Sans

Considering she works in an industry based on how you look (with all the shallow connotations that come with it), Lucy Marr has an entirely down to earth and natural ethos when it comes to appearance. She rarely wears makeup! You’d never see her with a helmut of hairspray. She sometimes lets her roots grow out. Long. Yet she runs a successful salon at the forefront of hairdressing in New Zealand, and a busy beauty therapy clinic upstairs from the Newmarket salon. Here is where she learnt more about the art of skincare.

Sans is a collection of pure, chemical-free and highly active products for body and hair that contain no chemical nasties and use sustainably harvested, natural and organic ingredients. The packaging reflects this with PETG non-leaching plastic that also protects the formulas from UV light.

I quickly caught up with her about it:

Did you start with hair products first and then added body? ‘I started off with body – from a science point of view, this is where I was interested. Then, after learning about ingredients and the structure of skin and hair, I started to see a lot of cross overs and set about creating an active hair care range’.

It’s hard to create products that are natural but that are also stable and have a decent shelf life, what preservatives does Sans have? ‘Sans products are made for a 12 month shelf life, with the Body Oil being an exception at 24 months. I don’t believe products should last forever on your shelf – same as the food in our cupboards. In our body care we use gluconolactone and sodium benzoate (naturally derived product of corn fermentation and widely used in the food industry). In our hair care we used phenoxyethanol (derived from sage oil). Stability of products is really important as they can become unsafe if there is a lot of microbial activity’.

There isn’t any mention [on the press release] of fragrances but I know these smell nice -what’s in them? ‘We have used natural fragrance and the key notes are Lemon Verbena and Vanilla in the body care range and Dry Bergamot in the hair collection’.

Do you have a favourite? ‘My favourite product is the Activator 7 Body Oil, it’s absolutely magic stuff, it hydrates, leaves no greasy residue and is really reparative and healing’.

What’s next? ‘Sleep! No seriously, I want to work on a ph neutral body wash. Something that repairs and maintains the skin acid mantle and smells absolutely divine!’

The range contains:

Baobab Body Cream – with Vitamin A, Omega 3,6,7 and 9, Vitamin E and baobab lipids. It sounds like something you’d put on your face, rather than your limbs but when you consider how quickly your hands and decolletage reveal the signs of aging, it makes sense to use a product that’s just as effectively as your face cream is.

Activator 7 Body Oil – Vitamin A works wonders for your skin so it’s good to see an oil version that contains that plus Omega 3, 6, 9 and Vitamin E. This oil is good for those with sun damaged skin or to minimise the appearance of scars and stretch marks.

Lip Aid – contains papaine proteolytic enzymes from papaya seed oil and rich carrot seed oil to rehydrate parched lips.

Fine Hair Wash – build and fatten the intercellular structure of hair fibre with this 100% sulfate free shampoo.

Fine Hair Hydrant – closes the follicles from using the Fine Hair Wash and makes hair fat, happy and healthy.

Normal Hair Wash – Sugar Cane and Green tea are powerful antioxidants – this won’t foam as it too is sulphate free. But it also won’t leach dye from your beloved colour either.

Normal Hair Hydrant – includes lipids and Vitamin A to help restore order to the scalp.

Nourish Hair Wash – Ceramides and Amino Acids hydrate and strengthen brittle damaged hair.

Nourish Hair Hydrant – Avocadin lipids and phyto – ceramides restore gloss and shine.

Nourishing Hair Hydrant Ultra+ – extra goodness for more bounce and shine. For seriously parched hair.