By: Vanessa Vetro

On any given day hair salons across the country are buzzing with blow-dryers, clamouring with chatter and continuously lathering, rinsing and repeating. While most salons can style, treat, snip and beautify each client that walks through the door there is only one in Canada and possibly North America that has as much love and passion for the body and protecting the environment. worldSALON, located in downtown Toronto and offers a unique salon experience for a unique clientele including industry connoisseurs and those in the film and television community.

Owner, Brian Phillips opened worldSALON in 1989. After contracting contact dermatitis from the harmful chemicals found in products in 1993, he went on the path to realisation that products without chemicals, artificial colours and fragrances are more beneficial not only to clients but to salon staff. In 2001 worldPRODUCTS was born, and although Phillips was doubted for creating a line that was fragrance free, he believed this would make his product stand out in a sea of harmful parabens, sulphates and phthalates.

The bottom line, Phillips explains, “What we put on our skin ends up inside our bodies and in our blood.”  worldPRODUCT is a plant- based luxury line that is interchangeable between skin and hair and can be used to cleanse and moisturize from head to toe. worldCLEAN and worldPROTECT are products used to cleanse and moisturize, but what sets the line apart from the rest is worldBELIEVE a salve also known as the “magic potion”. This salve is smooth, silky, antifungal, antimicrobial, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory which provides cool, soothing relief from dermatitis, eczema, psoriasis, burns, cuts, scrapes and also moisturizes to diminish wrinkles, stretch marks and age spots and can leave hair shiny and frizz free. In one collection Brian Phillips has simplified glamour, eliminated the number of products that clients need and reduced the amount of non-biodegradable plastic that ends up in landfills.

worldSALON also offers Colorscience makeup that is free of dyes, talcs, fillers and mineral oils that won’t disrupt healthy skin function. Instead it works to complement and improve all skin types and colours. 

Although a fabulous product line is enough to get a salon noticed, what really makes worldSALON shine in a sink of suds is its persistence in environmental reform. Brian Phillips’ goal is that with every choice clients can cherish and enhance the body and spirit and choose to protect and sustain our society and planet. Phillips recognizes that alternative energy is the future and worldSALON is the first salon in Canada to use solar thermal technology to heat its water. In 2007 worldSALON was honoured with a certificate from Ontario Power Authority for reducing energy consumption by more than 50% over a span of seven years.

Brian Phillips’ determination to find alternate sources of energy, remove reliance on petrochemicals and to contribute regularly to many foundations such as Ecojustice, World Wildlife Fund, Toronto Environmental Alliance and Amnesty International demonstrates how small businesses can make immense differences and that continual leadership can reap rewards not only for today but for years to come.

www.world.ca