1. style and fashion
2. beauty
3. hair care

The Beauty Industry Report Visit bironline.com
HSA: Your personal beauty development partner
H
BIR: Tell me more about your 360-degree
BIR: Welcome, Stefano. How did HSA get its
SA Hair Styling Applications is a European
approach to beauty. What does that mean?
leader in beauty brand development focused start and how have you grown?
SZ: We offer a full-service partnership to
Stefano Zanzi (SZ): Our heritage is in hair
on providing innovative, first-to-market products.
brand marketers. We are not simply product
color, which is still our core business. But today,
The company was established in Italy in 1982
suppliers. Rather, we work closely with our
we have expanded beyond
with hair color as its core
clients throughout the entire process of their
that, offering hair color, hair
business, then expanded
brand’s development. In fact, our business model
care and now skin care
into hair care and skin
includes every brand development phase such
products.
care. Today, it
as marketing analysis, product concepts,
First and foremost, we
manufactures more than
formulation, production, packaging and
are partners for beauty
100 brands, which are
product marketers striving to marketing strategies.
marketed in more than
BIR: What roles do you and your brother each
launch their own brands. To
90 countries. In addition
fill in the company? What brought you to the
be top quality brand
to providing private label
beauty business?
developers, we blend two
product services, HSA
SZ: HSA is a family-owned company, founded
assets: science and
also offers its own
by our father, a chemist specializing in hair color
technology meet the Italian
brands—Nouvelle and
Stefano and Davide Zanzi, president and style. We take inspiration
formulation. Today, I manage the company’s
Silky—plus the new
CEO, respectively, lead HSA Cosmetics, a from culture and history,
finances and Davide is the plant manager.
Eslabondexx, which
family business founded by their father, a
Together, we set up our strategies in sales and
fashion
and
design,
to
create
debuted at Cosmoprof
chemist specializing in hair color
technology, constantly innovating our
the
most
innovative,
Bologna.
formulation.
manufacturing system, R&D laboratories and,
trustworthy and appealing
The company is led by
therefore, the products, systems and services we
solutions to salons’ and
brothers Stefano Zanzi,
can offer to customers.
consumers’ beauty challenges. Each project or
president, and Davide Zanzi, CEO, who embody
BIR: Who are your customers?
line has its own story
the two complementary souls of the
SZ: We typically partner with big brands to
organization: strategic vision and pragmatism. On that’s based on a
expand their portfolios with innovations, but we
concept that starts
one side, they are forward-thinking, always
work also with importers, distributors and
with innovative R&D.
looking for new challenges in premium beauty.
retailers focused on professional products.
Our laboratories
Their goals are to develop the best formulations,
BIR: How long have you done business with
are staffed by
while being trendsetters who offer innovative
the U.S. market?
and inspiring products. On the other hand,
SZ: We have a long history in the United
they are practical and concrete, striving
States with some of the brands that we
to make the constant search for
manufacture. We expect our business there to
innovations in ingredients, formulations
increase dramatically this year with the
and industrial processes the pulsing core
launch of Eslabondexx.
of the company. Over its 30 years in
BIR: You promote your “active
business, HSA has evolved from a hair
innovation” process. What does
color manufacturer into a true marketing
that mean and what are the
partner that takes a 360-degree approach
benefits?
to beauty, becoming comprehensive
SZ: At HSA, we start with natural
specialists in hair color, hair care, hair
bases
for our hair products. Then, we
styling, and recently, skin care.
Optimage provides timeless beauty, thanks to formulas rich with
hyaluronic
acid,
collagen
and
amino
acids,
providing
hair
with
renewed
add
breakthrough
solutions in the
Beauty Industry Report recently
body.
form of active ingredients. We use
met with Stefano to learn how his
these actives to form new ingredient complexes
inventive formulators and scientists who
company can help North American marketers
that create high-quality cosmetics products.
develop exclusive formulas for our customers.
create the unique brands and products that will
For example, the new Eslabondexx system,
The pursuit of the highest quality of excellence
allow them to develop and grow. We are
which we launched at Cosmoprof Bologna,
is the other pillar of our organization and allows
delighted to share his story with our readers in
delivers soybean isoflavones, cysteine and
us to guarantee absolute reliability.
this issue.
20 MARCH 2015
Don’t Go Breaking My
Hair
sodium laureth sulfate, silicones, mineral oils,
coloring agents or alcohol.
BIR: Your headquarters must be fabulous.
SZ: Our main factory and headquarters is in
Italy, where we produce hair color and hair
care. Our factory and labs cover 480,000
square feet. On a daily basis, we produce 30
tons of hair color packaged in 150,000 tubes
plus bulk packaging. More than 35 full trucks
leave daily for national and international
destinations. We also have a sister company in
Switzerland, where we have R&D labs and a
factory dedicated primarily to skin care.
BIR: Tell me more about your hair color
heritage.
SZ: Hair color is still our core business, and
we take pride in constantly
exceeding our own standards by
HSA’s NEW Eslabondexx eliminates hair
developing new and trenddamage! This year at Cosmoprof Bologna, HSA
inspiring nuances. Our R&D team
unveiled its newest innovation, Eslabondexx.
works daily to enlarge our
Used in combination with chemical hair
portfolio, and today, we offer
treatments, this system prevents damage before
more than 500 color shades and
it starts and repairs damage caused by internal
innovative tailor-made products
disulfide bond breakage. It creates new bonds
for our clients. No matter what
and buffers existing ones to deliver elasticity,
the formula, we guarantee
strength, condition and suppleness. Eslabondexx
intense color saturation and
will be available from the company’s U.S.
shiny results!
distribution center starting in May. Learn more
Just a few of the hair color
at eslabondexx.com.
formula options we offer include oxidation
with ammonia, ammonia-free oxidation, PPD-free
formulas, resorcinol-free formulas, gel color
phytoceramide throughout the hair’s structure
formulas, oil color formulas and demi, semi and
with a new technology derived from skin care. It
temporary color categories. We use only lastprotects the hair’s structure from the cuticle to
generation pigments, ensuring perfect adherence
the cortex to prevent damage before it starts.
In addition, we aim to create safe and healthy to the hair’s structure for uniform and longlasting color. Our gentle formulas provide
formulas that are made
perfect results, leaving the hair with maximum
without added parabens,
combability, softness and moisture.
polyethylene glycol,
We also provide a wide
sodium lauryl sulfate,
range of bleaching
systems, hair
treatments,
finishing and
styling products for
all types of hair.
BIR: Tell me about
your brands,
Nouvelle, Silky
The evolution of color: Lively is the newest ammonia- and PPD-free
and
the new
coloration from Nouvelle.
Eslabondexx.
SZ: Nouvelle and Silky are our two
worldwide established brands of professional
hair colors and hair care. We distribute those in
more than 90 countries.
We recently added new innovation to
Nouvelle with Lively, a new ammonia- and PPDfree hair color range that colors and nourishes
the hair without damage. Both Nouvelle and
Silky also include two new outstanding systems
called Hi-Fill and Optimage. These products
repair the hair’s structure using natural skin fillers.
This new revolutionary technology creates antiaging hair treatments that keep the hair healthy
and youthful, erasing the signs of time and
providing body.
As mentioned previously, our newest
breakthrough innovation is Eslabondexx, a
system used in combination with chemical hair
treatments to prevent damage before it can even
Hi-Fill offers hair care treatments with
anti-aging benefits.
start. Eslabondexx creates new internal bonds
and buffers existing ones to deliver added
elasticity, strength, enhanced condition and
suppleness. This three-part synergistic system is
used in combination with bleaching, coloring,
straightening and perming. It does not interfere
with their application time or final results or
create barriers for lifting and coloring. Plus, it
improves the overall hair and treatment results.
For more information about developing your
own line or distributing one of HSA’s brands,
reach Gabriele Binetti, export manager/private
label development, at +39 0332 474 654 or
[email protected]; Paolo
Pattano, export manager/own brands, at
+39 0332 474 654 or
[email protected] or Lorenzo
Zago, export manager/own brands, at +39 0332
474 654 or [email protected]. To
learn more, visit hsacosmetics.com and
eslabondexx.com.
MARCH 2015 21