Before Lisa Giles became the educator and beauty influencer Lisa G @lifeoflisag with close to a quarter-million TikTok followers, she was a hairdresser discovering how Malibu C’s Crystal Gel removes mineral buildup from hair. Now, having used the brand for a decade, Lisa G specifically mentions it in her advice.
“I saw so much success behind the chair, and my clients saw so much benefit for their hair, that I thought hairdressers should learn how Malibu C can elevate their time with clients,” Lisa G says. “It’s about both the outcome and the experience. Malibu C provides a significantly cleaner, healthier outcome, which boosts stylists’ income while giving the client a feeling of really being seen and cared for.”
As stylists know that level of authentic experience makes clients trust you. They’re likely to become regular clients, build their tickets, and refer friends to you.
Here, Lisa G explains it in her signature way.
“I use the whole Malibu C ecosystem and send clients home with care products. I no longer speak about services but instead think in terms of the experiences I provide behind the chair that will build me a ‘no bullshit’ clientele.”
What’s So Bad About Water?
Hard water, present in much of the country, contains calcium and magnesium, according to Brittany Cook, Global Education & Customer Care Administrator at Malibu C. Just check your dishes when they come out of the dishwasher, Cook tells stylists. Water spots or a chalky look? Those are telltale signs of calcium and magnesium. But hard water isn’t the only culprit.
“All water exposes hair to minerals like iron, copper, silicas, and other minerals,” Cook says. “Sometimes salon owners tell us they have a water softener installed, but that means they’re adding salt, which causes other problems.” The bottom line, she continues, is simple: if you use water, you need Malibu C.
To help clients determine how hard or soft the water is in your part of the country, guide them to Malibu C’s online Water Report. When they insert their zip code, the page instantly generates an assessment of their “personal water profile” along with their locality’s water source and treatment plant. They can also supply information about their hair to learn more about how their local water impacts their style and hair health.
If water’s damaging elements had their own periodic table, it would look like this:
Copper
Sources: Underground water; particles from copper pipes; copper sulfates added to swimming pools and drinking water to control algae growth.
Signs on hair: Green tint on light hair; muddy tint on dark hair; heavy feel to the hair; unwanted outcomes for color, perm and relaxer services.
Calcium
Sources: Found naturally in the ground, especially where limestone is present; injected into water systems as part of the water treatment process.
Signs on hair: Dry hair that feels weighed down; perms that mysteriously relax; flaking on the scalp; hair breakage; blocked hair growth.
Magnesium
Sources: Abundant in soil; associated with hard water.
Signs on hair: Appearance of a film on hair; dry, brittle texture; frizz; breakage; scalp irritation; dandruff; fast color fading; rendering hair products less effective.
Iron
Sources: Well water; particles from iron or steel pipes.
Signs on hair: brassy blondes; orange tint; dark tint with unwanted red highlights; improper chemical processing; heaviness or other change in texture.
To learn more about how minerals and oxidizers affect your hair and skin, go to Malibu C’s website.
How Malibu C Ends Water Woes
There’s no way to get around using water to shampoo hair or rinse out color at the salon. Then, between visits, clients have their hair not only rinsed under the shower but possibly flowing free in swimming pools and catching the breeze in polluted, windy air. So virtually every client has mineral buildup. Malibu C scientists discovered that the purest form of ascorbic acid—freshly activated antioxidant vitamin C—is the most effective remedy for water’s damaging effects on hair.
Offering the Crystal Gel service gives your clients what’s essentially a professional hair detox. Crystal Gel’s little sachet packaging keeps the dry ascorbic acid inside at its highest potency until activated by water, and this freshness is the key to hair repair. No air gets in until you open the sachet and activate the vitamin C.
“When vitamin C is exposed to oxidation, the shelf life is so short that it quickly turns into a sugar,” Brittany Cook explains. “Then you’re no longer getting the benefits of vitamin C as an antioxidant.”
After opening the packet, to activate the dry ascorbic acid, just mix it with 2oz of water to form a gel. Work the gel into the hair thoroughly section by section, wrap the sections around the head, fit a cap on the head, and place the client under the dryer for 5 to 45 minutes depending on the severity of buildup. Remove the gel with your hands, applying pressure to extract it all. Then Cook advises shampooing with Malibu C Un-Do-Goo and styling as usual.
Results are immediate. Once you remove the metals, minerals, and environmental pollutants, the hair feels lighter, looks shinier, holds product and color longer, and even smells better, according to Lisa G. You’ll notice the difference, and so will the client, with the very first application.
Watch Brittany Cook demonstrate the Malibu C service.
More Remedies + Education from Malibu C
To customize each client’s experience, you can steer the consultation discussion toward additional help for their particular hair or hair problem. Malibu C products address a host of common client complaints that, ultimately, involve materials that shouldn’t be in their hair:
Low curl definition—Curl Partner Wellness Remedy helps restore bounce and definition to curls by removing buildup that can weigh them down.
Dull blonde hair—For both natural and highlighted blondes, Malibu Blondes Wellness Remedy brightens the hair and enhances true blonde tones while helping remove brassiness or muddiness, returning the hair to a vibrant, shiny blonde.
Extreme hard water mineral buildup—Hard Water Wellness Remedy takes on the toughest jobs.
Swimmers’ hair—For the swimmers in your chair, Swimmers Wellness Remedy helps remove copper and other minerals that can cause damage while neutralizing chlorine and bromine to reverse “green pool hair” and other discoloration, dryness, and tangles.
Dry scalp—Scalp Wellness Remedy soothes irritation and hydrates a dry, itchy scalp, promoting overall scalp health.
Request for hair extensions—Wefts + Extensions Wellness Remedy aids the extensions in blending seamlessly with the natural hair by removing the film coating on many extensions that protects them in the shipping process.
Brittany Cook encourages stylists to attend a full in-person or digital class.
“On Malibu Metaversity, a free app, we have tons of videos,” Cook says. “The best way to begin using Malibu C is to get the full story. In the end, if you use water, you need Malibu C!”
