Cinnamon Brown based on Colchester High Street is in partnership with the prestigious and global Aveda group. Even for those not normally excited by hair salons and beauty spas, Aveda’s mission statement is impressive. It is the largest purchaser of certified organic ingredients in the beauty industry, with many schemes in place to improve the lives of the producers, its packaging uses 80-96% recycled materials and they have raised eleven million dollars for environmental and social causes to date through their Earth Month campaigns.

That’s an impressive track record for a company that still counts itself as one of the financial leaders of its field, and demonstrates beyond a doubt that caring for the environment and creating an economically successful company are not mutually exclusive concepts. But Aveda is a company that is far from complacent about what it has achieved, and is always striving to improve its relationship to the client, the quality of its service and its impact on the planet. As Greg Horton Lifestyle Business Development Manager for Aveda UK told us: “we are always adapting, whenever we find an ingredient that can be changed to something else because it might be more effective. It keeps it interesting. Every product that comes out has a story.”

The personal link between client and the salon has been at the heart of Aveda’s philosophy since it was founded by Horst Rechelbacher in 1978. Rechelbacher’s mother was a herbalist, so he grew up with a reverence for nature and its healing properties. He made his first shampoo out of cloves in his kitchen sink whilst living in Minneapolis and his product range grew from there. “He wanted to use something that was renewable, plant based and good for his clients,” Greg tells me.

In 1970, ill from over work after establishing a successful salon, Rechelbacher headed to Tibet and then India to study meditation. Shortly after that experience he established Aveda, naming it after Ayurveda, the traditional Hindu medical system on which the company’s spa treatments and unisex beauty products are based. “Ayurveda stands for the science of life in Hindu and is over 5000 years old. It’s meant to be a preventative rather than a corrective system. The idea is to keep your body well before it gets sick. There are the five different elements that make up your elemental nature. Once we know what element you are, the products used are specific to help put that element back into harmony.”

Cinnamon Brown also offers a diverse range of detoxifying and rejuvenating spa therapies with which to pamper their clients, giving them a significant edge over other establishments in the region. “Our massages are very popular,” says Helen and John Kissonerghis, owners of the salon, “with every spa service we offer an Aveda ritual during the consultation. Our clients are always amazed at how relaxed they have felt after our massages. Our service is second to none. Aveda really sets us apart from any other salon in East Anglia. And our staff give just as high quality service as the products.”

Words > Andrew Wensum