Holistic Haircare Innovation: An Interview with Flora Lab Paris’ Nikolina Kisic Mamic
*FLORA LAB PARIS
*FLORA LAB PARIS
Nikolina Kisic Mamic, the driving force behind Flora Lab Paris, has a mission: to revolutionize haircare by treating the scalp with the same precision and care as skincare. With a rich family history in professional hairdressing and years of experience in the beauty industry, Nikolina has transformed her passion into a brand that addresses the root causes of hair problems.
Flora Lab Paris emerged from Nikolina's realization that the market was saturated with products that merely masked issues rather than solving them. She saw a need for treatments that go deeper, focusing on the health of the scalp to promote truly beautiful hair. After six years of dedicated development and consumer testing, Flora Lab Paris now offers some of the most concentrated and clean haircare products available, formulated with biomimetic ingredients for immediate and lasting results.
In this interview, Nikolina shares the inspiration behind Flora Lab Paris and discusses the concept of "skinification" of haircare.
What inspired the creation of Flora Lab Paris, and how does it reflect your personal journey in the beauty and haircare industry?
The gap in the market. The hair care industry focuses on taking care of the hair fiber, even though we know that the scalp is important. They only care about the finished results, by masking the problems not resolving them. However, most of the products on the market are shampoos and masks/conditioners and those products do not contain the right ingredients to really be effective.
I have been in the industry my whole life; from the minute I was born. I come from a heritage of professional hairdressing. Then I developed and marketed beauty and haircare products for my entire career. At one point I realized there is a huge need gap for hair spas and facial like hair treatments, especially in spas and resorts, and this is how Flora was born. From 10 days of the idea sitting in my head, then 6 years in development with very extensive and numerous consumer tests and trials, and here we are.
I am proud to say that Flora is the most concentrated, clean, luxurious hair care brand in the World. Our formulas are highly concentrated with biomimetic ingredients and highly effective from the first application. I am super picky, super detailed and a perfectionist.
Flora Lab Paris positions itself at the intersection of haircare and skincare. Could you elaborate on the philosophy behind "scalp care as the new hair care"?
Scalp is a skin organ. Hair fiber is created in our root, in the hair bulb by collagen. So it needs to be cared for at the cellular level. If you want gorgeous hair, hair that grows fast, with amazing texture, hair that does not fall out, you need to work on the stimulation of collagen and stem cells. Same principles as caring for your skin. Collagen, stem cells and a clean and balanced scalp are the key for beautiful hair, not the approach of caring only for the fiber. Once grown, fiber/hair is a dead body. It is like a piece of fabric, which is why I define hairdressers as the makeup artists for the hair. This being said, we have two professions: Hair Therapists
(invented by Flora - like spa therapists but for the head & hair) and Makeup artists for hair - Hairdresser.)
Remember if you really want to care for your hair, grow it beautiful and healthy, prevent it from falling out and maintain or improve its density level, you need to act on the following 4 factors:
1. Collagen
2. Stem Cell
3. Microbiome of the scalp
4. Fiber
And that is what we do with Flora. We are positioned as a Biological Hair Science Brand and we take a much more profound approach.
Your brand is known for its emphasis on clean beauty and biological hair science. What does clean beauty mean to you, and how is it incorporated into your products?
Clean beauty means that Flora represents Super Food for Hair. In Flora you will find only the purest, clean forms of biomimetic ingredients that your scalp, hair root, hair bulb, cells, and fiber need and/or are made of. There is nothing harmful, toxic or damaging in our product. Flora is like eating the highest quality clean, non-modified foods to get all the nutrients, vitamins, and minerals that your body needs. Flora gives you only what your hair needs to function properly, and all the necessary nutrients so the metabolism of cells can function the right way and produce beautiful hair.
For example, if you have sulfates or similar harsh chemicals in the shampoo, they will be too harsh and they will disturb your natural microbiome. You will weaken and disturb your own immune defense of your scalp, and you’ll be much more exposed to scalp sensitivity and imbalances, inflammations like dandruff, itchiness, and eczema. Furthermore, if your shampoo contains unnecessary ingredients for a cleansing product, for example ceramides, this will further create imbalances. Ceramides are lipids, and you cannot cleanse with something that is greasy. These will create a product residue. There are a lot of contradictions in hair care products and the ways we were taught until now.
And this is why I created Flora, to change that. To empower people to treat their scalp and hair in the right way.
In Flora you have only naturally derived, biomimetic ingredients that are scientifically proven.
The concept of "Olfactory Emotions" is intriguing. Can you share how scent plays a role in your product development and user experience?
The olfactory sense is extremely important. It is one of the most important senses and very connected to our emotions and our inner selves, to our wellbeing.
This is why I chose to have an exclusive “nose”, to give sensorial, emotions to all the science. Flora creates journeys. It is an integrated approach to the health and beauty of scalp and hair in an unparalleled and innovative way.
Emotions and sensory are very important and correlate in obtaining the results. It is all connected. We act on neurons through sensorial experience, but also through our massages. Flora activates all senses.
Flora’s olfactory journeys around the islands of the world awaken memories and invite you to experience this unique fusion of science and sensoriality of its high-end formula and textures.
The fusion of science and sensoriality is a core aspect of your brand. How do you balance these elements in your product formulations?
By using the highest quantity ingredients of a controlled origin in its purest forms. When you use clean ingredients and you mix them precisely, the results are amazing, exactly as they need to be.
Also, the very technical formulas are fragrance free, to be in its pure ingredient form. They need to do a technical job of giving targeted results. All the products you use with water are fragrance journeys. Being with yourself in the shower is an intimate and emotional moment, it is a wellness and wellbeing journey, and we accompany it with olfactory experiences.
In Flora everything is very thought through, thoughtful but also intuitive, and then when you mix those two, everything is just the right balance.
Flora is a reflection of me; on one side very structured, technical, results driven and the other, emotional and sensorial.
I wanted Flora to be a result-driven brand giving immediate, visible results but also a wellness brand, sensual and seductive.
Can you discuss the importance of a customized hair care routine and how your products cater to this need?
Flora is all about personalization. I developed Flora out of the need for personalization. We are all human beings, no matter the race, gender, age, our biology functions, we’re all the same, just on a different speed depending on our age and aging process. So, segmentation by type of hair or by gender for me is not right. What is right and honest is to be able to personalize and fine tune each product and the treatments to one’s individual needs.
This is the DNA of Flora. Our foundation.
So, with Flora you have indefinite possibilities of personalization of products and treatments.
I am so proud that we offer our key pure ingredients in its pure, clean form in the format of 30 ml or 15ml: Hyaluronic Acid, Amino Acids, Ceramides, Keratin, Lipopeptides, Microbiome Booster. These are the key ingredients that your scalp, collagen, and hair root need and/or are made of. We are a transparent and honest brand.
Your approach includes a significant focus on the scalp's microbiome. Why is this focus crucial for hair health, and how do your products support it?
Your Microbiome is your immune defense, in your digestive tract, on your body, face, the scalp. Balancing the microbiome is a key to one’s health. By eating “bad “, industrially modified foods, we damage our inner microbiome. By using harsh products or by external factors, we damage our skin and scalp microbiome. When the scalp microbiome is disturbed, our defense is compromised and we are more prone to getting attacked by viruses, yeast, bacteria, and inflammations. Dandruff is a yeast disease. When our microbiome is in balance, we will be protected from the above. We will be strong and protected by our own mix of “good and bad bacteria”, our own micro flora. So, if you deeply cleanse your scalp, with the right “clean”, not harsh ingredients and if you do not damage, but rather balance your microbiome, you will not have dandruff or other scalp issues.
Flora Lab Paris is pioneering in haircare skinnification. Could you explain this concept and its significance in your product line?
It is a skin care approach to haircare. It is the only correct way to really care for your hair. To have healthy and beautiful hair, it is not enough to only concentrate on the fiber, and yet most of the products on the market only provide cosmetic results.
Flora’s approach is more profound, to take care of the scalp and balance its microbiome, to act on collagen stimulation and stimulation of the stem cells and to act deep into the cortex of the fiber.
Flora’s approach is holistic not only aesthetic and on the surface.
Collaboration with Clémence Besse for the fragrance aspect of your products is quite unique. How did this partnership come about, and what has it brought to Flora Lab Paris?
Yes, it very unique. The idea is to combine science and sensorial experiences. Flora is very results driven, but also a brand that provides an experience. It is important to be. To give the sensoriality and emotions to all the science, I decided to combine our formulas with perfumes, and create unique olfactory emotional experiences.
The olfactory aspect is very important. It is an extremely powerful sense, and it is important in Flora’s journeys and protocols.
Flora is all about unique, tailor made and of the highest quality, and so are the fragrances.
Clemence is a very unique and delicate perfumer with such a subtle and creative nose, very artistic, yet very innovative. Our collaboration is very inspiring and creative.
I want Flora to have an artistic and creative touch in all facets.
You've introduced haircare to the luxury wellness retreats and high-end salons. How do these collaborations enhance the visibility and reach of your brand?
For me, Spa treatments should not finish with the face, they need to incorporate the whole body. I saw a need gap there, specifically with hair, and offerings in the hair sector in hotels. So I created Hair Wellness protocols with Skinification of Hair Approach. These places are the perfect match for Flora as Flora is a Luxury Molecular Skin Therapy For Hair /Hair Spa brand. And those places and the guests of those places need and crave this. These collaborations are the DNA of Flora.
The brand boasts a bespoke treatment experience. Can you share how personalized hair care has impacted your clientele and their hair health?
Amazingly. We have an extremely high loyalty rate. Whoever tries Flora they never go back to their old products. The results are visible from the first application and the scalp and hair are completely restored as you can personalize each treatment and product to one’s needs and fine tune the concentration of key active ingredients. It really is a revolution.
With the concept of "HairFacial," Flora Lab Paris introduces a new paradigm in haircare. How do you envision this concept evolving in the beauty industry?
This is the future. I am so happy and proud that I pioneered it. It is the new segment in the industry that Flora started, and it is a huge market. The industry until today is/was mostly aesthetic, and instead of providing care with a deeper approach, it is/was actually acting as make up for hair. So now is the time that this big disruption is happening.
The emphasis on unique ingredients like FP5® Biome and FMP10® is fascinating. Can you delve into the research and development process for these proprietary blends?
These are our key complexes found in all of our products.
FP5® Biome is our exclusive functional active complex that combines amino acids, marine bioactives and micro peptides to have a beneficial effect on the bacterial microbiome and fibroblast cells to produce collagen and elastin. Our miracle blend for a balanced microbiome and healthy scalp.
FMP10® is our exclusive blend of micropeptides and pure short-chain hyaluronic acid of the highest quality for fiber structure, strength and density.
They are the key for the holistic biology of hair approach.
We tested Flora for six years before it came to market.
The role of fragrance in beauty and wellness is evolving. How does Flora Lab Paris leverage scent to enhance the user experience beyond just haircare?
Exactly with our fragrance journeys and the concept around fragrance, as well as with our unique sensorial rituals within the treatments.
Our tailor-made fragrances are a very important part of Flora’s DNA. The olfactory aspect is extremely important to enhance any wellness experience.
In the future, how does Flora Lab Paris plan to expand its product line or enter new markets while maintaining its core values and quality?
Flora is a holistic, wellness and lifestyle brand. Most of our hair and scalp products can be used on the body, or on the face. We use dermato- cosmetic ingredients, super food for the skin, scalp, hair. We are also very big on devices and are currently developing a few additional ones. We always provide a 360-degree approach. A fusion of the highest quality clean ingredients with high tech and biotech, and an artisanal approach to the details. Our creativity is endless, and this is so exciting. I am so passionate about Flora, and it is a blessing to be able to contribute and make a difference.
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