Beauties, we’re passionate about celebrating brands from across the world. Recently, we reached out to Rámon Taitz, haircare brand Founder Haer to talk about his Natural Botanical hair brand in our latest Founders Talk interview… let’s get started!

What inspired you to create your brand, HÆR?

HÆR founder and haircare specialist Rámon Taitz was driven to natural hair care when he became frustrated at the lack of truly natural, high-quality products available today.

Whilst working with many products, particularly hair oils, Rámon always found them to be made with either artificial silicones and petroleum-based serums or formulated with very basic plant oils that were often too oily. Rámon always found it difficult to use a styling and treatment oil that was of complete natural botanical origin, that offered all the benefits you’d want from an oil without the oily residue.

Nobody wants heavy, oily hair! So, armed with 20 years’ experience in the hairdressing industry and a long-standing love for organic and natural living, Rámon set out to create the first in the HÆR Care family, a nourishing treatment oil, exquisitely blended with 18 of the most effective, 100% natural botanical origin ingredients, that would deliver great results without leaving an oily residue.

In creating HÆR, Rámon responded to a natural calling that led him on to look to the past, where the ancients created many remedies and preparations for the Health of Hair.

Upon discovering what the ancients knew, Rámon was guided upon a journey of incredible discovery that traversed 5 years in research at various libraries and societies the world over.

Upon his research, Rámon was introduced to many compelling and intriguing remedies once written for the Health of Hair, and it is within these pages of ancient texts where Rámon discovered SUSINUM. An ancient Egyptian remedy once worshipped for its exquisite and seductive scent and revered as a healing and restorative remedy for the Health of Hair.

Instinctively Rámon knew SUSINUM would be the first in the new HÆR Care line up.

Taking the original recipe into the laboratory, Rámon worked with acclaimed perfumers and chemists, researching, and reformulating the ancient recipe, combining ancient natural botanical medical wisdom with sustainable modern scientific practices, and after 5 years in the making the much-anticipated SUSINUM Luxuriant Hair Oil was born.

I’m curious… what is ‘SUSINUM’?

SUSINUM is a beautifully lightweight, nourishing oil suitable for all hair types.

Offering optimum nourishment, shine & styling ease.

ULTRA LIGHT . NON-GREASY

100% Natural Botanical Origin

Formulated with Certified Organic & Natural Ingredients

Ethical . Vegan . Cruelty-Free . GMO-Free

Formulated with sustainable modern scientific practices, Fragrant SUSINUM Luxuriant Hair Oil is enriched with eighteen of the most effective, 100% Natural Botanical Origin Ingredients, exquisitely blended to deliver glossy, healthy-looking hair.

Nourishing Moringa, health-giving Pomegranate, regenerative Black Cumin and stimulating Watermelon Seed oil all add to this unique Health for Hair formula.

SUSINUM Luxuriant Hair Oil is born from an ancient Egyptian recipe known as the Egyptian SUSINUM.

One of the most highly prized, celebrated and sought after of all fragrant oils from ancient Egypt, a perfumed elixir lavishingly made with the essence of one-thousand blue Egyptian water lilies.

Documented in the 1st century A.D. by the Greek physician and botanist Pedanius Dioscorides in his Materia medica, a compendium of healing remedies that became the unarguable supremacy on medical lore that reigned for over 1500 years; SUSINUM held pride of place in this herbal compendium as a rejuvenating and restorative remedy especially prescribed for the Health of Hair.

Steeped in ancient Balanos oil known as Egyptian Balsam, and fragranced with aromatic botanicals of Cinnamon, Saffron, Cardamom, and Myrrh, SUSINUM was exalted as a perfumed oil of the highest excellence, exclusively made for the elite and royal upper classes of Egyptian Society. Exuding an aura of rarity and exclusiveness, SUSINUM was worn for its heavenly and euphoric aroma, ceremoniously used to anoint hair and body as a rich symbol of eternal beauty and feminine sensuality.

Royal, Opulent and Seductive, SUSINUM was exotic, and its scent was majestic, a triumph amongst all fragranced oils of ancient Egypt.

It is said that Cleopatra VII drenched the purple sails of her royal barge in fragrant SUSINUM, as she set sail to seduce Mark Anthony.

Recalling that momentous occasion when she arrives on her stately barge, Shakespeare wrote over 16 centuries later:

“Purple the sails, and so perfumed that the winds were lovesick with them”

Shakespeare, Anthony and Cleopatra, Act II, Scene 2

Once the preserve of an ancient elite, this seductive and sensual oil is now available through HÆR’s range of HÆR Care products.

What’s your favourite oil for the hair and why? ramon

My favourite oils for the hair are those that are beautifully lightweight and nourishing, namely: watermelon seed oil, pomegranate seed oil, moringa seed oil and black seed oil. Just four of eighteen, 100% natural botanical origin ingredients exquisitely blended to deliver glossy, healthy-looking hair. Nourishing Moringa, health-giving Pomegranate, regenerative Black Cumin and stimulating Watermelon all add to the unique HÆR Care formula.

Are hair oils for all hair types and what’s the benefits for different hair types? (Curly, straight, thin etc)

Not all hair oils are for all hair types, as most hair oils tend to be oily in nature, thus on fine, thin hair, this would make the hair feel overly oily, lank, and heavy. SUSINUM suits this hair type beautifully, as it has a unique advantage in that its lightweight, dry-oil formula ensures it won’t weigh fine hair down, offering optimum nourishment, shine, and styling-ease without the onset of oily hair.

Thick, curly, volumous hair would also benefit from SUSINUM as its nourishing, antioxidant properties would help smooth and tame dry, split ends and frizz, whilst SUSINUM’s shine complex would assist in providing glossy shine. Those with thick, curly hair often suffer with dry, lack-lustre hair, therefore those with this hair type would benefit using SUSINUM as the oil will smooth and define their curls, whilst adding lustre without making the hair look oily.

Straight hair types would also benefit, as those that desire sleek, straight, even iron-straight hair can apply SUSINUM to mid-lengths to ends of their straightened hair to provide a smooth, sleek finish without oily build-up.

What makes SUSINUM Luxuriant Hair Oil so special, and desirable is that its lightweight formula ensures it is a beautifully lightweight, nourishing treatment oil suitable for all hair types.

SUSINUM Luxuriant HÆR Oil Benefitshaer

NOURISHING
Enriched with nourishing oils, extracts and antioxidants to help restore and revitalise the appearance of dry, weakened, and damaged hair.

LIGHTWEIGHT & NON-GREASY
Beautifully lightweight in texture, this non-greasy, dry oil formula offers quick absorption and quick drying without oily residue. Leaves hair feeling clean.

SHINE
Hair feels incredibly soft and silky with added glossy shine.

STYLING EASE
Helps smooth the appearance of split ends and helps reduce frizz. Assists with combing stubborn tangles.

FRAGRANT
Exquisitely blended to create a subtle fragrance, reminiscent of the ancient scent, with a timeless appeal.

INGREDIENTS
100% Natural Botanical Origin

Made with certified Organic & Natural Ingredients.

ETHICAL
Vegan, Cruelty-free, GMO-Free.

HÆR is registered with The Vegan Society and approved under the Leaping Bunny programme by Cruelty Free International, the international gold standard for cruelty free products.

SUSTAINABLE
No synthetic or chemical-based ingredients. Kind to you and the environment.

Has the pandemic impacted your brand?

ramonA very strong and ever-growing trend to have arisen from the pandemic is the awareness of personal health and wellbeing. Many who are becoming far more self-aware are now choosing to opt for personal care products, toiletries and cosmetics that are of natural origin. They are opting for products that are not laden with chemicals, parabens, preservatives, and synthetic ingredients often found in so many personal care products that may contribute towards ill-health.

We therefore have found that those looking to purchase haircare are turning to brands like HÆR who are able to provide haircare products made from 100% natural botanical origin.

What is in your wellbeing toolkit?

At HÆR our values are simple. We believe in combining the natural botanical medical wisdom of our ancestors with sustainable modern scientific practice to create 100% natural origin, ethical, luxury haircare for today. Formulated using certified organic and natural ingredients, HÆR Care products are Vegan, Cruelty-free, and GMO-free.

Our products are formulated with biodegradable, renewable, and sustainable ingredients. Offering complete harmony with ourselves and the environment.

Our products do not contain parabens, preservatives, synthetic ingredients, nor do they contain silicones, or ingredients made from petroleum fossil fuels. We pride ourselves in being 100% naturally derived.

HÆR is committed to a greener and healthier future, both for people and for our planet. We believe that taking care of the world around us is central to caring for ourselves.

HÆR is registered with The Vegan Society and approved under The Leaping Bunny Programme by Cruelty Free International, the international gold standard for cruelty free products.

Many hair oils available today are either silicone-based serums, or oils made from basic plant oils. Silicones have an advantage in that they are not ‘oily,’ but they are not of natural origin and are detrimental to the environment.

Natural oils on the other hand are from natural sources and are kind to the environment, but they are simply too oily.

There are very few, if any oils on the haircare market today that combine the advantages of both – providing a non-oily finish whilst remaining 100% naturally derived.

SUSINUM Luxuriant Hair Oil meets this demand – providing the market with a beautifully lightweight, ultra-dry, styling and treatment oil made from 100% natural botanical origin that delivers all the benefits you’d expect from an oil, naturally, without the oily residue.

What’s next for the brand?

We are currently developing a follow-on shampoo and conditioner in the SUSINUM family of haircare products. Watch this space!!

Thank you, Ramon x

You can read our review of the Haer oil here.