Healthy Chicks

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“All around the hair is healthier, I’m healthier and my clients are healthier.”

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of meeting with Marcus Sederstrom, the face behind My Stylist Marcus, at Salon Red on Newbury Street. With his impeccable style and witty charm, Marcus may seem like an ordinary Boston stylist at first glance.

However, once the conversation begins to flow, one realizes that there is quite the story behind that charm. While Marcus has been in the hair industry for 15 years, he just recently came back from a five-year leave while battling Lymphoma (cancer of the lymphatic system).

During recovery, Marcus realized that he desperately missed his days as a stylist and interacting with clients, but didn’t want to work in an environment filled with toxins and chemicals all day long. Right then and there, he decided he needed to make some changes for his health, and his clients’ health.

Now Marcus proudly provides his clients with natural, certified organic cleansing, styling, color and even keratin treatments. “It’s the cleanest of the greenest products available,” he said with a smile. “All around the hair is healthier, I’m healthier and my clients are healthier.”

While describing the products to me, Marcus had me hold out my hand and poured a little bit of shine serum, prompting me to rub my hands together. Within seconds, the residue was gone and my  hands felt silkier than ever.

That right there is the difference between certified organic products with real ingredients versus the kind of products we find at most salons and stores today. Think, when was the last time you saw ingredients like almond oil, olive oil, wheat protein, coconut or aloe in your hair products? Real, pure ingredients that you can feel good about putting onto your hair, scalp and hands?

Heck, even the organic lightener (alternative option for bleach) that Marcus uses smelt like fresh flowers comparatively. It was absolutely mind-boggling and fascinating!

Sound too good to be true? Here’s the skinny on the products Marcus uses:

• Certified Eco-Friendly
• Certified Organic by the United Kingdom Soil Association
• 100% Ammonia free
• non-carcinogenic
• no plastics or parabens
• PETA recognized as vegan
• No Volatile organic compounds
• No Phthalates, mercury or Resorcinol
• GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms) free

Yes, these products really are just THAT pure. I’ll let Marcus take it over from here to share everything from why he got into the hair industry to his personal specialty…

RC: How long have you been in the hair care industry and what made you choose that route?

MS: 15 years. I kind of fell into it. I was working as an auditor at the time,and my friend who was in hair dressing school told me I should give it a try, so I did. I love it. It’s my passion now!

RC: I know organic is what you pride yourself on. Why organic? Can you explain your background?

MS: I was in the business for 10 years and took five years off because I had lymphoma. I wanted to work in the business but not with the dangerous products. So I spent three months researching online, particularly on Great Britain’s products which are the cleanest and the greenest. I wanted something healthier for me that would give a healthy option to people, and be nice to the earth. So I went green, offering certified organic cleansing, styling, coloring and keratin treatment.

RC: How do your clients respond to this?

[note: while asking this question, I also learned Marcus has nothing lower than 5 stars on Yelp and on his website; that says something!]

MS: People love the products. My clients are organic farmers, personal trainers and their wives, restaurant owners, mothers, people who live an organic life, or pregnant women. People who are looking for an option. You know, people go out and eat organic and then get their hair dyed!

RC: What’s your favorite product or styling technique?

MS: Hair color is my forte. The {organic} line has such beautiful reds, beautiful browns, and the health of the hair is better. People think because it’s organic they won’t get results but you get amazing results and the shine is better.

[Marcus takes out his color flip book to show me the variety of shades, including everything from golden browns to plum. He then points to a beautiful golden honey shade. “I love these for Jennifer Lopez highlights!”]

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Visiting with Marcus really opened my eyes to the importance of living a healthy lifestyle, not just by how many times you exercise or what you eat, but also what you are putting in and on your body. We often don’t realize that many of our favorite products – from our perfume to our makeup –  are filled with harmful toxins and parabens, and I myself have been a victim!

Of course, we all can’t be perfect 100% of the time, but being aware and cautious of the kinds of products we use is a first step! And it’s great to see that people and businesses are catching on to this trend.

Interested in learning more? You can visit My Stylist Marcus here and book an appointment right online!

XoXo,