The Star: September 08, 2016

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Thursday September 8 2016 23
Brianne West
ditches plastic
Great styles, colours, fits & service
That product was
released last summer. Everything
is solid, it doesn’t
contain any water, they
don’t have a lot of preservatives,
collating agents or
fillers. For our shampoos,
we use ingredients similar
to Trilogy shampoo. It is
salon quality shampoo.
So you’ve just reached a
milestone where you have
saved 100,000 bottles –
how does it feel?
Yes, we reached that on
Friday. That was really
exciting. Our goal is to get
to one million. I didn’t really
stop to think about it, I
was just thinking about the
next 100,000 and then the
next 100,000.
And do you make all
the products yourself
from your lab?
My mum actually manufactures
the bulk of them,
she works in our lab. I do
the formulation. I create
stuff and come up with the
new products.
And you started off
making concoctions in
your kitchen?
Yeah, in my kitchen in
my flat. There was shampoo
everywhere in my
kitchen when we moved
out.
Did you grow up in
Christchurch?
No, I grew up in Queenstown.
What brought you to
Christchurch?
University, and a boy
actually. But the boy’s no
longer in the picture.
I read on your website
you started a pet detective
agency when you
were little. What’s that all
about?
Yes. I don’t remember
a lot about it, but I do
remember I put up posters
that said if you wanted
your lost animal found we
would do it. We did actually
find a cat. I would have
been about six or seven.
Speaking of animals,
I know Ethique does
not test its products on
animals, how do you test
them?
On people. We have
about 10,000 people signed
up on our database for
product testing. We get
people to fill out forms. So
we are testing deodorant
at the moment, so we’re
looking for really active
people and we select them
from that.
How long does it take
to come up with a new
product?
It depends. If it’s a
product we’ve already got
a similar product to, then
it can be quite quick. But it
can take up to 12 months.
And I hear Britney
Spears quite likes your
products! How does that
feel?
Yeah, that was kind
of cool – and Ashton
Kutcher. He made a video
with our products in it.
They both shared it on
Facebook. We were in The
Huffington Post so I guess
they got it from there. The
day I heard about Britney
Spears, we listened to her
for the rest of the day.
Have you found you
have a lot more interest in
your products since then?
Yes, we’ve been getting
the bulk of orders
from America from these
celebrity endorsements. It’s
usually New Zealand and
Australia that we get orders
from, but it’s becoming
bigger in America now.
And when you’re not
working, what do you like
doing? Do you have any
hobbies?
This sounds really
lame, but I don’t have any
because I don’t make any
time. That really is my life.
But I do want to start playing
tennis again.
And you mentioned
your mum lives here,
what about the rest of
your family?
My dad’s here too, but
all my other family live in
England. We don’t really
go visit because it’s such
a long flight, and I’m terrified
of flying. Although
I just came back from
Hawaii for work. I like to
travel; I just don’t like to
fly.
And what are your
plans for Ethique? Do you
hope to grow the business
more?
I want it to be a global
organisation. A bar in
every shower is a bit of a
mantra for us.
And finally, Ethique is
a certified B Corp isn’t it?
Can you tell me what that
entails?
We were certified last
year. It’s basically the
highest certification for
businesses who want to
do more than just make a
profit. It has to be about
employee and customer
well-being, transparency
and all of that sort of stuff.
You have to do a test and
have a Skype interview. At
the end of that, you get a
score out of 200, and you
have to score 80. Whereas
the typical business is
at 40, we got 106, so the
highest in New Zealand.
But there are only about
six or seven at the moment.
But it’s pretty cool.
Great service, style & variety
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and ever changing
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