Haircare brand Wuli Grooming has launched its range of Australian-made, cruelty-free, vegan and gender-neutral hair styling products, with recyclable containers, closures and packaging that meet international recycling standards.
Sydney-based founder, Amadou Doumbia says the brand identity took 18 months to finalise, and the packaging is designed with earthy tones to “evoke a premium/lux feel and aesthetic appeal to both men and women”.
“The containers for Wuli Grooming's Curl Cream, Matte Balm and Shine Balm formulas are amber-coloured PET jars, while the lids are made of rose-gold coloured aluminium. For our Sea Salt Spray, glass was used due to its sturdy feel and ability to safely house the liquid solution for a longer period. The spray bottle's closure is made of PET with a metal spring mechanism,” explained Doumbia, who designed and produced the containers and closures for the products with his design team and packaging manufacturer, which is based in China.
“Our containers and closures, as well as outer packaging boxes, are all recyclable and meet international recycling standards,” he confirms.
Doumbia collaborated with colleagues Robert Knowland, creative director and Aleik Jerson Cumbe (aka DeJerson), design associate to create Wuli Grooming's brand identity.
“Rose Gold/Copper and dark blue are two of my favourite colours, so we used these as our base and then included supplementary colours. I wanted the brand logo to play a prominent role in the packaging as well, so I had the idea of embossing the logo on the aluminium lids for each of the creams and balms.
“To help elevate the brand's premium factor, I then worked with our packaging manufacturer to apply rose gold foil overlay on every rose gold coloured element on the box and label,” he said.
The word Wuli (woo-lee) is derived from the Bambara dialect of Mali, the founder’s birthplace, which means ‘to wake up, get up and grow up’. According to Doumbia, this idea underpins the brand’s philosophy, which is to empower people to look good, feel great and become the best version of themselves every day.
Backed by two years of research and development, the Wuli Grooming product range – Curl Cream, Matte Balm, Shine Balm and Sea Salt Spray – is designed to style all hair types, and contains 15 plant-based ingredients which Doumbia says are gentle on coloured hair and free of silicone, mineral oils or synthetic ingredients.
The Wuli Grooming online store is now live and shipping Australia-wide. Worldwide shipping is planned for later in the year. Products will also be available for sale in local pop-up shops in Sydney, including Paddington Market (Saturday 29 January), Manly Market (Saturday 12 February) and Sutherland Shire Easter Market (Saturday and Sunday, 2–3 April).
