About Lisa May
I built the hair care line I wanted to use in my own salon.
For years, I kept seeing the same problems at the chair: dandruff, irritation, and scalps that did not look healthy. I began questioning what repeated exposure to harsh chemicals might be doing to my clients' scalps—and what handling those products all day might be doing to me.
A stylist works with products client after client: applying them, working them through the hair, rinsing them out, and starting again. I wanted a different way to work, so I began studying ingredients and developing my own formulas.
Those formulas became Lisa May Eco Hair Care. Then I organized them into a method that a stylist can use in the salon and teach a client to maintain at home.
Why I built this line
01 / Working stylist and salon owner
I still work with clients in my own salon in Clovis, New Mexico. The problems I see and the questions clients ask continue to shape how I teach and formulate.
02 / I formulate the line
I developed the formulas and the way they are used together, based on what I needed behind the chair.
03 / One method, not separate products
Every product has a place in the Lisa May Method, with an order and technique a stylist can teach.
04 / Made for the salon relationship
I sell through licensed stylists and salons so the professional who knows the client's hair can choose the products and teach the routine.
My background
How art shaped the way I see hair
I studied art in Sacramento and finished with portraits. That work taught me to pay attention to proportion, line, balance, and how one decision changes the whole picture. When I moved into cosmetology at Federico's, I brought that way of seeing with me.
My career took me through advanced training, production, pageants, modeling, and the salon. I also designed characters for the film industry. In every setting, I had to look carefully at the person in front of me and understand how all the pieces worked together.
That training still shapes how I look at hair. The salon added the practical part: what a client can live with and maintain after leaving the chair.
I don't shock. I like to awe. I like things that last forever.
Selected work from Lisa's archive
This is a selection from my professional archive, including pageant, editorial, and production work. It shows the attention to proportion, finish, and presentation that I brought with me into the salon.
Why these photographs
These photographs are part of my professional history and the training behind the way I work today.
Why I started
Why I began formulating hair care
I began because I wanted another way to work. Once I started developing my own formulas, I had to decide exactly what each product was for. Shampoo would cleanse the scalp. Conditioner would go on the hair. Sprays and oils would support styling and maintenance between shampoos.
I did not want to make a shelf full of unrelated products that left the stylist guessing. I wanted a routine I could use in my salon, explain to another stylist, and teach a client to repeat at home.
As I refined the formulas, I found that the order mattered as much as the individual products. That became the Lisa May Method.
The formulas
Why each ingredient has a purpose
On every label
Free of formaldehyde, paraben, sulfate, gluten, and phthalates
"Inspired by nature" describes the way I approach the formulas. I begin with the job a formula needs to do, then choose ingredients that make sense for that job and for the rest of the routine.
Aloe
I use it as the base of much of the line.
Rosemary, cedarwood, lavender
I use these essential oils throughout the line.
Jojoba
I use it as the base of the Strengthening Oil.
Collagen
I use it where the routine calls for daily maintenance or professional restoration from the outside.
Citric acid
I use it to help balance pH.
I do not choose an ingredient because it sounds good on a label. It has to make sense in the formula and in the routine. I designed the products to work together, so what comes before and after each step matters.
You can find the complete ingredient declaration on each product page. The Lisa May Method explains why and how I use each product.
The routine
A method professionals can teach
I organized the line around three rules I use and teach in the salon.
01
Shampoo the scalp. Condition the hair.
The purpose of shampoo is to cleanse the scalp. Shampoo and conditioner belong on two different surfaces and do two different jobs.
02
Leave-in, not rinse-out.
I leave the conditioners, sprays, and oils in the hair until the next shampoo. I match the product and amount to the client's hair, then teach the same routine for home.
03
Restore, not repair.
There is no such thing as repairing the hair. I work on the outside of the hair to help restore its healthy appearance over time, then teach the client how to maintain that condition at home.
The full Lisa May Method walks through every product in order and explains what to use, where to use it, and why.
See How the Lisa May Method WorksFor professionals
Why I work through stylists
A stylist should not have to take my word for it. You can read the ingredient list, learn the routine, use the products with real clients, and judge the line for yourself.
Consumers can learn about Lisa May Eco on this site, but they do not buy the line here. I chose that model because a stylist can see the client's hair, choose the right products, demonstrate the routine, and help the client maintain it at home.
I am not trying to replace the relationship between stylist and client. I built the line to support it.
See how the Method works
Start with the complete routine: what goes where, in what order, and why. Then decide whether Lisa May Eco is right for your salon and your clients.