The JPMS team celebrates the Mana La Solar Car that almost raced the company to the green finish line.



LP hearts Paul Mitchell—not only because of the company’s awesome products (the Smoothing Gloss Drops are the best for nixing flyaways!), but because of the brand’s long-standing commitment to helping Mother Earth.

I recently accepted an invitation to the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, where JPMS co-owners John Paul DeJoria and Angus Mitchell were donating the company’s famous Mana La Solar Car for a limited stay.

After sipping on one of JP’s newest endeavours—a yummy Patron vodka—and mingling with Angus and the rest of the Paul Mitchell team, it was time to get down to business. Everyone gathered together to watch a video that charted JP and the late Paul Mitchell’s journey to build the Mana La Solar Car for the first solar-powered race from Darwin to Adelaide, Australia on the Stuart Highway (a total of 3,000 km [2,000 miles]) in 1987. Of 23 entrants, the strongest U.S. teams were Paul Mitchell and General Motors (however, the Mana La Solar Car eventually dropped out of the race due to difficulties with terrain and low wind power).

After the video ended, I couldn’t help but think how ahead of the times JP and Paul Mitchell were—after all, it’s taken more than two decades for the majority of Americans to acknowledge the need for green practices. Hats off to JPMS!

And to those of you who are implementing ways to heal the earth…let us know! And be sure to check out our eco-chic issue in April for tips and tricks on how to green-up your life.

Me, John Paul and Justin Kerr