Monday.  "You're open on Mondays?!".  Winner.

I have to shout out and salute this salon. I am very impressed with them, they are now my go to.  They carry and use among others Pureology and Kevin Murphy hair products (Kevin Murphy is an Irish sounding, Australian product and the Aussies are always reliable for an animal and environmentally friendly service). Pureology and Kevin Murphy all carry the cruelty free stamp of not testing on animals.  

The salon itself was really clean and nice and the staff friendly, chatty and welcoming.  

Lauren who coloured my hair explained that as this is my first time colouring grey roots with natural products I might be a little disappointed with the result as the colour may not be as strong as I'm used to.  Thankfully she needn't have worried.  The coverage was great.  The picture here on the left is of the grey roots after colour.  A before picture would have shown a white area but I'm far too vain to have taken one of those.  The colour she chose to cover the grey was perfect, she was excellent and the price was reasonable.  She told me she coloured my hair with Aveda and washed with Kevin Murphy shampoo and conditioner. 

Aveda is on the PETA website as being cruelty free.  This is a contentious claim as the parent company is Estée Lauder and they do test on animals.  As I am a newbie to all of this I am taking Aveda at face value.  In the end I bought the lovely smelling Kevin Murphy restorative conditioner (review coming up) which was very expensive in my book so I'll use tiny amounts as I go.   
If money wasn't an issue I would have bought the shampoo and serums, if for nothing but the smell alone.  It's a little pleasant party in your nose that will leave you sniffing at your own hair for hours.  I'm up for buying some on my next trip.  I was so inspired and convinced by Lauren and this whole experience that I booked my root touch up for 6 weeks time and I'll be sure to rub the little cruelty free bunny sticker on their door for good luck.   

If tempted go on give it a try.  Call up a salon and inquire about their products, asking if they use cruelty free products? (Paul Mitchell is another animal friendly brand that a lot of salons use-review coming up) .   

I'm converted to the cruelty free salon way and have the Silhouette Hair Salon, Washington Blvd, Culver City, CA to thank.

Animal Friendly Products mentioned above:

Aveda
Kevin Murphy
Paul Mitchell  
Pureology 

** Addition.  I thought Morroccan Oil was another animal friendly brand but I was very disappointed when I dug a little deeper into the brand.  They used to be a cruelty free, however they are no longer on the PETA website and are not listed on the Leaping Bunny site either. Upon researching their own website I found no evidence as to them not testing on animals so I'll stay away for now.

All content (writing and photographs) is my own and original unless otherwise stated. Copyright © 2015. Ruth S