One of my goals when I started creating products about 50 years ago was to greatly improve the condition of hair with the ingredients in my products; improving its strength, moisture content, level of shine, color retention and the overall health and vitality.  I feel we have a unique perspective on hair, viewing it as not just something that grows out of our heads but instead as the most important fabric we wear on our bodies.  We wear our hair every day.  I have always looked at hair as a couture fabric in which we stylists can employ our design in the same way a couture designer creates his or her garments out of cashmere or silk.  Every great design starts with a beautiful fabric.  I have always believed that we should treat hair fabric as gently and importantly as we do our skin.  Skin care professionals have always taken this vantage point but it is certainly a unique vantage point when it comes to hair care professionals, manufacturers and especially clients.
 
I also have always held the philosophy that since hair and skin are both made primarily of protein, they can and should be treated with similar ingredients.  Along these lines, I am proud to say we were among the first to use skin care ingredients, such as Hyaluronic Acid, Sodium PCA and Tissue Respiratory Factor or Live Yeast Cell Derivative, in hair care products.  I felt this was not just important to help create a positive scalp environment but also to enhance the performance of the hair resulting in an even more beautiful hair design, happier clients and therefore better guest retention.  Having maintained this skincare philosophy throughout my years of hair product creation, it has positively affected the performance of every product I create from conditioners, styling products and most uniquely, shampoos.  For decades clients have perceived the suds produced during the shampoo process as a good thing and specifically the means in which they cleanse their hair.  But not for me.  As I said previously, we believe in taking a skincare cleansing approach to cleansing the hair and scalp so this perception of suds has always been something I labored against over the years, creating low lathering shampoos for decades despite this client perception.
 
Finally about 8 years ago, I drew a line in the suds.  Taking a chance in the marketplace and even with my 250 plus team of stylists, I took a final step towards this goal and removed harsh sulfates from my shampoos and replaced them with a proprietary cleansing micro-emulsion I call my Sugar Cane Cleanse based on Sugar Cane, Sugar Maple, Apple Seed and Bilberry.  Simultaneously, I also removed Water from those formulas as well and replaced it with an Organic Aloe infusion.   This one-two “anti-suds” ingredient punch resulted in a completely different feeling and performing shampoo than any other on the market.  It also resulted in a shampoo that at first seemed a bit foreign to both customers and stylists alike.  But my commitment to creating the ultimate condition hair fabric was unaltered.  And it was proven the right path immediately following the initial rollout.  We received overwhelmingly positive feedback regarding the increased quality of the condition of the hair, more texture control and even less color fadage, from customers and stylists. 
 
The consistency of our shampoos also changed to an even thicker, richer, creamier formula producing a very low level of very rich moisture laden suds.  These new formulations contain the highest concentration of cleansing and conditioning agents that I have seen in the professional marketplace but are not merely concentrate formulas.  They balance conditioning with cleansing, allowing even today’s more frugal customers to realize their value.  While our previous formulations were gentle to hair and scalp, and never stripped or faded color, our new formulations are fortified with color retention additives and antioxidants to further enhance color protection.  These positive results were visibly noticeable to both clients and stylists alike and enhanced the value of stylists’ services and improved client retention.
 
But this was not without an initial transition for both the client’s and stylists’ psyches when it comes to their expectations related to shampooing.  Setting up their expectations for the new product was critical both in the texture and feel of the shampoo itself as well as the positive benefits to the hair.  So we also tweaked our shampoo protocol a bit due to the zero Sulfate and zero Water factors creating a very simple two step shampoo process.  After the hair is completely saturated with water, we perform a quick pre-shampoo followed by a quick rinse then next a thorough shampoo and rinse.  The entire process takes no more time than a regular shampoo service and because the pre-shampoo preps the hair for the next lathering, less product is required and results in a cost savings on the shampoo service.  So with the great improvements to the quality of hair and color retention plus the cost savings, we overwhelmingly won over both consumers and stylists.  Feedback came flooding in, even from stylists who have worked for me for 40 plus years, saying they were astonished at the staggering improvement in their client’s hair in every area from color retention, condition and even texture control.  Needless to say we were thrilled to hear this especially after that initial speedbump of changing their perception of traditional shampooing.
 
And then, finally I wanted to go further and create a zero-suds formula to give customers an option for when their hair needs a break from all traditional shampooing.  I created our P2 Clenz Crème Non-Sudsing Cleansing Conditioner an innovative, non-sudsing formula that cleanses hair with little to no conditioner depending on the hair texture.  This is clearly the preferred alternative to frequent shampooing for all hair and scalp types that results in dry brittle hair and potentially a flaky scalp.  And it is greatly preferred over a less than optimal shampoo schedule or to skipping cleansing all together. 
 
This benefits many clients for so many reasons.  It is an excellent cleanse for dry, frizzy, hard to control, chemically treated hair and also for thick, long high lift blonde heads of hair.  Hair textures and densities and even damaged hair where leaving behind more of their natural oils would benefit their texture and hair’s condition.  This also benefits hair in that less hair color molecules are removed than with traditional shampooing.  And with the fall and winter months upon us, P2 Clenz Crème also provides benefits to the scalp and hair such as less moisture loss, anti-static and dry scalp; all issues caused by the seasonal drier air conditions. 
 
What led me to creating this type of product?  In the past, the shampoo manufacturing trends went from harsh stripping, high pH shampoos coupled with heavy waxy crème rinses, to milder shampoos coupled with lighter more natural conditioning treatments.  The professional product market never really used a 2-in-1 or 3-in-1 shampoos because they were and still are a compromise between cleansing and conditioning.  But I realized that there may be some benefit to reversing that concept from a conditioning shampoo to a cleansing conditioner.  Conditioners by definition are based on cationic surfactants while shampoos are based on anionic surfactants.  Maybe an oversimplification, but all surfactants are comprised of water-soluble and oil-soluble structures, and only the electronic charge is different.  Anionic surfactants carry a negative charge and cationic surfactants carry a positive charge.
 
Why is this important?  Because damaged hair carries a negative charge and cationic surfactants bond their positive to hair’s negative.  Charge bonding reduces rinse-away, so the water-insoluble portion of the cationic surfactant stays behind to improve conditioning.
 
What about cleansing?  I have seen conditioner and crème rinse formulations that rinse so cleanly the hair squeaks after rinsing.  This hair is left too clean after rinsing.  Why?  Cationic surfactants also can remove essential oils just as do the anionic surfactants contained in shampoos.  This is a matter of the water-insoluble (oil-soluble) portion of the surfactant absorbing the scalp lipids and the cationic water soluble portion being too weakly charged to be able to bond to the negative sites on the hair.  So balancing the formulation to provide cleansing as well as conditioning was the solution.  Not easy to achieve but a solution nonetheless, and this led to a range of additives to assist in the balancing act.
 
Unique ingredients in this formula includes our new Pelusi Bio Polymer Complex comprised of Baobab Seed Oil and Baobob Seed Protein which hydrates and strengthens hair without weighing hair down.  Baobab Seed Oil is a cold-pressed oil, meaning it retains its nutritional value during processing, rich with Vitamin D3 and 5 Fatty Acids that nourish and moisturize hair and scalp and helps reduce frizz and creates shine.  While the Baobab Seed Protein helps build tensile strength to resist breakage, retain volume and better style longevity.
 
Our Sugar Cane Cleanse complex consists of Sugar Cane, Sugar Maple, Apple and Bilberry also plays a role in this cleansing conditioner by minimally and gently cleansing hair and scalp while helping protect color.  Additionally our Patent Pending Hydro-Charged Pelusi Ceramide Complex, strengthens the cuticle layer, protects color with plant derived ceramides.  This cosmeceutical breakthrough, available exclusively at Philip Pelusi, is a potent strengthening and moisture-binding plant derived ceramide complex that helps repair damaged sites as well as helps dramatically restore hair to its healthier state, hair feels renewed, stronger, silky, shiny and lustrous. 
 
P2 Clenz Crème also contains beneficial Gluten Free Hydrolyzed Wheat, Corn and Soyamino acids that strengthens hair fibers making them more resilient.  The gluten-free feature also meets the needs of today’s marketplace and yet retain all of the hair and scalp benefits adhering to broken keratin sites in the hair helping to fill out an otherwise weaker and limper stand. 
 
With creation of the P2 Clenz Creme, along with it came other upgrades such as the formula is Sulfate free, Silicone free, Allergen-free fragrance, Salt free, Paraben free, Formaldehyde free and reduced color fading as are my other P2 Ultimate products.  In addition P2 Clenz Crème is also Gluten free, Vegan and Propylene Glycol free.
 
For product recommendation and more information contact us at Tela Beauty Organics by Philip Pelusi at either [email protected] [email protected]