The Toronto Hair Studio That’s Doing What It Can to Be Sustainable

I hate the word ‘salon,’” says Olivia Colacci, which is why the hairstylist called Twentyseven, her recently opened business in Toronto, a “hair studio” instead. “It’s that ‘salon hair,’” she says of her distaste for the word. Formulaic blow-drys are not Colacci’s thing; she’s spent the last 10 years working on teams led by editorial hair luminaries like Guido Palau, Sam McKnight and James Pecis. And it’s been an education unlike any other. “There are no rules, and you can’t say no to anything,” she says. “It teaches you speed as well.”

Now she’s ready to slow down; she’s still going to do runway, just be more selective. In addition to offering cuts, colour and makeup services, Colacci has stocked her place with either staples from her own editorial kit (Mason Pearson brushes, YS Park combs and diffusers, Oribe) or clean-beauty brands from around the world, like Toronto’s Florés Boticario, Parma’s Davines and Sydney’s Salt by Hendrix.

The space itself is also sustainable. Many of the items are repurposed, like the couch at reception that her brother had powder coated and reupholstered in millennial pink. She also works with Green Circle Salons, a company that transforms salon waste. “Everything is put into certain bins so that they can properly dispose of it and recycle it,” she says. Foils used for colour are rinsed and recycled, and hair remnants from cuts get a second life in mats used to soak up oil spills.

“It’s more effort sourcing items and an extra cost to send things,” she says, referencing the waste she collects in seven different garbage bins. “But it’s little things that become a habit once you’re used to them. I’m trying to do the best I can.”