Washing, coloring and cutting hair are not the most face mask friendly practices. It’s more than likely you’ve had a client whose trip to the salon has ended with shampooed and bleached mask loops behind the ears. So recently a few Twin Cities entrepreneurs – including former Aveda video director Dave McClellan – put their heads together and designed a mask specifically with the salon industry in mind.

The Keep It With You Mask, or KIWY Mask for short, is made for easy use on the go but shines brightest during haircuts. This is because the mask fastens with Velcro around the base of the neck, instead of looping behind the ears or head. With no loops or strap in the way stylists can do their work without restriction and still stay safe.

McClellan told Twin Cities Business that the KIWY Mask has turned out to be beneficial to much more than just the salon industry, serving everyone from essential workers to glasses and ear-bud wearers too. “It’s a cool little story about an innovation that starts with one particular industry–this idea of salons and this need that they saw very clearly because it comes from that world. And then all of a sudden, you realize, ‘Oh no, this is the general market application.’ It solves a lot of problems,” said Kevin Reilly, partner in the project and Fuss Marketing owner. 

KIWY masks are currently available for purchase at kiwymask.com and retail at $15 each. A wholesale program is also available for larger quantities, and sales are currently in progress with local retailers in the salon space.