Body & beauty

Interview

This month, we caught up with Tabitha James Kraan who revealed what makes a healthy hair routine…

Ever since I first created the brand, I’ve always been on a mission to help everybody get out of the perpetual cycle of being stuck in overwashing your hair. A lot of us are now getting our heads around the fact that we don’t have to wash daily. Our bodies are so reactive to what we do to them externally, and shampoo can make such a difference – especially if you’re using a strong detergent-based one – the nature of that detergent then strips all traces of oil from your scalp, so your body will automatically put a lot of oil back. And for me, this is really unhealthy because that’s a lot of moisture that our bodies have to keep recreating – aside from the annoyance of having to wash our hair every day, we don’t really think about how dehydrating that it is for the body. It has a disruptive effect, because it’s doing things it doesn’t really need to do.

I’m not a fan of washing hair daily, but if you really have to, use a mild product – in an ideal world, once or twice a week is plenty. But, if you currently wash everyday, you can’t just make the automatic switch to a couple of times a week – you’d hate yourself and you’d hate your hair! I don’t believe anyone should just be tying their greasy hair up and surviving; there’s a process and you have to allow your body at least a month for every change you make. So if you start washing your hair twice a week, you need to allow a month of cell renewal before you start to see the benefits. The use of a natural shampoo is a great way to transition between washes. I have also developed a hair moisturiser, which you can use in the shower. I believe that just as we moisturise our face in the mornings, we should moisturise our hair at the same time, with an appropriate product, so that the hair stays happy. Your hair is like a natural sponge – that’s why in the summer you can get crunchy ends – this is instantly fixed by moisturising your hair, you just need the right product. I want everyone to love their hair every day.

Frizziness is all about dehydration. We’re meant to have a slight layer of oil on our skin, and our hair is meant to have that too. However, the way that shampoos are designed is to remove that oil, so hair becomes quite angry, as it’s lost that protective layer. Cosmetic companies have led the idea that greasy hair means unclean, when actually this is a marketing ploy to shift more volume of product.

I’ve met a lot of facialists over the years who I talk to about my products, because when I started making my products I looked at the scalp and starting thinking about hair like the skin. My products treat the scalp and the hair separately. A lot of the facialists I’ve spoken with have said that one of the first things they ask their clients is what they are washing their hair with. People wouldn’t necessarily associate hair with whether their skin is oily, dry or acne-prone, but your hair can directly affect your face.

I’ve worked with women and hair for more than 30 years now, so I have a good understanding of how people want their hair to look and feel. I call myself a hair geek because I really get the fabric of hair and how it behaves; I feel it in my hands when a product is going to be beneficial. I just wanted to make something that was honest. By making something natural, you are allowing your body to be awake and enhanced. If we can create products that are pure and work harmoniously with the body that seems a lot more sensible to me then shutting the body down and doing the job for you but in a way that’s completely fake and plastic.

I think it’s fantastic that people are becoming more aware of plastics, but in terms of what gets washed down the sink or plughole, it’s gone for us, but what happens next? If we think about how many products contain liquid plastics, like polymers and silicons, they don’t filter out when they go to the water plant, so they do make their way through to our river and sea beds – this is something we have to be more mindful of and take more responsibility for. The reason those ingredients are there is to create a slipfeel on the hair, but we don’t really want that to be fake, we want our hair to feel good – not necessarily sliding over a plastic coating.

We’re part of the first refill station that Planet organic are trialling – my organic clean shampoo in Amber Rose is available there to refill your bottle once you’ve used it. There’s no quick-fix to scraping plastic packaging so we have to be smart with our recycling options. We’ve got a completely compostable pouch for our dry shampoo and it will break down in a home compostor in 26 weeks. I’d love for there to be refill points across the cities where people could top up on their favourite products.