12th October 2026
Over the last few weeks I have been honoured to be involved in the judging process for two high profile award ceremonies, and I’ve also been in the presence of hundreds of hairdressers at an international congress. Something is happening, there is a distinct change in the air. Whilst judging the awards I started to notice brands that once dominated the category nominees entry portfolio were not there, instead companies that are truly supporting the salon industry were much more prevalent. As someone who strongly advocates #ProForPro this was very refreshing and encouraging to see. The International Congress I have just attended (blog to follow) was with Framesi, an Italian brand with 80+ years history in the professional hair care segment. The attendees, numbering in the thousands were there because they appreciate the ‘family’ vibe that the organisation bases their entire being around.
I spoke with quite a few of the attendees and everyone was saying the same thing, brands that decide to propagate into the mass market arena are not product ranges that they wish to have in their salons. Anyone who has ready any of the blogs I have written over the last two years will know that hearing this put a huge smile on my face.
Of course there are always people who will remain loyal to the company they chose many years ago; that loyalty is now misplaced as there is just one thing one the mind of those companies (who by the way know who they are) and that’s profit, huge profits gathered by any means possible, but mainly from selling professional products in non professional environments.
Corporate greed is understandable (I suppose), everyone want to earn more, but when companies decide they want to do it by capturing every single market in any way possible then something suffers, and ultimately in our world of hairdressing, it is salon retail sales that have been hit and hit badly. At this moment in time, salon clients can find ‘salon professional’ brand Christmas gift sets available on the high street where they can be easily dropped into their basket as they shop the 3 for 2 collections. other ‘salon professional’ ranges have 25% off, salons simply cannot compete with that.
And that’s why it’s so good to see, read and hear about salon owners making the choice to move away from the corporate greed and stock true SALON PROFESSIONAL products that are not available absolutely everywhere. The death knell is ringing, it might be faint but it it getting louder day by day.
If you want to know about brands that are here to support you, get in touch, there are companies out there who are 💯 here to help you grow your business.
#ProForPro #SalonProfessional #TheTideIsTurning
