Brains behind the brand: kevin murphy

"My mum was a hairdresser and I was always fascinated by the different things you could do with hair. When I left school I trained as an apprentice and bought my first salon in Melbourne in 1995. I bought it from my boss and although looking back I realise I was quite naïve, the salon boomed - probably because I loved it so much and I was determined to make a success of it.  

"When I started working as a session stylist, I was showered with products from manufacturers, and I'd get excited about the results they promised. However, I found they were too heavy and after working and re-working the hair, the products made it greasy and difficult to style. I got better results by using some of the skincare products that the make-up artists were using; they seemed so much lighter on the hair. I began experimenting myself and creating some lightweight styling products that ensured the styles would survive and outlast the photo shoot.

"I started by cooking up little creams and taking them on photo shoots. Then I started using them on clients who wanted to buy them and we had to get the juniors mixing ingredients at the back of the salon. 

"Next it moved into a friend's garage where we were making tubs of a cream called Lavender Hair Crème (now called Easy.Rider). It worked well on everyone, but we were spending so much time mixing it, I realised we had to upgrade from wooden spoons 

and get serious.

"Making a cream is one thing but creating a shampoo is something else entirely. I went to college to learn more about it, got the bug and decided to produce a range for the salon. I put my heart and soul into researching and developing Kevin.Murphy and seeing it on the shelves gave me a great sense of accomplishment. It's a dream come true. I almost cried when I secured the first product recommendation.

"My product range meets my needs as a stylist. It's natural and performs exactly 

the way I want it to.  

"In the future, I'd like Kevin.Murphy to become synonymous with environmental responsibility. I hope it will be recognised by stylists and clients as a brand that balances product performance with green credentials."