Feeling healthy from the inside out is one of our biggest goals at Retreat Yourself. We want to feel it from head to toe, and if we're starting from the top, we make sure our haircare products are just as healthy as our skincare or even the food we eat.
Which is why we have loved treating our locks to the Hot Tresses Moisturising Rehab leave in conditioner found in our Spring Box.
It smells amazing and it means that healthy hair is as easy as applying a small amount to wet hair and you're done!
So we sat down with award-winning businesswoman and founder of Hot Tresses vegan haircare, Tamara Loehr, to answer five quick questions about ethical beauty, self-care without compromise and making time for things you love.
In the course of your career you’ve been an artist, musician, marketer and entrepreneur. How did you come to start a haircare company?
I’m not a hairdresser but I love to solve problems, particularly in wellness. I’ve learned that I can take my ‘toolkit’ of skills from one industry to another—as a newcomer I’m not limited to the way things have always been done, but I’m free to create new solutions.
As a career-focused, health conscious consumer myself I wanted a hair care product that didn’t exist. I wanted an organic product that provided a great finish even when air-dried and cut my styling time. Hot Tresses is the culmination of almost five years of research and development alongside a team of highly innovative female chemists and hairdressers.
What does self-care mean to you personally, and how does it inform the Hot Tresses ethos?
Often ‘self-care’ is sold as a way to take time out from your ‘real life’. Instead, my philosophy is to create a real life I love. I blend my family time into business trips and take on interesting work with friends I love and respect.
When it comes to the hard stuff, I am quick to say no or walk away from situations and people who don’t align to my values. Fail quickly and avoid anything toxic.
With this approach, I get to invest my time and passion in projects that I find fulfilling, making my work part of ‘me-time’. I consider work a journey to share with exceptional people. I love to get away, seek out OIL (once-in-a-lifetime) experiences and spend time by the ocean.
It’s therefore no surprise that Hot Tresses is designed to support a full life. It’s a moment of self-care that takes seconds, without the toxic stuff and leaves you looking polished all day.
It can take you from a hot yoga class to corporate meetings, to a midday beach trip, to after-work drinks. It’s looking after yourself without compromising the time you’d rather spend on better things.
Is Hot Tresses suitable for everyone?
Yes! Being free of harsh chemicals, it’s safe and easy to use on all kinds of hair at all stages of life. Our core range is suitable for all hair types, and we also recently extended the range to include the Indigo Babe treatment, specifically designed to reduce brassiness in blondes and silvers. The core range also comes in a travel size perfect for your gym bag, the beach or music festivals.
It’s important to start caring for our hair while we’re young and particularly as we age, but it’s not going to happen if the products don’t work in with your lifestyle. I’m a mum of two, I run multiple enterprises and I travel a lot for work.
The last thing I want to do is get up early to spend time on my hair! Hot Tresses is for anybody who wants to spend less time styling their hair and more time doing the things they love.
You’ve made a point of creating products that are not only effective, but ethically made. How does Hot Tresses align with your values?
I believe in creating ethical small businesses that improve our wellness, make our lives easier, are kind to the environment and entrench social responsibility. Hot Tresses was created to meet very high standards. It contains absolutely no long-chain silicones, animal derivatives, parabens, artificial colouring, harsh detergents, EDTA, triethanolamine, mineral oils, propylene glycol, sodium lauryl sulphate (SLES), sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS) or synthetic fragrances. It’s certified vegan and cruelty-free by PETA.
I’m also a passionate supporter of female enterprise, and I’m really proud of the fact that the entire Hot Tresses range was innovated by Australian women.
Consumers are often skeptical about the effectiveness of ‘natural’ beauty alternatives. What type of results does Hot Tresses deliver?
Hot Tresses was designed to bridge the gap between natural and professional hair care—I wanted to create something as organic as possible but without compromises on results. I wanted it to produce BETTER results than chemical- laced products, and I think it delivers!
People don’t believe the results they get just from washing and conditioning with our rehab shampoo and conditioner, finishing with the leave-in, and air-drying.
Just apply Hot Tresses leave-in, twist your hair into a bun and let it out to reveal soft waves when it’s dry. It dramatically cuts down frizz and reduces the necessity for heat styling, while giving you shinier, healthier hair. Your hair will start feeling smoother after only one wash.
We’ve already been given top ratings from leading beauty influencers, while being picked up by premium global outlets like Nordstrom and Hudson Bay. I love that we’re attracting people who wouldn’t normally buy organic or vegan based on our product’s efficacy alone.
If you would like to learn more about the Hot Tresses hair care range, head to their website for all the information:
https://www.hottress.es/