The first time I went to WORLD Salon was for a cut with Brian Phillips.
I knew of him through friends (we were once at the same dinner party in the early aughts – hi Lou!) and from my Holt Renfrew days when Brian was the go-to stylist for making models even more beautiful. I also knew he was a bit of a celeb by osmosis – he tended the tresses of Kim Cattrall, Joni Mitchell, Norah Jones, k.d. lang and more.
Stylist and WORLD Founder Brian Phillips.
What I didn’t know was that Brian was a visionary who created his own brand of non-toxic hair and skincare – it’s called WORLD and I’m in love with it.
Like many great things, WORLD was born of necessity. After years of using products loaded with toxins and harsh ingredients, Brian developed a reaction. “It started off as contact dermatitis, little red pimples between my fingers and on the top of my hands,” he says. “They were incredibly itchy and the rash would turn into boils that would seep, crust over then peel off. Then the process would start again.” Not a good thing for anyone, let alone a stylist who works with his hands every day.
“My doctor prescribed a steroidal cream that only made matters worse, so I decided to stop using any hair products for a week and then I re-introduced them one at a time,” Brian says. “It was pretty easy to identify the culprits: a heavily fragranced gel that I used constantly and a perm solution and neutralizing lotion. Once I stopped using these products the contact dermatitis went away.” And the light-bulb moment for WORLD arrived.
“My criteria for creating WORLD were simple. I wanted a minimal, healthy line that was free of fragrance, phthalates and other chemicals, such as sulphates and parabens, that pose a health concern for many people. And each product had to be effective on both hair and skin so that I could promote the concept of reducing plastic footprints. By this point in my career, I was fully aware how much marketing went into creating the need for multiple products that, in many cases, were truly unnecessary.”
Three of my favourite products from WORLD - good ones to start with if you’re curious about the line.
The multi-use aspect really spoke to me and while I was intrigued by the idea of using the same cleanser for washing my hair and face (!), I thought it was pretty radical and perhaps too utilitarian, not specialized enough – I was wrong. I can’t say enough about the efficacy of Clean, the multi-purpose hair and skin cleanser that is the line’s hero product. And I love how freeing it is – I feel like a guy who washes his face in the shower with shampoo and still looks great.
Clean, the hero multi-tasker for face, body and hair.
It made me question my collection of specific-use products and when I told Brian this, he agreed. “Many of us believe, due to the constant bombardment of advertising, that we need specific products for specific needs,” he told me. “A shampoo for oily hair vs normal hair vs colour-treated hair might have .007% of a specific ingredient or two that actually doesn’t really make a difference. If you pulled all the shampoos on the planet together, there would be very little difference from one product to the other, other than their cheap toxic ingredients. I’ve always believed in less is more, and while I understand that people love having lots of products, and that’s cool, I want to balance that with the awareness of the plastic waste it produces.”
This is another cool thing about WORLD – refillable bottles. “We have a four-litre Clean refill so you can use your first 500ml bottle over and over again. We actually have one client who did this for seven years! Imagine how many products you don’t have to buy and how much less plastic you produce with this scenario, and you save tons of money.”
All good, but vanity often rules and WORLD delivers so if you don’t want to try it for all the non-toxic and less-waste reasons, try it because it will make your hair look fabulous. I’m addicted to Ocean, a sea-salt spray that isn’t drying, thanks to essential oils, but creates amazing texture, whether you want to add a bit of oomph to fine hair or create full-on, rock-and-roll layers.
Ocean uses dead sea salts to give hair a thick, full, chunky textured feeling like you get after swimming in the ocean.
Brian is a realist and I think that’s what makes WORLD so effective. He isn’t preachy and the products are gentle enough for newborns, yet really deliver. He also knows that some people just don’t want to use unscented products and for them he came up with an ingenious solution: essential-oil blends. “You can either add them directly into the bottles or jars, or add them to the product with each use to change things up.” The YUM formulation is my fave – a blend of lemon, mandarin, orange, peppermint and musk-seed organic essentials oils that smells fantastic in the bath.
When I ask Brian to distill WORLD’s point of difference, he says, “There are many great healthy lines out there, but how we stand out is our combination of superlative ingredient profiles (products that are exceptional and effective) and our multi-use capability. Most other product lines have one but not the other.”
WORLD Salon is now Seen Studios, where Brian still works his magic and showcases the collection. All WORLD products are made in Canada and, a lovely family note, Brian runs the brand with his sister Donna Edwards who is the Director of Operations. Check out the entire line at world.ca.
