Residents were treated to grooming services including shampooing, styling and fresh shaves featuring Maui’s products.
Many of us take access to hot showers and nourishing meals for granted, but for the countless houseless residents of L.A.’s Skid Row neighborhood, securing those essentials is a daily struggle. So vegan haircare brand Maui Moisture stepped up to pamper members of the community with a mobile salon experience on May 21 during Mental Health Awareness Month. The brand partnered with nonprofit Beauty 2 The Streetz on the initiative, supporting the organization’s mission to provide necessities to shelter-less populations by supplying the water source and grooming products needed to deliver the experience at scale. All told, approximately 30 people received salon services, and more than 800 bottles of Maui Moisture shampoo and conditioner were distributed to the community at large.
Maui rolled into the downtown L.A. neighborhood with a 42-foot-long salon truck equipped with eight hair and makeup stations, product displays, sinks and food and beverages. The vehicle was intentionally unbranded on the exterior to keep the focus on helping the community and furthering the work of Beauty 2 The Streetz. Residents of Skid Row were invited on board for an upscale salon experience that included grooming services like shampooing, haircuts and shaves featuring Maui Moisture products. Those who stopped by the footprint also received backpacks containing blankets, compostable combs and Maui Moisture products.
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The mobile salon has previously been used for events like Essence Fest and will be active again during the holiday season.
“We didn’t necessarily look at this like a traditional marketing campaign, so we didn’t go in with hard KPIs,” says Sheena Henry, earned media manager at Maui Moisture. “Our mission was to help an organization in need by offering free services and an elevated experience that the community may not have [access to] otherwise, and to help them feel good about themselves.”
To that end, the program required a delicate balancing act, as some residents were reluctant to participate, as a matter of pride. So it was paramount to Maui Moisture and Beauty 2 The Streetz that consumers be treated with the utmost respect and dignity. It’s a concept Maui Moisture, although still a relatively new brand, is no stranger to, as the brand consistently seeks out ways to support and uplift communities in need.
“The joy was hearing people say, ‘Oh my gosh, this feels so good,’ or ‘I feel so tropical,’” says Henry. “This is a very important cause for us and something that we’ll continue to build on, and advocate the importance of doing what we can for the shelter-less community in terms of bringing on our sister brands and pulling in more support on our side, because there’s always more that can be done.”
Keep an eye out for the next iteration of Maui Moisture’s mobile salon experience in December, when the brand plans to create a similar event, recognizing that the holiday season is often a difficult time for marginalized communities. Agency: MKG.
