GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — It's a busy day at Ethos Salon and Day Spa in Ada, and Lauren Wieber couldn't be happier, because it makes her feel a little closer to her mom.
"She is my biggest inspiration."
Lauren lost her mother Shanon to breast cancer.
"The reason that I'm sitting here right now is because of her."
Her mother was part of the inspiration for Ethos, a completely organic salon, from hair to nails to facials.
"At the time that she kinda got sick is when we started to realize as an industry that not all cosmetics are generally safe or ideal for people to put on their skin," says Lauren.
That's because the cosmetics industry is self-regulated. And while personal care products fall under the FDA, they have little authority over the ingredients. It's why Lauren and her mom to started using organic products.
"It really opened our eyes to the kinds of chemicals we were putting on our skin and into our body and how that can be harmful."
After her mother's death, Lauren started working for her mom's best friend and Ethos salon owner Tara Pennington-Warnes.
"Tara's really passionate about organic and natural products."
The salon products are carefully chosen using a national database.
"It's called EWG it's from the Environmental Working Group. And they create reports on a lot of cosmetics that say this is the ingredient that's in it and this is how safe we feel it is."
It's an alternative Lauren hopes customers will enjoy.
"My hope is that we can give our guests a safe organic option for all of the services they know and love."
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