From Apartment Stove Tops to GQ’s ‘Best Hair Clay'

Alright, let’s back up.

Hi! Boone and Ben here. We’re two friends who met during our college days at CU Boulder. We share a passion for natural living, adventure, and culture. During our time at CU, and as we began caring about our style and personal care routines more, we started to realize that there were zero accessible haircare products without harmful toxins and plastic packaging... Zero that met the performance of a professional and high-end product, anyway...

The beginning..

At first, Boone had the crazy idea to create a solution for just himself and close friends and family... An all-natural styling product that wouldn't negatively impact his health. He started ordering wholesale natural ingredients and attempting to develop healthier alternatives for our Denver apartment stovetop. Up to some mad scientist-level shit for almost two years, Ben saw that he was onto something and jumped in. We spent countless hours experimenting with different ingredients and formulations (with little luck). After 2 years of mixing and iterating, we finally arrived at the perfect balance of natural, healthy ingredients and a product that actually worked... and it worked pretty damn well. Our Glacial Clay Pomade was born. 

We began to grow a like-minded community and our Glacial Clay Pomade started to make its way into local barbershops and hair around Colorado. This was crazy to experience, and we felt like imposters in a new and unknown world. To further our own industry knowledge, we began partnering with hair experts and educators across the field and realized how impactful and passionate the world of barbering and styling indeed was. Learning about this craft and the power behind the art of hairstyle and hair care, we were hooked.

Scaling..

With the help of our friend and partner Anthony, owner of Rollins Barbershop in Boulder, CO -- we suddenly had a platform where we could launch our product while we honed in on packaging, design, and scaling production... It wasn't easy, and we ran into issues at every. single. stage. But, we welcomed these issues and failures with open arms, knowing that they were just data points that would help inform future business decisions while helping us find product/market fit.

Our mission quickly became to provide all-natural and sustainable haircare products to the masses, without compromising on performance or style. Having cracked this code, our brand grew and grew, eventually making it into barbershops, salons, and stores across the country.

GQ.

Just recently, we received recognition for our Glacial Clay Pomade as one of GQ's ‘Best Hair Clays.’ 

This was a MASSIVE honor for us and a validating sign to keep moving. There's something special here. Putting the sentimental stuff aside, changing an established industry like big haircare seems daunting and outlandish. But with time, things gotta change, and it's time for haircare to move out of the late 90s and join society and culture where it is today... We aim to continue this progression and be vocal about bringing better values to an area that desperately needs it.

Our customers and supporters have been pivotal to this journey, and we appreciate you being a part of the Highland community. We can't wait to continue pushing the boundaries of what's possible in the world of hair.

~ Boone and Ben (Founders of Highland)