Louis Licari, one of the world’s premier hair colorists, is launching a hair and skin care line, as well as a new salon planned for Tokyo. Spanning his decades-long career in the salon industry, Louis—known as the King of Color—has maintained his iconic status by paying close attention to trends and by providing excellent customer service. CEW Beauty News spoke with Louis, a 2022 Beauty Creators Awards ambassador, to discuss his post-Covid salon experience and his new business ventures.
Today Louis Licari operates out of the Mizu Louis Licari Salon on Park Avenue, but his roots in the salon industry run deep. Louis opened his first salon on Madison Avenue in 1981, and for decades was the industry’s go-to colorist for classic and transformative looks. This fall he is extending his salon’s reach to Japan and is launching his second hair care line via the salon’s new location.
Louis’s first hair care line launched more than 25 years ago and featured a limited number of products: a shampoo, conditioner, and a treatment for colored hair. The line was self-funded and directed by Louis alone; eventually it was discontinued in the early aughts. It wasn’t until Louis was approached by Japanese company Cysay Corporation in 2020 that he considered creating another hair care line.
With the Cysay Corporation, Louis explained, a modern iteration of his hair care brand can be created with a wider range of products on a larger scale. Another major factor that prompted Louis to collaborate with the Japanese company is its patent that aids in the regeneration of cells, which can be used to delay skin’s aging process and help promote hair regrowth and strength.
The new hair care range includes eight items, including a cleansing gel, shampoo, a scalp serum, and several hair treatments. The skin care range includes a cleanser, a foam facial cleanser, a booster toner, a toner, moisturizer, and a body milk primary cream. All items, save for the facial cleansers, feature the Cysay regeneration factor as its star ingredient.
Multiple delays impacted the planning and execution of the new lines, largely due to Covid. Japan, where the products will initially launch, have tighter business and travel restrictions than those in the U.S., some of which are still in place today.
Louis viewed the first three months of the pandemic in the U.S. as a sabbatical of sorts. He then returned to work when salons opened again with a renewed sense of energy. During the beginning stages of the pandemic, clients were desperate to get back into his chair, one going as far as to hire him for a private salon visit on her yacht. Along with his work at the Mizu Louis Licari Salon, Louis has opened a pop-up salon in the Hamptons on weekends to better serve the needs of his clientele.
While Louis noted that salons, for the most part, have returned to operating the way they had pre-pandemic, hair styling he said has shifted to a much more relaxed aesthetic. The biggest trend he noticed is a step away from what he called the “Madison Avenue highlight,” an overly perfect hair coloring style that requires constant touch-ups. The key to his enduring career in the salon industry, Louis explained, is keeping track of hair styling trends and providing his clients with the ultimate customer service.
“Hair color and styles are constantly evolving. Many haircuts don’t require blow dries. Hair color has become much more of a style trend. Today clients want depth at the root or even a defined root. This trend will continue to naturally evolve into the next. Great customer service is absolutely essential. Customer service has become almost as important as the ‘work,’” he said.
Louis Licari hair care will launch in September 2022 in Japan, and then to China and the United States. The skin care line is predicted to launch in late fall 2022.