Vancouver dad-son duo Leonardo and Marco Redavid are building a hair-care empire based on nature’s bounty. —Noa Nichol
Tell us about your love for hair.
Leo: When I was a kid in Italy I’d hang around the barber shop in my neighbourhood. I liked the vibe there, where everyone would hang out. When I came to Canada I had to beg my dad to let me go to hairdressing school, and I learned really quickly. I had a love for it; it was very natural for me to do hair.
Marco: My dad had a super old-school family. When he said he wanted to do hairdressing it didn’t fly at all. Unfortunately, my dad lost both his parents at a young age. At 19 he had to look after his family, and at 24 he decided, "That’s it I’m going to follow my passion and become a hairdresser." My first passion was golf, and I became a golf pro, but eventually my passion shifted and I wanted to help my dad out on the business side of things.
What sets REDAVID apart?
Marco: I’d say it’s our protein, which is derived from sugar cane. It’s one of the most molecularly similar proteins to hair, so it binds really well. The chemist my dad’s worked with for 35 years said he had to try this Dynagen-R protein, it’s been scientifically proven to grow hair faster, to strengthen the follicle, to boost the nutrition from root to tip. My dad said, "OK, sure, I’m broke, but I’ll put it on my credit card." It cost $5,000 and the jar it came in was the size of a coffee tin. It’s super, super expensive, but man-oh-man it works. The minute my dad put it into his products people who had been coming into the salon every six weeks like clockwork started booking every five weeks because their roots were coming in so fast, their hair was growing like weeds. And then there are all the nice botanicals we use, like rosemary and ginseng and aloe vera. We use all naturally derived and plant-based formulas in our products. My dad’s been a flower child his whole life. When we go golfing he hits his ball into the bush and, when he comes out, he’s got flowers behind his ears.
Leo: I live in the West End so it’s kind of my backyard. Stanley Park has got so many beautiful plants and trees. Sometimes I’ll just go into the park and smell things and think, "Oh, this would be a great hand-cream fragrance." The true mark of an artist, I think, is to see the world in a different light. Any artist can find greatness and inspiration by opening themselves to the world around them. The artist asks, "What if?" and everything changes. I have always, for example, loved orchids—their elegant form, their symmetry, their beauty. One day, many years ago, I saw these flowers in a different light. The shine, the delicate, touchable softness in every petal. I wondered if the precious oil contained within the orchid can offer the same benefits to hair. I asked myself, "What if?" and that’s how REDAVID Orchid Oil was born.
What are the benefits of orchid oil when it comes to hair?
Marco: It gets rid of frizz, it detangles, it adds incredible shine and moisture to hair, but one of the coolest things we found when we started studying orchids was their anti-aging and moisture-balancing properties, which in part are the reason behind an orchid’s longevity. If you’ve ever had an orchid plant at home you know that it’s very low maintenance. You put an ice cube in its pot once a week and it lives. The reason is it contains components that regulate the amount of moisture the plant either absorbs or blocks. When these properties are on hair they act as a moisture balancer. If you’re in a really humid climate, the orchid oil won’t allow your hair to absorb that moisture and go poof. If you’re in a dry climate it will allow your hair to absorb moisture and stay soft. It also scavenges free radicals four times better than vitamins C and E combined.
Leo: I usually try to look up flowers or plants that last a long time because I feel they have some moisture properties. In this case it just happened that I love orchids and that Richard, my chemist, was already using this oil in skin products. Everything just came together beautifully.
How is orchid oil sourced?
Marco: The orchid plant that we use blooms twice a year. We steam distill the petals and the stems and that allows us to get the most oil out of the plant without altering its natural state. If you ever grabbed one of these orchids, they’re really thick and hardy. If you squeeze the petals you can actually see and feel the oil come out of the plant.
Leo: Like a little gummy bear!
How does Vancouver inspire you?
Leo: I’ve travelled a lot and Vancouver you can describe in one word: it’s fresh. I want to inspire the world with this beautiful British Columbia product. Sometimes Canadian people, they think we can’t do good stuff. They think something from France or something from Italy is better than something from Vancouver and our goal is to change that and put Vancouver on the map when it comes to the best hair-care products in the world.
Marco: Our bottles are blown in a company in Kelowna, our lab is in Vancouver, right off of Franklin Street, we get our labels from Burnaby, we do all our printing here, so we focus really hard on keeping everything local and supporting people here as well. We’re in salons now on Rodeo Drive in California beside the highest-end products in the world. Our product is sitting on those shelves and competing and representing. We’re proud to be supporting B.C. in all these ways.
Hair and happiness—what’s the connection?
Leo: You’ve been to a salon, right? You sit in the chair and you get a shampoo done and it feels amazing. All your worries are washed away. And then there’s nothing like getting a nice hair cut, a beautiful blow dry. Your hair feels like silk, you’re rejuvenated and you’re happy.
Marco: During our Orchid Oil Challenge last year we sent out about 15,000 samples to Canadians who signed up. Every day I was waking up to messages and emails from people thanking us for creating an amazing product. It was humbling, I wasn’t expecting that. I knew we had a good product, but there was a lady that messaged me saying it gave her more confidence, her hair hadn’t looked this good in 20 years and it’s actually changed her life. That’s the power of hair, the power of looking and feeling good and walking down the street with confidence because you’re having a great hair day!
Leo: I’ve been a hair dresser pretty much all my life and when I quit two years ago from cutting hair it was probably my saddest day, close to when I lost my parents, because saying goodbye to so many people you’ve loved and shared secrets with … a hair dresser can make you very happy, and so can beautiful hair. It’s not everything, but it’s something.
Win! A $184 REDAVID Prize Pack!
We have a winner! Congratulations Karen F. of Vancouver, who won a REDAVID prize pack valued at $184 and containing the entire Orchid Oil line of products!
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