Perhaps you’ve seen them at shows or noticed their ads in magazines.  Maybe your distributor has mentioned the line of professional hair care and styling products.  Regardless of how AG Hair Cosmetics entered your consciousness, you probably want to know more about this stylish collection that has the beauty business buzzing.  So we rang up company owners John and Lotte Davis, and uncovered 10 things you need to know about AG Hair Cosmetics:

2.  She’s Got The “Eye”
Lotte is an accomplished graphic designer.  When the pair scraped together $5,000 to launch the company, she designed the labels to put on the bottles.  Today, she’s responsible for the firm’s distinctive image—clean, crisp, bold and completely hair-focused.  She’s also responsible for all of AG’s high-quality marketing and collateral materials, including posters, tent cards, brochures and the famous AG Brand Guide.

3. They’re Based in Canada, Eh? 
The couple calls Vancouver home and that’s where they launched AG Hair Cosmetics in 1989.  They started out on a shoestring, buying products in bulk from an existing manufacturer, pouring them into bottles, affixing the labels by hand and delivering them to salons out of the back of the family van.  Discovering that buying pre-made products was “a recipe for failure,” according to John, they bought some used equipment, rented a facility and began manufacturing their own formulas in 1990.  Fast forward to present day—they’re consistently the best-selling product line in Canada with nationwide distribution.

4.  They’re Heeeeeere!
In 2001, Davis and Co. crossed the border, bringing AG Hair Cosmetics to U.S. salons.  They initially tested the line in Seattle and immediately, the Emerald City embraced the brand.  Encouraged, the owners rolled it out across the country and today AG products are available in 44 states.  (For a list of U.S. distributors, go to www.aghaircosmetics.com.)

5.  It’s All in the Family
In this era of multi-national, global corporations, AG Hair Cosmetics remains a privately-held, family-owned business.  That means that they don’t have to answer to big bosses or boards of directors.  Their focus, therefore, is singular—do the products perform and are their customers satisfied?  Because they manufacture every single product in their liquid line, select all their own ingredients and constantly strive to upgrade quality, the answer is a resounding, “Yes!”  (Evangeline Lilly, star of TV’s Lost, is a huge AG fan!)

7.  It’s Not Only What’s In AG, It’s What’s Not
Lotte likens the process of formulating AG products to haute cuisine.  The better the ingredients, the better the result.  The gateau with fine Belgian chocolate and creamery butter is much more divine than a recipe with lower-quality chocolate and butter. “That’s why we’re always upgrading, tweaking, adding new ingredients,” she notes. The Davis’s are also careful to leave out certain ingredients.  For example, many shampoos use salt or sodium chlorine as thickening agents.  There is no salt in AG shampoos, leading to much healthier hair and scalps.

8.  Their Education Rocks
AG’s educational team prides itself on the depth of its training.  They strive to be salon consultants, offering education on AG products, salon business, retailing and of course, technical training.  Led by Creative Director Jami Symons and Artistic Team Leader Jo-Anne Dicken, AG also produces an annual style collection, complete with how-tos.  (Watch for the Precious Metal collection, launching this spring!)