Interview: Nikolina Kišić Mamić of Flora Lab Paris

From the treatment rooms of luxury spas to the shelves of Le Bon Marché, Nikolina Kišić Mamić’s path through the haircare industry has been anything but accidental. With roots in a family steeped in salon tradition and a career shaped by years at L’Oréal, she has long been immersed in the art and science of hair. That expertise culminated in the launch of Flora Lab Paris, a brand on a mission to bring the principles of skincare to haircare. Six years in development and underpinned by over 18 years of lab research and more than four decades of salon experience, the result is a clean, science-led range built around the belief that beautiful hair begins at the scalp. As Nikolina puts it, “Scalp care is the new hair care.”

Since its launch, Flora Lab Paris has entered premium retailers including Harrods, Le Bon Marché, Galeries Lafayette, and Oh My Cream, with bespoke treatments now available in some of the world’s most luxurious spas.

We caught up with Nikolina to discuss her journey, the development of her pioneering Hair Spa concept, and why she believes it’s time to stop treating the scalp and hair as one and the same.

What inspired you to create Flora Lab Paris?

My journey in haircare began at an early age, shaped by my family’s long-standing involvement in the industry. From childhood, I was immersed in the salon environment, which gave me a deep understanding of hair health and aesthetics.

Following several years at L’Oréal, I felt ready to channel my expertise in beauty, formulation, and luxury into the creation of a modern haircare brand.

With a background in both advanced formulation and luxury service, I began to shape what I now call a curative approach to haircare. I worked as a consultant for luxury hotels, designing a signature five-step Hair Spa method — a treatment concept that elevated traditional hair rituals into a more indulgent, results-driven experience. At the same time, I started developing formulations that laid the foundation for the inaugural Flora Lab Paris range.

I launched Flora Lab Paris in mid-2023 with a clear vision: to reshape the future of haircare by placing scalp health at the heart of everything we do. We recognised early on that many common hair concerns stem from imbalances in the scalp, so our focus is on creating comprehensive, science-led solutions that support both scalp function and overall hair wellness.

What product makes the best introduction to the brand?

Our best-selling Daily Detox Scrub is a great introduction to the brand, as cleansing with a scrub is the key to a healthy scalp and hair. With its blend of super-ingredients, the Daily Detox Sensitive Scrub is an essential part of your daily or weekly routine.

Lactic acid breaks down dead skin cells lurking in your roots and dissolves product build-up; Sea Salt eliminates dead cells and impurities, leaving your scalp feeling fresh and clean. Our proprietary FP5 Biome Complex balances the scalp’s microbiome and improves its natural moisture to form a skin barrier, contributing to elasticity and strength. Beta-glucan soothes, hydrates, and protects.

It doesn’t weigh the hair down. Instead, it improves the scalp’s natural moisture, which in turn hydrates your hair, making it feel less dry and bouncier. It improves your hair health and clears the way for hair growth.

What has been the biggest highlight?

Seeing Flora Lab Paris come to life has been amazing. I launched the brand after a decade-long pursuit to fuse cutting-edge science, holistic wellness, and transformative luxury into a disruptive force in haircare. It has been so rewarding to see Flora pioneering a new era, introducing hair therapists, reimagining the consumer experience, and pushing haircare into the wellness and skincare spaces where it belongs.

What is most important and makes me happiest is the extremely positive results and feedback we receive from our customers. It is a testimony to the truly transformational impact our products and rituals can have, from the very first application.

What advice would you give to those wanting to launch their own beauty business?

Make sure to spend time at the point of sale to understand the consumers and their real needs. This is the first major step. Make sure your proposition is disruptive and innovative, but intuitive for consumers.

Once you have the ‘killer’ product, make sure the way in which you go to market will make you stand out. Overall, you must be ready to live your work. Persistence and discipline are the key, together with determination and passion. Once you start, there is no giving up!

What’s next for Flora Lab Paris?

Things at Flora are incredibly dynamic right now!

We have just launched our new Calming Mask, which is the first-of-its-kind product in the industry. We will also be launching our Miracle Brushes soon.

Flora Lab Paris has recently launched in Oh My Cream and is expanding its presence across Galeries Lafayette. It is also set to launch in Harvey Nichols Qatar and Rosewood Chancery in London, one of the most anticipated hotel openings of the year.

My aim is that Hair Spa and Hair Facials become a standard within the hotel industry. It is our mission to establish these amazing self-care treatments at five-star hotels around the world. Flora is pioneering the segment. We are moving it — it is happening. There is so much interest and huge potential!

What does your daily hair routine look like?

My daily routine is applying our Hyaluronic Acid Booster onto my face and adding it to my face cream, applying the Anti-Aging Scalp Serum to my scalp in the evening and Density Serum in the morning, applying Miracle Repair Serum each evening and each morning before styling the hair, and using Flora Perfume Hair Oil on my legs and hair.

I wash my hair twice a week (it shouldn’t be washed more frequently than that) and a few days after washing, I refresh it with our Miracle Hair Mist. In addition to acting as a repairing mist enriched with amino acids and peptides, it also functions as a styling product and hair perfume, with dry shampoo properties — all without talc.

What’s the biggest hair lesson you’ve learned?

That the scalp is living skin and should be treated with the same clinical care as facial skincare.

In skincare, hiding a skin concern with makeup only makes it worse. The same is true for hair. We commonly try to hide or repair damaged hair by using shampoos, conditioners, masks, or blow-dries, which is not problem-solving but problem-hiding. It is mostly aesthetic and not truly curative. We can’t treat scalp and strands in the same way! So, it is time for the Skin Therapy for Hair approach!

What person or brand would you love to collaborate with?

It would be incredible to collaborate with Hailey Bieber. She is an inspirational businesswoman and a modern-day style icon.

What’s not getting the attention it deserves in the beauty industry right now?

Ninety percent of the population suffer from scalp imbalances, and Flora is finally bringing expertise and care to this underserved category. Flora’s Hair Therapists are trained in the science of scalp and hair health, offering education, diagnostics, and care that go far beyond styling. This new category is central to Flora’s mission to enable the skinification of haircare.

Flora’s multi-step haircare routine has a strong emphasis on the scalp microbiome and the biology of hair. We aim to empower people with the correct products and knowledge to achieve healthy, gorgeous hair. Because being good to your hair is being good to yourself!

Flora Lab Paris is available in the UK at Harrods, and in the US at floralabparis.com.