Why Do We Use KEVIN.MURPHY at Elluca?

So…. Why Do We Use KEVIN.MURPHY at Elluca?

Because no two heads of hair are the same. Simple as that. If you've been into Elluca, you'll know we don't have one single haircare brand sitting on our shelves. That's intentional.

We stock products across different brands, different ranges and different price points because we want there to be something for everyone. Different hair, different lifestyles, different budgets, different priorities.

What works beautifully for one person might be completely wrong for the person sitting in the chair next to them. And that's where KEVIN.MURPHY comes in. A little bit more luxe.

KEVIN.MURPHY sits at the more premium end of what we offer at Elluca.

It's beautiful. The packaging is beautiful. The products smell incredible… (yumm Kakadu Plum). They feel luxurious to use. But as we said in our ELEVEN blog, looking pretty on our shelves isn't enough to get you through the Elluca doors.

It has to perform, and no product gets a second chance if it doesn’t. And KEVIN.MURPHY performs well, time and time again.

The brand describes its philosophy as “skincare for your hair”, and when you understand where the brand came from, that makes a lot of sense. Kevin Murphy himself is an Australian session stylist who built his career working across editorial, runway and film. He trained at Vidal Sassoon in London and went on to work in environments where hair didn't just have to look good for five minutes. It had to perform under lights, on set and through long shoots.

The problem was, the products available at the time weren't doing what he needed them to do. So he started looking outside traditional haircare and towards skincare. Lightweight formulas. Ingredients chosen for a reason. Products that didn't just coat the hair or weigh it down, but actually worked with it. And eventually, KEVIN.MURPHY was born in Australia in 2004.

We LOVE a problem solver. What's actually inside matters to us.

One of the things that attracted us to KEVIN.MURPHY was its approach to ingredients.

The brand combines science with naturally derived ingredients and uses ingredients such as Kakadu Plum, Rose Hip, Immortelle and Orchid Flower. It also works with suppliers using practices including organic farming, micro-cultivation and sustainable wild harvesting.

Their haircare is sulphate-free, paraben-free and cruelty-free. Again, these things matter to us and to you. We're not interested in bringing something into Elluca just because it's considered “high-end”. A higher price tag doesn't automatically make something better.

It still has to align with our values. It still has to work. And most importantly, it has to earn its place.

But can we talk about the bottles for a minute?

Because you can't really talk about KEVIN.MURPHY without talking about the packaging.

Those square bottles aren't just designed that way to look cool on your bathroom shelf.

The shape was designed to use less plastic and allow the bottles to be packed and shipped more efficiently. The packaging is also recyclable. It's clever design that considers not only what something looks like, but its impact as well.

And THAT aligns with Elluca. We are never going to pretend that operating a salon has zero environmental impact. It doesn't. We use water, chemicals, foils, colour, plastics and a whole lot of product. What we can do is continually make better choices where they're available to us.

We don't just sell it. We colour with it too. KEVIN.MURPHY isn't just a retail range for us. We use KEVIN.MURPHY colour at Elluca too.

Their professional colour portfolio includes permanent colour, demi-permanent colour, lighteners and high-lift blonde options. Their colour philosophy also carries across that skincare-inspired thinking, with the brand continuing to develop colour technology around performance, shine, condition and hair integrity.

That's exciting for us as hairdressers. Because we're creative people. Give us more tools, more shades, more technology and more options and we're going to play with them.

But we're also bloody picky. Before we're comfortable putting something on your head, we want to know what it does.

We trial it.

We test it.

We educate ourselves.

We compare it.

We scrutinise it.

And then the team gives their feedback.

Because again, no two heads are the same and no two hairdressers are exactly the same either.

That's why we don't believe in ONE “best” brand… that seems close minded to me.

This is probably the biggest thing we want our clients to understand.

There isn't one shampoo that's perfect for everybody.

There isn't one conditioner.

There isn't one treatment.

There isn't one styling product.

And there isn't one price point that suits everybody either.

That's exactly why our shelves look the way they do.

We deliberately stock different professional brands and products at different price points so we can recommend something based on you, rather than trying to make you fit whatever brand we happen to sell.

Your hair might need hydration. Someone else's needs strength. You might wash your hair once a week and heat style the absolute shit out of it. Someone else washes every day and hasn't touched a straightener in ten years or even own a hot tool.

Fine hair, thick hair, curls, blondes, brunettes, extensions, grey hair, vivid colour, damaged hair, virgin hair.

No two heads are the same. Ever. Period. Even the same head changes seasonally and hormonally.

So why would we treat them like they are all the same? 

So, why KEVIN.MURPHY?

Because it's Australian-born.

Because it's high-performing.

Because it's a little bit luxe.

Because the ingredient philosophy aligns with what we're looking for.

Because they smell delicious.

Because sustainability has been considered from formulation through to packaging.

Because it gives our colourists more tools to work with.

Because the products are beautiful to use.

And because it gives us another option when we're standing behind the chair working out exactly what your hair needs.

But here's something people don't always think or talk about: the relationships.

Business is a two-way street. I'm a representative of Elluca, and when a rep walks through our doors, they're representing their company. The relationship has to work for us, and it has to work for them too.

Because when you really think about it, as a salon we put a huge amount of trust in the brands we work with. We rely on their products every single day to earn an income, and ultimately, it's OUR name we're putting behind those products when we use them on your hair or recommend them for you to take home.

That's a big deal.

Formulations change. Products change. And when they do, I want to know about it first. I want open communication from the people we work with, because those changes can directly impact our clients. I've personally worked with a brand, no brands that are mentioned here in this blog, that changed the formulation of its lightening powder. We weren't informed at all, and it began severely damaging hair. Whose name was attached to that result? Ours. How can you continue to trust a brand that is happy to behave like that?

The client isn't thinking about the massive company that manufactured the product. They're sitting in an Elluca chair, trusting us with their hair. Meanwhile, the brand has already made the sale.

That experience taught me A LOT. I want a straight shooter, don’t try BS me. We’re all here for the same reason, and that’s to earn an income.

Choose your brands wisely. Maintain boundaries. Say no when you want to. Make sure they align with who you are and how you do business. Build relationships with your reps. Make sure you can trust them, communicate with them and know they'll have your back when it matters.

As Elluca has grown, what we needed from our brand partnerships changed.

We wanted things to feel more personal.

We don’t want someone who is just trying to sell us something because they have a quota to meet.

We wanted to know our representatives.

We wanted people we could pick up the phone and speak to.

We don’t want a big company telling us how to run our business and what ethos we should have. (Because some of them do shockingly)

We wanted education and opportunities for our team.

We wanted partnerships where our salon wasn't simply an account number, but where there was a genuine relationship between the people behind the brand and the people standing behind the chair.

That's become really important to me as a business owner and to show my team what is possible.

KEVIN.MURPHY isn't at Elluca because we needed another pretty bottle to fill a shelf. It's there because it gives us choice. And ultimately, that's what having multiple professional brands at Elluca is about.

More choice for us means better recommendations for you.

Nothing is one-size-fits-all around here.

Especially your hair. We don’t do basic.