Marie Claire UK Hair Awards 2021: Hair Heroes Winners

This year's Hair Awards have exposed us to some of the most incredible new hair products, brands and enterprises we've ever seen. These specific winners needed their own Hero category to highlight their brilliance, as well their vision and strive to make the world a better place.

Best Environmentally-Friendly Packaging

Winner: Bleach London - Rosé Shampoo Bar, £9

As more and more brands announce their take on sustainable responsibility, there is one company that has been quietly making headway with the planet at the heart of everything it does for years. Bleach's formulas are vegan and cruelty-free, it sells large refillable bottles for each of its products and it's big on reducing single-use plastic. Not only is its Rosé Shampoo Bar 100% plastic-free, it’s also the world’s first pink toning shampoo bar, and at £9, it makes sustainability accessible to the masses.

Runner up: The Body Shop Shea Butter Shampoo, £7

Best New Haircare Brand

Winner: Centred

Born out of the founder’s desire to repair the damage her previously stressful life had done to her health, Centred adds order and reliability into a messy world. During a time of so much unknown and confusion, this considered edit of products is just what we need right now. This winner aims to bring health and vitality back to hair that has suffered - it’s like skincare for your hair. You won’t find any unnecessary products here, each one is designed to promote a healthy head of hair. And we simply cannot get enough.

Best Sustainable Hair Tools Brand

Winner: Cloud Nine

When a brand takes it upon itself to set sustainable commitments, ensuring it's being as kind to our world as possible, we take note. One of Cloud Nine's commitments is to recycle your straighteners for you - even if it’s from another brand. Another is to reduce its packaging. If you opt for its eco box at checkout, they’ll plant 10 trees to reduce their carbon footprint. And if that wasn’t enough, any paper found inside their boxes has been printed in such a way, that it’s 100% carbon balanced.

Best New Hair Tools Brands

Winner: hur.

hur. is a mere five months old and in that time has shaken up the hair tool industry. Whilst we must congratulate the brand on its genius stylers - their ergonomically designed slanted plate is a must-have for creating beautiful loose beachy waves. It is its approach to waste that also makes it a deserved winner. They offer customers the option of having their tool delivered ‘naked’ to cut down on unnecessary packaging. Not only is it the best new hair tool brand, but it's one to follow in the footsteps of.

Best Hair Innovation

Winner: Redken Extreme Bleach Recovery Lamellar Treatment, £24

Hair transformation does not always mean a dramatic colour change or an above-the-ear crop. Sometimes the most incredible transformations happen on a more cellular level. Redken's Extreme Bleach Recovery Lamellar Treatment transforms hair from brittle, limp and lifeless, to smooth, nourished and bursting with life. We all know the damaging effects that bleach can have and yet that doesn’t stop us from demanding brighter and lighter hair. In fact, it’s the number one salon service. So any product that allows us to continue doing so deserves this award.

Runner up: Reduit One Pro Hair Treatment Applicator, £229

Best Ethical Hair Initiative

Winner: Remi Cachet Hair Extension Recycle Scheme

What happens to all of the old hair extensions? There is limited choice - some end up as wigs, but most in landfill. Which is why Remi Cachet took on the job of doing something about it. The Hair Extension Recycling Scheme was created as a positive alternative - any extensionist or extension wearer can post their hair (from any brand) and it will be turned into matts, sandbags and booms that absorb oil and collect debris from our oceans and rivers.

Runner up: Cloud Nine Iron Recycling Programme

Best Natural Formula

Winner: Venn Synbiotic Polyamine Shampoo, £49

As a brand, Venn brings science and nature together perfectly. This impressive shampoo is made from the combination of pre- and probiotics derived from bamboo, a traditional Korean herbal blend, Eucalyptus leaf oil, and 20 years of research. Clinically proven to balance the scalp’s microbiome and reduce sebum and dandruff, it’s a reminder that Mother Nature continues to provide us with the goods that we require.

Runner up: CurlyEllie Intense Leave-In Conditioner, £17.99

Best Sustainable Haircare Brand

Winner: weDo

In 2017, we launched our Start Somewhere campaign because we wanted to engage our readers and show them that changing the world doesn’t happen overnight. No matter how big or small, we can all make a change if we start somewhere. Which is why weDo's admission that it’s not perfect, but strives to improve and make changes where it can, speaks volumes to all us. Its 360° approach to being responsible and eco-ethical is nothing short of inspiring. It’s mindful of packaging, cruelty-free, vegan, recyclable and doing what it can to fight ocean plastic. It’s not perfect, but they’ve started somewhere.

Runner up: Faith In Nature

Best New Hair Product

Winner: Wella Professional Color Fresh Masks, £15.70

It used to be that we only experimented with our hair colour in our teenage years, but as trends have become more playful and shades more grown-up, temporary colour is now an everyday beauty cupboard essential. Wella Professional Color Fresh Masks revive and transform hair with semi-permanent colour, all the while enhancing shine and strength with botanical oils. It promises care and colour, and delivers on both.

Runner up: Authentic Beauty Concept Nymph Salt Spray