Good hair speaks louder than words
The Circle of Friends x Ethique Event and Conversation on Circularity & Storytelling
Hi! I’m Hilliary, founder of Circle of Friends- conversations, connections, and events centered around circularity. You can also find me on instagram where I host The Stoop Series. Subscribe for thoughts on vintage fashion, home renovations, and the art of gathering through a circular lens + get invites to fun events!
This Spring I hosted a Circle of Friends x Ethique event: Conversations on Circularity & Storytelling. *if reading in your email, this post might be shortened, so I recommended opening up the full version.
The Circle of Friends x Ethique event was a perfectly golden-hour evening combining everything that inspired me to create Circle of Friends in the first place. A space where circularity becomes the conversation, fostering meaningful dialog with industry leaders and advocates where like-minded individuals meet, mingle, and make friends. It’s more than a panel and it’s not just networking, I hope guests learn something and meet someone new and I get to share my favorite brands with them- ones driven by circular values.
The Mood Board
I start every event with a mood board to visually set the vibe of what I envision. For this event, we wanted to lean into the bright colors of the Ethique bars and the concept of the ripple effect — how making small changes as a community can have a larger impact.
Conversation on Circularity & Storytelling
I moderated the panel with Erica Cocilova, CEO of Ethique, and Zoë Fox Richards, Director of PR for Rothy’s.
In a circular economy, the goal is to maximize resource value by designing out waste and designing products for longevity, reuse, and recyclability, keeping materials in continuous circulation rather than following the traditional take-make-dispose linear model.
Both Ethique and Rothy’s harness principles of the circular economy. Ethique’s solid bars have not only been designed to be more efficient but through that design, the plastic waste traditionally with shampoo bottles is eliminated. Rothy’s uses recycled or bio-based materials designed for longevity while also offering end-of-wear solutions for every product to keep materials in use.
During our conversation, we explored how Ethique and Rothy’s have created a product that is both sought-after and intrinsically circular.
Key Learnings
Progress over perfection! This goes for both brands and consumers.
Zoë encapsulated the conversation with her concept of “Trojan Horse for Sustainability.” Have a really great product that serves your customers first, and your sustainability efforts second. Internally, the brand will always prioritize sustainability, but the consumer needs to be introduced to a great product first.
A rising tide lifts all boats. Erica spoke about how she is connected with other CEOs of various shampoo bar brands because she believes businesses need to collaborate if they want to create real change in consumer behavior. For products like shampoo bars to truly take off, companies can't just compete, they need to work together to shift how people think about haircare.
No sustainability shaming- any efforts are good efforts!
Good Hair Starts Here
Guests went home with a new haircare routine with Ethique team members consulting on which bars are best for their hair types. My personal favorites are the clarifying shampoo once a week and the volumizing set for other days but I’m also excited to incorporate everyday shine into my routine. Curious about which bar is best for you? Comment your hair type and we’ll get you personalized recommendations from the Ethique team!
Ethique has shared a special discount code with the Circle of Friends community, use code COF20 for 20% off your first purchase!
The reviews speak for themselves, since the event, I’ve received texts and voice notes about positive changes guests have seen in their hair- cleaner, healthier, and shinner (keep them coming!) Even rave reviews from male SOs who have started to borrow the bars.
Besides the fact that we all want good hair, here’s why I made the change to using bars vs. traditional plastic bottles.
🧼 Shampoo sits in a plastic bottle which slowly breaks down, then when we use it on our hair and rinse it out, it flows down our body exposing us to those microplastics - This is just one of the ways that might explain why we have an average of a credit card worth of microplastics inside us (!!!!)
🧼 It’s more efficient. 1 bar set = 8 liquid bottles- this saves me $$ and plastic bottles from being produced.
Circular Suiting
Remember when I wrote a whole post on power suits? This is the one I found for myself, a bright orange set from Another Tomorrow, a brand I’m a big fan of for their sustainability values in luxury fashion. I found the tangerine suit on
and paired it with pink vintage Prada mules also from TRR.The details are not the details. They make the design.
I weave circularity throughout all the events I create, from a birthday party to a brand event. No plastic, working with female chefs who use locally sourced and regenerative ingredients, serving items on vintage... I want to show that events can be chic and sustainable, no need to compromise.
🍸 The bar featured cocktails with Farmhouse Spirits Vodka, made from 100% Regenerative Organic Certified wheat grown in Hudson, NY.
🚿 Hanni also shared a mini Splash Salves with guests, another plastic-free favorite of mine. HILLIARYS20 for 20% off + one lucky winner got to go home with a pair of Rothy’s. Personally, I’ve been wearing Rothy’s boat shoes all Spring.
Discount codes to some of my favorite sustainable brands featured:
Ethique: COF20
Hanni: HILLIARYS20
Farmhouse Spirits: HILLIARY for 20% off
In Good Company
There were fellow Substack writers in attendance- if you don’t already, be sure to follow their must-read newsletters!
- , The Best Best
- , Dressed
- , Rabbit Fur Coat
- , Following Up!
- , Rodeo Break & Salted Butter
- , Saved for Future Reference
And some of them shared their tips for being more sustainable, watch below:
Thank you for reading Circle of Friends, I’m so grateful! You can follow along on Instagram and Circle of Friends and if you want to attend a future Circle of Friends event, sign up here and subscribe!
This event looks amazing!
I loved your post on power suits - truly the ultimate secondhand suit roundup. And in full agreement that a rising tide lifts all boats.