Charl Ackerman, Founder of The Barbery

Name: Charl Ackerman
From: Cape Town Based in: London
Occupation: Founder of The Barbery

The idea that sparked a business

“The idea for The Barbery was born out of a frustration shared with my barber at the time. There wasn’t a high-end offering where we live in South-East London so my friends and I traveled to Shoreditch, Soho and Covent Garden to have a haircut. It would eat into valuable free time at weekends and evenings.

I was inspired by things I didn’t like in other barbers. During a year of research, I had treatments at as many barbers I could. I would sit in the chair and mentally list the things I didn’t approve of. Things that I would change, imagining my ideal client experience. Barbers with cigarette or coffee breath, conversing with each other in a language I did not understand. The chairs being torn and the interior tired. Floors covered in cut hair, staff knowing very little about the products used and sold, not being able to pay by card….the list goes on. That is how the concept for The Barbery was born.”

Hair health

"Just like our skin, our hair health can be a reflection of our overall health. Often, the cause of hair and scalp issues can be traced to our diet or habits. We don’t drink enough water, our food is high in saturated fat and sugar. Or, we cleanse our hair too often or with harmful products, do not use conditioner and so forth.

We often tell our clients: 'You can’t have good hair health without having a healthy scalp'. That’s what made me really focus on getting the right products for The Barbery. I wanted something that is natural and organic. I also wanted to be able to trace the origins, to know where exactly it was made and for there to be accountability.

Sadly, there weren’t many to choose from. If you then overlay the sustainability requirement then the options go down to two or three. I am hoping that in time clients will become more conscious, not only about what they eat but also what they cleanse, condition and style their hair with. We can be kinder to the environment and also improve our long term health.”

The best treatments for hair health

“I work predominately with OWAY, an Italian brand with plant-based products. They grow many of the ingredients on a biodynamic farm* near Bologna in Italy and source the rest through fair trade networks. I was drawn to their strong sustainability credentials.

Packaging is either aluminum or amber glass, which is infinitely recyclable. Their labels are made of rice paper, which biodegrades within days. Also, there are absolutely no nasty chemicals in any of the products.

We use two of their ranges: ‘haircare' and ‘beauty’. The OWAY Glowing Face Gommage is part of our Biodynamic Facial. We mix it with a Seaweed + Salicylic Powder Exfoliant, manufactured by a Margate-based skincare brand, Haeckels, which I love.

Bringing in facials

The facial is on the menu only because my manager, Megan insisted. I wanted The Barbery to be a masculine space, zen and laid back with a minimalist design but masculine. For some reason I did not think facials fitted this concept. Megan said: 'You have to trust me, just put it on the menu.' Turns out she was right, it is very popular.

We offer two prescriptive scalp treatments. The first is a Dandruff Treatment which targets dry and wet dandruff and issues such as Psoriasis. The second is a Soothing Scalp Treatment to relieve inflamed, irritated or itchy scalps.

Not many people know that when we get stressed our scalp can tighten and become sensitive to the touch, turn red and itchy. The Soothing Scalp Treatment tackles this very effectively. It’s really popular.”

Recycling

“The sustainability angle came about as a result of me personally changing my lifestyle. I became more aware of the damage we’re doing to the environment; excessive use of packaging, not recycling enough and also more aware of my health, in particular, the sort of things that we put on our bodies that we don’t necessarily know are bad for us or the environment.

I take this quite seriously, using the cardboard product packaging for storing clean towels and gowns. For washing detergent and dishwashing liquid I use bioD. A local retailer sells this in bulk (I refill 2.5 liter containers). I also recycle Erbology Rose Water Shot bottles - they’re great for styling product samples which I offer to clients. My business cards are made of recycled T-shirts and we have cotton carrier bags in the salon for the team to use on supermarket trips so they do not need to buy plastic ones.

To encourage clients to recycle, I offer them 10% off their replacement product purchase if they return their amber glass and aluminium packaging to us.”