18 Years of Hairbond. Now We Step Up.
“Hair, style, barber culture and the business behind Hairbond.”
Hairbond turns 18 this year.
It began in Lancaster in 2008.
There was no grand office. No giant marketing budget. No safe route mapped out by consultants.
There was an idea.
Men deserved better hair products.
Barbers deserved products they could trust.
And a British brand could stand beside the biggest names in the world.
Eighteen years later, Hairbond is still here.
It has been used in barbershops, salons, homes and dressing rooms around the world.
That did not happen by accident.
It happened because the products worked.
It happened because barbers backed us.
It happened because customers bought one jar, then came back for another.
That support has carried Hairbond through every high, every mistake and every difficult year.
Thank you.
I mean that.
We Are Stepping Up
This is the start of the next Hairbond chapter.
We are improving the brand.
The products. The packaging. The photography. The website. The content. The way we support barbers and salons.
But we will not lose what made Hairbond work.
The quality stays.
The standards stay.
The character stays.
There are enough ordinary products hiding inside expensive jars.
Hairbond will not become one of them.
“I have spent 18 years building Hairbond. I am proud that it is still here, but I am not interested in living off the past. We are stepping the brand up. We will protect the quality, launch better products and give more back to the barbers, salons and customers who built this with us.”
Scott Michaels, founder of Hairbond
Three New Products Are Coming
We have three new Hairbond products on the way.
They are not being launched to make the range look bigger.
Each one must earn its place.
It must solve a problem.
It must perform.
It must feel like Hairbond.
We will reveal each product through this publication before and during launch.
You will see the thinking behind it.
You will see how it is used.
You will hear from the barbers and stylists testing it.
And you will know when it is ready to buy.
For the full Hairbond range, visit hairbond.com.
Barbers, salons and professional retailers can find wholesale products, launch offers and partner information at partners.hairbond.com.
What This Substack Is For
This will not be a weekly advert dressed up as an article.
There is enough of that online already.
This publication must be useful.
For customers, we will cover better hair, better style and how to choose the right product without the usual nonsense.
For barbers and salons, we will share marketing ideas, retail advice, shop stories and practical ways to grow sales.
We will look at what makes people walk into a salon.
What makes them return.
What makes them buy a product from the shelf instead of scrolling past one online.
We will feature independent barbers.
We will visit salons.
We will tell the stories of the people doing good work without huge budgets or corporate backing.
We will also announce meet-ups, product launches and salon events.
Some will be small.
That is fine.
Good brands are not built in conference rooms.
They are built face to face.
In shops.
In salons.
In conversations.
Using AI Without Losing the Human Part
We are using AI to make Hairbond better.
Not cheaper.
Better.
It can help us understand customers.
It can help us create stronger content.
It can help us test ideas, improve campaigns and speak to more barbers around the world.
It can help a small team move with the speed of a much larger one.
But AI does not have hands.
It has never stood behind a barber chair.
It has never opened a salon on a wet Monday morning.
It has never risked its own money on a product launch.
People still matter.
Taste still matters.
Experience still matters.
Quality still matters.
We will use new tools.
We will not let the tools use us.
The Next 18 Years
Hairbond has history.
But history alone does not sell a jar.
The product still has to work.
The brand still has to move.
The customer still has to care.
That is our job now.
Three new products are coming.
New salon launches are coming.
Meet-ups are coming.
Better content is coming.
A stronger Hairbond is coming.
Subscribe to follow the journey.
Visit hairbond.com to shop Hairbond.
Visit partners.hairbond.com to stock Hairbond in your barbershop, salon or store.
The first 18 years built the brand.
What we do next will define it.
Scott Michaels
Founder, Hairbond