Today I am back with a very exciting Interview – with Shane O’Sullivan, Founder of Easilocks. I am sure that many of you are aware of the hair extension and hair care range ‘Easilocks’. It is an Irish Brand that has found great successful by creating high quality, natural hair extensions that claim to not damage your natural hair.
Shane has created quite the celebrity following with the likes of Kendell Jenner, Gigi Hadid, Margot Robbie, Helen Flanagan and Alex Gerard being mentioned as fans according to Easilocks. And what he has now released is a range of hair care products which have also had rave reviews. He is a great example of an inspiring Irish Entrepreneur who through hard work and a driving passion has created a very successful business. I am delighted to be sharing an interview with him today on Floralesque.
I understand that you learned the hairdressing ropes from your father. Can you please tell us a little about the path from Salon to the owner of a very successful company?
My dad used to offer hair replacement services at the salon, mostly for male clients. When it came to female hair addition, the options available on the market were not the best. As hairdressers, we were aware that most systems could cause damage to natural hair. For this reason, we travelled the world, searching for and developing a method that we could trust in and then bring to the salon to suit our clients’ needs, such as damage free application.
We modified the “lock” method to be used in our own salon, the attachments are almost invisible and very comfortable to wear. As we know, word of mouth is the best advertisement channel out there and we started getting interest from other salons interested in offering the same method to their own clients! I believe then Easilocks Hair extension was born.
When I was at your launch last year I was blown away by the quality of your hair extensions. They were soft and really mimicked real hair. How important is the end quality of your product to you?
We have 2 types of products. The human hair extensions and the HD hair, which stands for – Heat Defiant. It absolutely looks and feels exactly like human hair. The quality of the hair is what comes first when developing a product. If the quality is not right, the colour will fade, the style will not be perfect – everything falls apart. Quality first, always!
You can read more about the 2016 launch here.
For those thinking of getting Easilocks hair extensions – are they hard to maintain? Do you have any quick tips?
Our methods are so comfortable that you forget you are wearing any hair extensions. The tip we always give is to use the home care products which are available in pharmacies nationwide. Other than that you can treat your hair extensions just like your own hair!
Easilocks has had some amazing successes and your extensions have been worn by many famous women all over the world. What has been the proudest moment in your career to date?
As a big fan, I was very excited to see Christina Aguilera wearing Easilocks (I really was!!). Also having my product being used and trusted by many respected hair stylists in Ireland, the UK and the US is something that makes me really proud. Other celebs include our own Vogue Williams, Made in Chelsea stars Binky Felstead and Stephanie Pratt, Hollywood actress Margot Robbie, supermodel Gigi Hadid and Kourtney Kardashian to mention but a few.
Is there anyone that you have styled that you have been particularly happy with the end result?
Last year I applied Easilocks on Margot Robbie’s hair. The result was so natural and she was really happy with them.
And on a slight side note, what piece of priceless advice would you give to women to help look after their hair?
HEAT PROTECTION! Almost everybody forgets that we need to protect our hair against heat when blow drying and styling hair. Heat protection oil is a must have product, it keeps the hair away from damage and also gives the hair a lovely shine! Our Home Care range includes a heat protector, the Rose Gold Oil. This is available in pharmacies nationwide for anyone who wants to protect their hair!
I am sure that as an entrepreneur there must be many challenges that have popped up along the way. What has been the greatest challenge with launching Easilocks?
I don’t think I can pick one challenge, I could say testing products could be the hardest challenge and we do this very often so we can guarantee a high level of quality for our Easilocks products.
Easilocks is very successful also on social media. It is clearly an area that you focus on – how important is social media to your brand?
In the past, hairstylists brought new products and systems to the salons and offered them to clients, now it’s a totally different game. The clients have a very easy source of information out there now and they are the one’s coming to the salon asking for the products they’ve seen worn by celebrities/bloggers etc.
So yes, we focus on showing people what Easilocks is all about, which results in the clients asking for Easilocks at their favourite salons or local pharmacies around the country.
What is the single best piece of advice that you received when launching your own business?
Do your research!! And a lot of testing! However, if you are able to showcase your knowledge, the products will sell themselves!
What does the future hold for Easilocks?
We hope Easilocks will continue to be the number one hair brand! The goal is to expand the retail side, and Easilocks clip ins and home care products will be available in a huge number of Pharmacies nationwide (we are already in a lot of them!).
A massive thank you to Shane for doing the interview. It is always fantastic to see an Irish Entrepreneur and businessman expanding so successfully and getting international clients as well. No doubt this is one brand that will keep going from strength to strength. I would highly advise checking out all of the products on their website, and you can also follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
If you enjoyed this interview in the ‘Floralesque Meets’ Series, then you can click here to read more exciting interviews with designers, creators, artists, photographers, entrepreneurs and more – enjoy meeting the makers!
All images kindly provided by Market Match PR for use.
