“As a hairdresser with over 15 years of experience, I’ve seen hair care that can tone blonde colour and products that focus on scalp health - but I’ve never experienced one product that can do both. This is that product.” Founder, Bec Ditterich
Bec Ditterich grew up in McCrae on the Mornington Peninsula, and she and her husband I lived in that area until their found a beautiful little two bedroom house to renovate in Balnarring. “We love the area,” says Bec, “and as I have horses it offers the perfect environment, being surrounded by farmland and being so close to a beautiful quiet beach. I had a hair salon in nearby Red Hill at that time as well, so it was the ideal location - only a10 minute drive to work too.”
Bec and her husband Steve have been together since their early twenties, and they are both very driven entrepreneurs who have had their own business from a young age. Bec opened her own hair salon at just 21 years old. Says Bec, “We now have three children - Lucy who is nine years old, Ari who is six and Zara is two, so life is crazy busy. Balancing work life and family life with young kids is challenging, but I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
“I love the Mornington Peninsula,” says Bec. “We are so lucky with all the beautiful cafes, restaurants we have here. I love that one minute I am at the beach and the next I am looking at cows and horses crazing in paddocks. And I have always lived close to my family. I am very close to my extended family too and love seeing them all regularly. It’s such great fun at family catch ups.”
Bec remembers always being very creative at school so she knew she would go down the path of art in some form. Says Bec, “I started washing hair at my aunt’s salon in Rosebud when I was 15, and I started my apprenticeship at 17. I knew very quickly that I really loved hairdressing, and I worked in a few salons before starting my own.”
Bec’s husband is an electrician by trade, and he also ran his own DJ and Juke Box hire as a side hustle. “He is a good one to have at a party to help with getting the party music spot on,” says Bec. “We were both very passionate about building and renovating houses. My dad is a builder and I loved watching him build and renovate our house as a child. I would always work on house plans and designs in my spare time. If had liked being at school, I would have probably done architecture.”
Steve and Bec now have their own property group, building and renovating boutique homes on the Mornington Peninsula.
On launching her own haircare range, Bec explains, “I personally suffer from a very sensitive scalp, dandruff and itchy. I have always wanted to start my own line as I have used so many over the years and never been happy. Some products made my hair feel quite good, and some made my scalp feel okay, however I found that many scalp care products were quite drying on the hair. I decided to bring a haircare range to life that nourished the hair and scalp at the same time.”
When Bec had her own hair salon, she was passionate about making people feel good. “The transformation, the before and after, the way it made people feel and look was so rewarding. I love the business aspect as well, and enjoyed growth in the salon. Seeing staff build a clientele that trusted them with doing their hair was wonderful as it is such a personal thing. The same goes with the hair products really. Building a community of Brondie fans who love what I have created is such a buzz,” says Bec.
And were there challenges?
“Making the products and creating your brand is the fun bit. Bringing a brand to market in a massive and competitive sea is hard. Competing with brands that have been around for much longer than me is definitely challenging. I have recently joined Chain Social academy and their team has helped me so much. It is like a complete e-commerce course. I soon realised after launching the products that you can have the best product in the world but if you don’t know how to market it then you're going to have troubles.”
Brondie is a hairdresser-led brand. “As a passionate hair stylist, I wanted to create an innovative and multi-tasking haircare brand that focuses on scalp and hair health, not just one or the other. Haircare can be effective and gentle at the same time. The natural ingredients in our formulas that gently work on repairing the hair and adding shine. One in particular is a science-backed ingredient that reduces scalp inflammation.”
“I have loved trialling and testing the formulas with our chemist and manufacture. Our manufacturer is amazing so working with them has been a wonderful experience. It was such a pinch me moment when we had the finished formulas in my hands with the packaging.”
And what advice would Bec have for other budding entrepreneurs?
“Invest in education. Know everything that is going on in your business, right from the start. Build a following if you can before you launch a product, otherwise you will be launching to crickets! Trust me lol. Take one day at a time, and know that you can’t do everything at once and that’s ok. And really get to know your ideal customer.”
So where to from here?
“My dream is to have a great community of Brondie lovers world-wide and for our products in Adore Beauty and Sephora!”
After 18 years on the tools as a well-respected hairdresser, Bec saw a gap in the market for salon quality and efficacious hair care for Blondes who suffered from problematic scalps. Seeing the frustration and suffering of her clients first-hand, Bec set out to formulate a hair care range that would actually help - and after 18 months. Brondie was born.
Brondie’s philosophy is built on research and first-hand experience that scalp health is absolutely the gateway to better hair. We know that if your scalp is compromised from bleach and other irritants, then so will your hair. A crown you never take off!
The Brondie range is put simply, better blonde hair care. Carefully formulated with Revi-Scalp™, an ingredient scientifically proven to nourish the scalp whilst proudly being vegan, cruelty-free, silicone, paraben and sulphate-free.
"We only harness the best ingredients, such as premium plant extracts of aloe vera, sunflower, argan, Davidsons plum, aniseed myrtle, hydrolysed wheat protein and more, combined with science-led actives to concurrently nourish blonde strands and tone away brassiness," says Bec.
Brondie aspires to be more than a haircare brand. Hairdresser-led, we believe in educating and empowering our customers with knowledge and transparency, just as if you were in our chair.
Scalp Care for Blonde Hair - reduces scalp inflammation and promotes a healthy scalp
Better Scalp, Better Hair. Expertly formulated, Australian made and sourced.
Hero ingredients are: Sustainable extract from the endemic Australian Aniseed Myrtle, Avocado, Argan, Sunflower, Aloe Vera and much more to support a healthy scalp, improve hair texture and add shine.
@brondiehaircare
Media enquiries: Bec Ditterich – bec@brondie.com.au
