Cortney is a Syndey-based executive at Ecoheads, a salon hair product company creating innovative solutions for stylists to enhance color and treatment results while saving time, water, and energy. Like us, they believe that products should enhance salon experience and transformations without sacrificing the health and safety of the environment.

This Earth Month, we invited Cortney to share her personal hair story, including her favorite eco-friendly products, easy ways to be more sustainable with our routines, insights about the haircare industry, and more.

talk us through your personal hair journey

Over the years, my hair has reflected where I’m at in life. I bleached it the moment I turned 18 as a rebellion to becoming an adult. I chopped off my long locks into the Victoria Beckham bob not once, but TWICE over a break-up. And then there were a good five years of dying my hair black at home in a bottle.  

I turned 40 in January and I can safely say my hair is the best it’s ever been. From its health to cut and color, to the ease with which I can style it. Now I take care of my hair, I treat it well and I don’t expect it to be perfect without treating it properly.  Kind of how I’ve learned to treat myself. 

did you have any beauty or hair icons growing up?

Jennifer Aniston—always was and always will be. I was also envious of any woman who knew how to properly blow dry her hair.

When I was in high school, girls would iron their hair with a clothes iron. Thankfully, just as I entered university, the GHD flat iron was invented so I switched to that. I just recently discovered the Dyson Air Wrap, so now I look like the blown-out women I used to admire!

how did you get to where you are today? did you always know this was your path and any advice for someone just starting their career in sustainability, entrepreneurship, or haircare?

Everyone has their own path to forge and it’s totally fine not to know what you want to do. It’s also okay to start somewhere different from where you end up. I started as a receptionist in an office when I was 18, then slowly moved up through the office ranks and learned what everyone did. Having experience in many different areas can give you a perspective that will become valuable later on, you don’t have to have a clear path today. 

Work ethic and building new relationships are also important, as well as nurturing the relationships you’ve made. Trying new things sometimes and others just sticking with it long enough that you become great at it. 

Once you know something really well, you will want to change the way it’s done—that’s where entrepreneurship and passion for sustainability will come from. 

on that note, tell us about Ecoheads!

Ecoheads was founded by three innovators who knew they wanted to make smarter, healthier, and more sustainable products for our hair and bodies. Eleven years ago, they created the first showerhead to reduce water by 65% at the basin and filter water to improve quality. This has profound effects on the hair and performance of products. 

The starting point for them was water. Hairdressers were using far too much of it without any better alternative. The goal was to reduce this level of consumption while making services more efficient. Two years and endless prototypes later, the ECOHEADS Showerhead was born. Far less (and much cleaner!) water was being sent down the drain with what is now the world’s most efficient showerhead. 

The industry’s first fume-free color mixer, the PING soon followed with equally powerful resource management. It reduces color waste by 20%, saves time, and ensures max color consistency for busy stylists. 

However, color—a salon’s most profitable service—was still taxing the Earth and health of hairdressers. That’s why last year we launched P.O.D by Ecoheads: the first treatment and color delivered by water, through our showerhead. 

Delivering the products through the water makes a massive difference in how the hair feels and looks, while still having a water-saving impact on the planet. We are so proud of doing something so game-changing!

have you always been passionate about sustainability?

My parents are both tree-planting environmentalists. We stopped using off-the-shelf skincare products when I was 12 (a long time before non-toxic products became normal). I learned so much from watching my parents challenge the status quo and not believe what everything says on the bottle. 

Now, I live by the ocean and see the impact of consumerism hurting the environment right before my eyes. Honestly, it’s hard to stay focused on this when life is moving quickly, so I have a few things that I do to make it part of my everyday life.

what are some ways we can incorporate more ecological mindfulness within self-care routines?

I love to use products where I can say “I know who made that”. A lot of smaller businesses incorporate sustainability into their ethos, like refill packaging and options that use less water or ingredients that don’t damage the environment. 

Take a look at the products you use every day and see how many of them you know where they came from. I use Earth Bud for soaps and moisturizers ( I went to school with the woman who makes them!). I also love using Mon Amie hair care, founded by two incredible women, one of whom used to be my hairdresser. I can safely say that 50% of the products I use, I know who makes them.

how do you incorporate eco-friendly practices into your everyday life?

In addition to my “think small and local” approach, I also can’t wait until we can take an Ecoheads Showerhead into homes! To be able to use less water in the shower and have cleaner, softer water on my hair and skin at home, this is something I’m really excited for. It’s coming! 

what does your self-care (and hair) routine consist of? has your approach, products or routines changed over the years?

I live right next to the ocean and I swim almost every day. It’s made my hair care routine more deliberate but also more maintainable. I focus more on treatments and repair products than I do on styling products because I feel that my hair styles better when it’s healthier. 

what are your top hair tips? your favorite products and how do you incorporate them into your routine?   

I first used the OG K18 leave-in molecular repair hair mask in late 2020 when I started the process of turning my dyed black hair back to my natural blonde. It took 18 months, and K18 literally saved my long hair! Without it, I probably would have had to cut it off after the bleaching I went through.