Endlessly creative and inspirational, Luis Alvarez the VP and Co-founder of Aquage, is an industry icon!
Dedicating his expertise to helping independent salon owners and their stylists grow both creatively and financially, Luis relentlessly pushes beyond the boundaries of the expected. Here is our inside personal interview with Luis Alvarez, we hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
1) What inspired you to create Aquage? “We created Aquage for professional hairdressers. Product quality and performance are the two qualities we obsess about. We marry that with the highest level of education we can deliver. Ultimately we respect hairdressers and the art of hairdressing above all.”
2) What makes Aquage different? “All of our products are infused with a Sea Botanical complex called Algaeplex. The formulas are very lightweight and extremely moisturizing to the hair. Second, but equally as important, we only sell to independently owned salons.”
3) How has your experience in photography influenced you? “I’ve been creating all of our images since we started the company and it has allowed me to capture the work of our team at its best. When an image is created it becomes easy to share with a wide audience and that is very valuable, but equally, it becomes a permanent record of a team’s work. Photography is magic to me.”
4) Who’s your idol? “I don’t believe in idols, only in family and friends.”
5) What current trend do you love and hate, and why? “I love well done, solid platinum blonde because it looks so elegant, powerful and bold. I can’t say I hate anything (too strong of a word), but I dislike Ombre. I have little appreciation for anything half-done.”
6) What have you done to not get lost in the crowd? “Blue is our signature color, our packaging is blue, our team wears blue, we own the color blue in our industry. It is the color of our DNA. We are also very prolific in the art of image making and constantly and consistently aim to create images that make fellow hairdressers feel proud of their chosen art form and profession.”
7) What’s something people are usually shocked to learn about you? “I travel constantly all over the world and whenever I am in a particular city I eat at the same restaurants and eat the same dish for years without exception. It all started when my Dad took me to eat at Harry’s Bar in Venezia. Why mess with a great formula? Ha!”
8) If you could have dinner with 3 people dead or alive who would they be and why? “Rembrandt Van Rijn, my favorite painter, David Fincher, my favorite film director and my Mother, because I miss her beyond measure.”
9) What’s the best advice you’ve ever gotten from someone in the industry? “From my mentor Sydell Miller: Love what you do, love who you do it with, love who you do it for.”
10) What celebrity would you love to style and why? “Sophia Loren, because she is a Goddess.”
