The RefectoCil brand is internationally acknowledged and used in many salons around the world. Best known for their professional eyebrow and eyelash tints, RefectoCil have strived to disrupt the market since the 1930s! Covering everything from a rich backstory, to the brow trends of today – in this edition of ‘Brand Spotlight,’ we’re chatting to the RefectoCil team to find out more.
Brand Spotlight With RefectoCil…
Tell us more about how and why RefectoCil began?
The RefectoCil brand originated in Vienna’s 9th district. This is where the Viennese hairdresser Josef Gschwentner experimented with the development of his own hair dyes in 1930 as he was dissatisfied with what was available on the market. He launched the first professional eyebrow & eyelash dye, RefectoCil.
The product range, exclusively targeted at make-up artists, beauty professionals and hairdressers comprises an extensive assortment of eyebrow and eyelash tints with 8 mixable colours, bleaching paste Blonde Brow and a sensitive range, as well as products for the perfect lashes; Eyelash Curl and Eyelash Lift.
How does RefectoCil stay competitive within the industry?
Know your customer, focus on our strengths and do not rest! The customer always comes first. We do a lot of market research and in the last year we have visited approximately 200 salons all over the world. We were in Russia, South Africa, UK and all around Europe. We talked to owners and employees about their personal experiences with lash & brow services. This way we see the needs and wishes and can use this information for adapting our products and applications.
We are often asked why we do not provide lash extensions or permanent make up. That’s an easy answer; because we are the expert in lash & brow tints and natural shaping methods. Our goal is to make women and men even more beautiful without adding enhancements or invasive treatments. By focusing on our niche we can work on perfecting and completing our assortment without juggling too many balls at once. This is our strength in the industry. And of course, we do not rest on our success.
How have trends within the brows industry devolved over the years?
When it comes to eyebrows, there’s an almost endless range of options to choose from, from bold and bushy to ashy pastel shades. We’re seeing huge variety, with a broad spectrum of vibrant colours and shades. Contrast brows are set to be huge. This is where the eyebrows are tinted a shade darker than the hair colour. The most harmonious contrast can be achieved with cool-toned shades like platinum or pastel coupled with dark brown brows.
The focus will continue to be on brows, but with a more masculine edge – so-called ‘Boy Brows’. Of course, this isn’t an excuse to let your eyebrows grow wild and unkempt or merge into a monobrow – on the contrary! Brows will be thicker and straighter but groomed. An essential technique in order to achieve this style is by brushing the brows upwards, for a natural but nonetheless striking look. Our Styling Gel is the perfect tool for this look – the tiny brush makes it perfect for precise brow styling. One trend that’s set to stay is blonde and pastel brows, but with a cool upgrade in the form of shimmering metallic tones.
Traditional eyebrow plucking has become a thing of the past. Over the last few years, brow shaping and tinting have developed into a separate service, called brow styling, that’s in high demand. After all, brow styling has two major advantages: it provides results tailored to suit the individual and those results last
What do you think sets RefectoCil apart from their main competitors?
Emotion – Education – broad assortment!
We put love and emotion into our brand and inspire our customers! A main benefit of RefectoCil is our product assortment that includes more products besides the basic ones. It is set to match the most individual and custom made stylings. For example, an important styling topic is mixing colours to match the individual skin tone. With RefectoCil, any base shade can be mixed to precisely match every skin type and hair color. An added touch of Graphite No. 1.1 will enhance any cool skin type. For warm skin types add a touch of Chestnut or Red to the base shade. The ‘Total Look’ consists of hair, personal style, skin type and trends. By considering all of these aspects we choose the best fitting lash & brow styling for the individual person. There is a lot of knowledge that we have developed TOGETHER with our users. Our goal is to pass on our expertise to other professionals with our superior education program.
Why should people use RefectoCil?
RefectoCil has the expertise to push market trends, to pick up customer needs early and launch innovations that are able to surprise, leading to highest customer satisfaction.
For our customers, it is very important to use products of high quality and that is what we have been offering for more than 75 years. For professionals like hairstylists, beauticians and make-up artists who want to offer their clients outstanding service, we are the expert for eyelash and eyebrow styling whom they can rely on. Through individual accentuation of the eyes, we help our experts to create the perfect overall look giving their clients more self-assurance 24 hours a day.
What are your best-selling products?
Our all-time best sellers are our tints – especially Natural Brown, Light Brown, Black and Blue Black. Blue Black is a brilliant shade for lashes that lend extra colour depth and brilliance to any style. Brunettes love Natural Brown and Light Brown because they create the most natural brunette look. For 3 or 4 years now, we’ve seen a huge increase of our warm shades Red and Chestnut! We are very happy about this, because it means that more and more of our customers are starting to mix the tints to achieve even more individual results or to match the hair colour in a perfect way. Another bestseller is RefectoCil Blonde Brow, our bleaching paste for eyebrows. We are very unique with this product that offers an additional variety of styling possibilities. It is specifically designed to brighten up a wide variety of darker hues and to enhance any blonde style in a breathtaking way or to prepare for further colouring.
What’s next for the brand in 2019 and beyond?
During the last couple of years, our brand has undertaken quite a journey. We continuously modernised the brand image and assortment. We created two new service categories: Lash Styling by RefectoCil and Brow Styling by RefectoCil. The thinking behind this step is that we want to help our users to sell a whole service – and this goes beyond tinting brows and lashes.
In 2019 and beyond we are focusing on education more than ever. Salon System will be focusing on new RefectoCil training courses run by their exclusive training provider Training Solutions.
Shop RefectoCil eyelashes, brows and eyelash tints online now!
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