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The Interview: Berta Martin Sainz and Moncho Moreno on bringing their "magic" haircare brand to the UK

Lauretta Roberts
30 October 2024

Celebrated Spanish hairstylist Moncho Moreno and his wife Berta Martin Sainz launched a haircare range in 2020, based on Moreno\s legendary skill at breathing life into damaged hair. Well-known in fashion circles Moreno counts supermodels and celebrities among his clientele while mere mortals can book into one of his salons in Madrid, assuming they can get an appointment, that is.

The move into haircare began with the Magic Brush which – with its combination of boar bristles and synthetic bristles, along with a flexible brush head – acts as a scalp massager, as well as gloss-giving hairbrush.

On the back its success, shampoos, masks and conditioners were launched, and, of particular note, the leave-in conditioner Bond J'Aime Bond, which delivers shine, nourishment, protection and strength to even the most parched heads of hair.

Earlier this year seven of the brands best sellers were brought to the UK for the first time, in partnership with Harrods. We caught up with the entrepreneurial pair to learn more about Moreno's hair philosophy, the plans for expansion and those all-important magic ingredients,

Can you please tell us what was it that attracted you to the career of hairdressing in the first place?

Moncho: Because of an unfortunate family situation, at the age of 14, I had to drop out of school to find a job. My mom gave me a list of a bunch of jobs and told me to choose what I wanted to become. At that age, you don’t think much and because I wanted to be with girls, hairdressing seemed like the best option for me! Once I started, I fell in love and truly found a passion for my work.

Tell us about your philosophy when it comes to hairdressing. You have a particular talent for creating healthy, thicker looking hair with your cutting technique.

Moncho: What’s most important for me is to have healthy hair and to make sure the lady that trusts me leaves my salon looking and feeling beautiful.

You have worked with some of the biggest names in fashion (brands and models), what were the key lessons you learned from that?

Moncho: To trust myself. When you work with such big names in the industry, you must make sure you’re confident in your work and yourself. They are professionals who, at a first glimpse, will see what you can do for them. If they like your work, they will come back and you will be able to create a lasting relationship with your clients, this goes for both celebrities and big names, as well as my regular clients

Berta, your career was in fashion before you both established the haircare brand; can you please give us some insight into your career to date?

Berta: After my university and MBA studies, I founded Poète in 2010, a Spanish fashion brand that quickly made its mark. Over the years, we expanded to more than 100 stores across Spain and even had the honour of dressing public figures like Queen Letizia. In 2020, after a successful decade with Poète, I decided it was time for a new challenge. That is the moment when we started launching our Moncho Moreno products.

What was it that inspired you to set up a new brand and what did you seek to do with it?

Berta: We wanted to create a brand focusing on the needs people have. I was the client and Moncho was the hairdresser. When creating products, we could not find anything we wanted in the market, and always wanted to focus on hair repair.

Moncho: We also wanted to make it easy for our clients; we have a small line of products that can work easily for people that create a big change and upgrade their hair care routine.

Moncho Moreno

The Magic Brush

What was the first product you launched and what was the response to it?

Berta: Our first product was Magic Brush, and we’re still amazed and proud of the amazing welcoming this had. Everything started with our daughter, who told me while using the brush; “Mom, this is magic! I don’t ever want to use another brush!”

Moncho: To this day, it’s still one of our bestsellers and the hairbrush we use in our salons.

How did you develop the range, and can you give us some insights into the formula?

Berta: Focusing on hair repair; with the main ingredients of our Hydrolysed protein and amino acids that repair the bridges of the hair fibre, creating a huge repair effect on the hair!

Moncho: Our formula is focused on hair repair. We have a patent, M28, present in some of our products that is the only patented system that repairs damaged hair proteins and generates new covalent bonds between them. It restores strength and repairs damage from the very first use giving the client stronger, healthier, and restored hair with the first use. It’s one of a kind and a technology we are very proud of.

You have described the formula as “magic” and certainly there is something very special about the products as they seem to deliver so much shine, even to distressed hair, how do you do that?

Moncho: Of course, there is science behind it but it truly feels like magic seeing the improvements I’ve seen on hair thanks to our products!

Berta: Our formula has a clear objective of filling in the broken fibres of hair. We basically repair and give another life to your hair!

Which product is the brand’s bestseller?

Berta: Bond, J’aime Bond is definitely our bestseller! It’s a leave-in conditioner that not only protects your hair from heat and sun, but it also reduces frizz and repairs your hair with every use.

Moncho: I think there’s not a single client that has tried it and did not buy it again!

Moncho Moreno

Bond J'Aime Bond

Can you describe the best basic haircare routine for someone looking to use the range?

Berta: With hair that has colour I’d say the best is: Gorgeous Hair Shampoo, One Minute Wonder Hair Mask and our Bond, J’aime Bond. And, a bit of Shine On Me is always great!

Moncho: I agree with Berta, that routine will work for all hair types. If you have a bit more grease in your scalp maybe try our Bathamn Detox Hair Shampoo. As for the mask, One Minute Wonder is one of our best sellers but Wonder Cream conditioner is also great!

You are targeting the UK for expansion with the Harrods partnership, can you please tell us how that relationship came about?

Berta: Harrods contacted us because they wanted to sell our products and who would say no to such an opportunity?!

Moncho: It was definitely challenging and a long process, but we couldn’t be prouder of being present in such an important retailer in the UK!

What does the partnership with Harrods look like, are you just in the Knightsbridge store or will you be going into the standalone H Beauty stores as well?

Berta: We have a corner in Harrods and we’re selling online as well! We are also hoping to be in H Beauty soon.

What was it about the UK market that you felt would respond so well to the brand?

Berta: The British market to us felt like the window to the world of beauty. That’s why for us it was very important to be present in the market!

Moncho: Anyone who knows about fashion and beauty knows the importance of the UK market and we did not want to miss it!

Moncho Moreno

One Minute Wonder

How do you plan to promote the brand here and engage with the UK consumer?

Berta: We’re taking a social-first approach. It has always worked for us that, whoever tried our product, would repeat and would recommend to their close. Word of mouth was key when we started, and we believe it still is the way to go. Our products can speak for themselves!

Moncho: Once you try our products, you fall in love with them. We are working on finding the key to get people to try them but we’re sure they will!

Are there plans for further expansion in the UK and internationally?

Berta: Our expansion plans in the UK are to keep growing both finding new retailers, salons to partner with as well as selling through our online shop. Internationally, we’re really looking into both the Latin and American market and have big expectations for it!

Moncho: A lot of our clients in the salons in Madrid as well as consumers online are from Latin America so it only made sense to look into that direction!

Moncho Moreno products are available at Harrods and at www.monchomoreno.com.


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