The Professional Keratin Smoothing Council Calls for Salon and Stylist Membership

The Professional Keratin Smoothing Council (PKSC) continues to build steam as a resource and forum for salon professionals to learn the facts about keratin smoothing services. January 2012 marked the organization’s one-year anniversary, and was established to serve as a neutral industry voice and portal for accurate information on keratin hair smoothing products and applications, and related services. In addition, PKSC’s goal remains to establish, maintain, and continuously develop appropriate, responsible, and rigorous testing and supporting regulatory regimes for professional and consumer safety, including standardization of testing, ensuring MSDS compliance with the international GHS mechanisms, and full disclosure of ingredients in keratin hair smoothing products and applications. Salon, stylists and student, if you want to be part of an organization that serves to better the professionalism of our industry, join the PKSC! Learn more!

PKSC’s 2011 highlights include:
1.  Development of appropriate testing protocols for products in this category.
2.  Accumulation and dissemination of data supporting the performance and safety of all member company’s products.
3.  Conducted air monitoring and other significant test to provide greater understanding of the advanced chemistry involved with products in this category and the products’ safety.
4.  Establish and continue to improve upon manufacturer standards relative to safety, education and training
5.  Establish and continue to develop appropriate safety recommendations for salons and stylists, including the installation and usage of source capture ventilation, the best standard for all salon chemical services, including permanent waves, hair color, nail and keratin smoothing services.
6.  Development of a PKSC Safety Manual, which will be published in 2012.

During the last year, scientific advisors Dr. Robert Golden and Doug Schoon have been valuable resources leading the testing process and preparing well thought out and relevant materials for presentation to governmental agencies, including OSHA and CIR.  Additionally, attorney Edward Quevedo of Katovich & Kassan has been instrumental in providing leadership over corporate responsibility and stewardship of professional and consumer safety.  “We have assembled a team of council members and advisors that share a common vision of creating safeguards for this category while allowing the category to continue to be a dynamic force in the financial well-being of individual salon professionals and the professional beauty industry over all,” commented Larry Solomon, Co-Chair of the Council. 

Current PKSC members include market leaders such as Cadiveu Professional, Keratin Complex, Marcia Teixeira, Salon Tech and Aerovex Systems.

The PKSC is also pleased to announce two additions to the organization:
John Henshaw has been named Lead Scientific Advisor.  Mr. Henshaw is a health and safety professional with over 35 years experience in industrial hygiene, safety, environmental health, and quality assurance. He is currently Senior Vice President & Managing Principal – Industrial Hygiene and Safety for ChemRisk, LLC, a consulting firm that specializes in industrial hygiene, exposure assessment, safety, human and ecological risk assessment and risk analysis of consumer products, contaminated sites, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices. Henshaw also served as the Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Dina Elliot has been named Executive Director of the council.  Ms. Elliot is a professional beauty industry professional with over 15 years of experience in public relations, communications, marketing and brand development.  She is founder and President of JG Communications Inc., a consulting firm with clients in the professional beauty, consumer product goods, technology, food and furniture industries.  Ms. Elliot was previously an executive with Zotos International, Wella US and The Lamaur Corporation.

For further information on the PKSC, please visit www.PKSC.org

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