Sustainable Spotlight: R+Co BLEU Offers Consciously Created Luxury Hair Care
R+Co BLEU Collection
R+Co is an award-winning, forward-thinking hair brand known for its cult-favorite products, gorgeous packaging, and sophisticated fragrances. A popular choice of editorial and salon stylists, R+Co’s high performance products, are color-safe, heat protective, cruelty-free, and vegan.
At the end of 2020 R+Co launched a couture collection, R+Co BLEU, a fully sustainable luxury hair care line that features a range of clean, daily essentials for all hair types and textures. The collection is divided into four families of products to address different hair needs: Repair & Moisture, Volume, Essentials, and Color. Formulas are mindfully crafted and ethically sourced. We caught up with Tev Finger, Founder and CEO of Luxury Brand Partners, to learn more about R+Co BLEU and its eco-conscious approach to hair care.
Tev Finger, Founder and CEO of Luxury Brand Partners
When did R+Co BLEU launch and what is the philosophy behind the collection?
R+Co BLEU launched at the end of 2020. It is the couture collection from R+Co and is designed for the customer that doesn’t want to compromise. It combines the highest performance products with iconic design and industry leading sustainability. We are super proud of the packaging with features 100% PCR plastics in the bottles and jars, sustainable sugarcane resins in the tubes and 100% recycled paper in the boxes.
Do you have a favorite product from the collection and are there any signature products we should know about?
I think everyone should have DE LUXE REPARATIVE Shampoo and Conditioner in their shower. For one, it looks beautiful for those who are interior design inclined. Second, it smells incredible and sets the tone for the whole day. But most importantly, it is the best shampoo and conditioner out there. It transforms hair to its best self.
R+Co BLEU Reparative Shampoo and Conditioner
Can you share a little about the ingredients used in the products? Is R+Co BLEU a "cleaner" haircare collection?
R+Co BLEU is an extremely conscious brand when it comes to formulas. Each of the products is vegan, leaping bunny certified, and free of glutens, sulfates, sodium chloride, mineral oil, and petroleum. Each of the products in the line is also treatment based and focused on improving the health of the hair. From the shampoos to the hair sprays – each product contains the BLEU Molecule Complex designed to build strength and shine, the qualities that are most important for healthy, luxurious hair. Micro-encapsulated sugar molecules time release active ingredients to treat the surface of the hair and restore the cuticle to its virgin state.
What steps does R+Co BLEU take toward being sustainable?
Sustainability is a core tenet of the brand. Bottles and jars are made of 100% post-consumer recycled material, which use 88% less energy to produce, further lowering the company’s carbon footprint. Tubes are constructed from bioresin sugarcane plastic, which has been shown to biodegrade in 180 days in soil and 60 days in compost. Canisters are crafted from 100% aluminum. A recyclable resource, 75% of the aluminum ever produced in the United States is still in use today.
Cartons and secondary packaging are developed from 100% post-consumer recycled paper sourced from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified forests and feature soy-based inks.
Also, a beautiful sheet of seed-embedded paper is included with each product which, when planted, grows wildflowers.
Can you tell us about your partnership with One Tree Planted?
We are super proud to have partnered with One Tree Planted – an organization dedicated to global reforestation efforts. Together we are planting the R+Co BLEU Forest in Australia which will create a natural Koala habitat. We are also partnering on tree planting events in cities around the country to bring together stylists to get their hands in some soil. It was important to us to not only do something globally – but also locally.
[Images courtesy of R+Co]
Lizzy Sherman is an award-winning digital content writer/editor. She has been a featured guest speaker at Cal State University Northridge, Digital LA and The National Association of Audience Marketing Professionals. When she's not writing, Lizzy enjoys yoga and playing guitar. Follow her on Instagram: @zillizy