Today we’d like to introduce you to Philip B
Hi Philip, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I started out as a colorist, and landed a job in a West Hollywood salon with a lot of celebrity clients. I suddenly found myself working with famous actresses who had to look perfect in front of a camera — but their hair was dry, damaged and breaking, due to frequent color treatments and heat styling. I also worked with Hollywood producers, studio heads and their families – people who were battling such bad scalp problems that they couldn’t get a good night’s sleep or even think of wearing a black jacket on a red carpet. Money was no object for any of these clients, but they couldn’t find solutions.
I was working all over the world on movie sets at the time, so I shopped high and low for products that could help. As I looked closer at the industry, I realized what was missing. Most shampoos, even at the high end, were simple blends of detergent and water and fragrance. Conditioners were heavy and waxy. They sat on the hair versus nourishing it from the inside out. Figuring out what we’d been fed by corporations and Madison Avenue marketing teams made me angry. I’m trying to help my clients and I’m only given soap-fragrance-water blends to work with?? I realized that in order to really help my clients, I had to change the game.
I knew I had to think outside the box. I started by studying skin and scalp disorders in depth, while doing a parallel deep dive into botanicals, the precursors to medicines. As part of my research, I took classes taught by chemists from the U.S. and Europe. I was fascinated by what I learned through their eyes. I began mixing products in my West Hollywood bungalow, using essential and carrier oils to create artful, responsible active blends that conjured beautiful sensory experiences and, most importantly, gave great end results.
There was a lot of trial and error. I was writing formulas on legal pads and scrap paper — I had so many ideas. I’d wake up in the night and realize that I’d been formulating in my sleep. How can I make color shinier? How can I bring the microbiome of an itchy, troubled scalp back into balance? When I finally tried my custom blends on my clients, they were stunned by the results — and so was I. I blew my own mind!
Most companies might in a tenth of a percent of botanicals in their products, just to have it there as a label claim. To help people at a higher level, I was determined to use as much as necessary to get a result, I really invested in my formulas. As my longtime cosmetic chemist Marie puts it, “Most companies come in and say that they want their products to work beautifully, but they also want them to cost ten cents. Philip was different because he said, ‘I want to make the best products in the world because I want them to work and I don’t care how much it costs.'”
I stood out because I was willing to take a risk. I was determined to win my customers by giving them real results — the kind they’d always dreamed of but could never find. To help people with itchy scalps sleep well and feel great. To help damaged hair stop breaking, so my clients could feel happy and beautiful again. To make their hair color gleam and make my haircuts dance.
Word of mouth spread quickly. My clients told me that I had to get my products in stores. Vogue magazine called, major luxury retailers contacted me, beauty journalists reached out — the products sold themselves. I launched my first four products — my Four Step Hair & Scalp Treatment — in 1991.
That was 34 years ago. In the intervening years, I’ve continued to push the envelope, coming out with one groundbreaking formula after the next. My guiding principle: Everything I make has to work, it has to be responsibly made, and it has to be amazing on all levels. It has to smell good, feel good, and it has to deliver.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
My first challenge lay in meeting demand — particularly after America Vogue published an article in 1993 stating that “Philip B.’s products are priceless.”
As the company grew, I still had to struggle to get my message out. In a brainwashed world of soap-water-fragrance that’s heavily marketed through TV and magazine ads, convincing people that you’ve created something unique and different in haircare is hard!
I’ve learned along the way. Back in the early days of my company, my chemist Marie told me, “You’re using botanicals like healing agents. No one invests in formulas like this, which means you’ll have to educate people about how to use them. You can’t just lather these products up and rinse them down the drain.” And she was right: You need to leave my shampoos and conditioners on for a couple of minutes to get the full benefit.
Another challenge: When creating products at this level, the research process is also more intense. It’s focused on efficacy versus scent. We source the finest botanical ingredients from around the world and test our formulas countless times. Today’s supply chain challenges make this more difficult, but I never compromise on quality. If something doesn’t meet my exacting standards, it doesn’t leave our facility.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
If you’re looking for a solution to your hair or scalp issue, we’re here and we care. We make products that offer real results, incorporating botanicals at active levels and using cutting-edge delivery systems. Our products are used by famous actresses, actors, musicians, scientists and royal families around the world as well as by everyday people. We’re the company you come to when you want to look and feel better and younger and more vibrant — when you don’t want to have to wonder, will this product work?
I have never succumbed to pressure to cheapen my formulas. I’ve been steadfast and true in my mission to change the world of hair and scalp care. Now, my products are sold in around 50 countries, in stores from Harrod’s to Saks Fifth Avenue to Joyce Hong Kong.
We offer hair and scalp solutions for a vast range of needs, from dry mature hair to damaged, fragile hair to itchy, flaky scalps. We have 60 products, and we’re constantly innovating.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
I would start by identifying your passion and what you want to achieve. In my case, I wanted to create haircare products that would change the world.
I didn’t know anyone else who was doing that — and since there was no one who could teach me, I had to educate myself. I took courses with some of the world’s top cosmetic chemists, did my own extensive research, and started experimenting with my own formulas. At some point in the process, I needed to find people like Marie, my cosmetic chemist, to educate me about how to refine and preserve and manufacture my formulas for a broader market. To find her, I called someone I knew who worked in the cosmetics industry and he referred me to Marie’s lab.
With that sorted, I turned to marketing. I knew that I had created something really different and that I needed to get the word out. Being from Boston, I was familiar with the concept of town cryers, so I turned to the modern equivalent: beauty editors. What worked best for me was simply to get them to try my products or one of my treatments. I wanted to give them something so exciting, so unique and fresh that they could write a good story. It was a win-win.
Over 30 years later, I still like to be my own brand ambassador. I’m a big believer in the idea that you create your own excitement in the world and that you’re in charge of your own destiny. I travel often, educating stylists, performing treatments, and meeting people from different cultures and seeing what their needs are.
Finally, stay positive. Networking and building a business takes energy and enthusiasm. You need to believe in yourself and trust your gut.
Pricing:
- You’ll notice that my products have a higher price point. Please understand that when you make something exquisite and remarkable, it costs more. You can’t sell a Chanel dress for the price of an H&M dress.
- When you buy my products, you’re investing in yourself.
- My products range from $18 U.S. dollars (for 2 fl oz size of my Detangling Toning Mist) to $235 for my Russian Amber Gold Masque.
- The pricing is a reflection of the ingredients within each formula.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.phlipb.com
- Instagram: @philipb
