Product Diversion~ Do you know what you are putting on your hair?

As a beauty professional I try to give clients the best hair care products I can offer. When a client tells me "Oh I can get that here or there" it hits a nerve. There are OUR products right there on the shelf of your drugstores! Now, you have to be a licensed cosmetologist to purchase professional hair care products to sell. So just how are these other companies getting them? Well we call it Diversion. This is the shady practice of black market hair care! There are a few thing that you should know about the products you buy from Wal Mart and other places.

• They are obtained through black market terms.
• They are opened and re-packaged.
• They can be contaminated.
• The stores do not have permission to sell them.
• They are ususally diluted and/or the wrong product in the bottle.
• The tracking code has been removed from the package.
• They are more expensive.
• Some of the products are discontinued by the manufacture

Just how are they pruchased through black market you ask? Well it starts with an individual who approachs a salon owner and strikes a deal with them. The individual offers to buy the products form them at inflated prices. The mark up on any retail item can be anywhere from 30% -50% (not just hair care, ALL retail items) This salon owner may see a chance to make some extra money and takes it. The owner will purchase the products for them and the money exchanges. This is the most common way to purchase for the black market.

Next, the products are shipped to another person and stored in a warehouse. When it is time they will open the bottles and dilute them, tamper with them and then re-package them. They remove the tracking code from the bottles, place different products in the bottles, and who knows what else they do to the products!  During this process you really have no idea what is happening to the products. This is were the contamination comes in. The products are stored in damp places where there is no temp control, bactiria grows and well...... you can imagine.

The altered product is then shipped to yet another person where they are stored in yet another place until time to sell them. The drugstores probably are not fully aware as to what they are doing....then again, maybe they are. When it is time, the products are shipped to the retailers that will sell them. And always at an inflated price. The products out there on the shelf are more expensive then what you would pay from a salon. There is such a misconception about how it is too expensive  to buy products from the salon. When you buy from your hair dresser you  know what you are getting. Your hair dresser knows your hair, and knows you. Did you know that if you are not satisfied with your professional hair product you can take it back to the salon for a full refund? All salons have a money back policy because the manufacturer gives them one. You know that your product is safe and has been tested for any contaminates. You know that your product has been handled correctly and you know that you are getting the true product.



WHAT IS REDKEN DOING TO STOP DIVERSION

In order to protect Redken salons and to ensure that consumers only receive the highest quality Redken products appropriate for their specific hair needs, Redken continues in its commitment to aggressively combat diversion:
•A former FBI agent developed the strategies and oversees the implementation of Redken's anti-diversion program.

•Exclusive product coding is used to track the movement of Redken products. This is the method for tracing products to industry diverters.

•Redken representatives undertake regular shelf sweeps at unauthorized retail outlets in the U.S. These products are subsequently decoded in an effort to identify diverters.

•Ongoing intelligence procedures uncover diversion schemes, including those involving stores and misuse of the Internet.

•Diversion information can be communicated to Redken's Security Department by calling the Redken Diversion Hotline at 1-800-503-3997 or by e-mailing us at NoDivert@aol.com.
 
A LETTER FROM L'OREAL PROFESSIONAL
Dear Valued Clients,


First of all, thank you for choosing a salon that uses one or more of the following L’Oréal Professional Products – Matrix, Redken, PureOlogy, L’Oréal Professionnel, Artec, Kérastase, Shu Uemura Art of Hair and Mizani. I want to take this opportunity to speak to you directly about a problem facing our industry called Diversion. You have probably seen our products before in mass retailers, drug and grocery stores or unauthorized websites. Do not buy salon products from them. Why?
1. QUALITY – L’Oréal doesn’t authorize sales of professional products to these outlets and can’t guarantee the content or quality of these products. L’Oréal Professional Products purchased at unauthorized outlets are often older than 250 days, discontinued or even counterfeit. Because of the confidence we have in our products, for the 1st time ever, we are offering a QUALITY GUARANTEE. If you purchase our products at your local salon or spa and you’re not satisfied with their performance, return the product with a receipt within 4 weeks for a full refund. See your salon stylist or product website for further info.
2. PRICE – You may be at a price disadvantage when purchasing our products from an unauthorized sales outlet.
In fact, through our price checks vs. syndicated data, we have found that salon products purchased at mass retailers are AT LEAST 10% higher than when bought at your local salon or spa.
3. PROFESSIONAL SERVICE - Most importantly, these products are sold without the service and recommendation of your stylist who knows the best product for your hair, and deprives them of the sale of this product and their service.
Support your stylist, care for your hair and your budget.
Please share your thoughts with me. I’m starting my own blog at davidcraggs.com. Or feel free to call our hotline
at (800) 503-3997.
Sincerely,
David Craggs
President
L’Oréal Professional Products

Letter.PPDSalonDiversion 50003494
 
 
Not just REDKEN is attempting to stop diversion. ALL professional hair product industries are trying to stop this. The diverted product is not safe and is not a true product. Talk to your stylist and get the right products for your hair. Do you know what you are putting on your hair??

Product of the Month for Curls

I use to have only a few waves in my hair. But over the years my hair has turned curly. And during this transformation I have been on a search for products that truely work on curls. You would think that since I have the whole beauty industry at my disposel this would be easy. This is far from the truth.

Since I have worked with REDKEN products for the majority of my carrer this is where I started. I used the whole Fresh Curls line.  The shampoo, conditioner, and the styling products. To my disappointment they did not work.




My second choice was MATRIX curl life. Again I used the whole system for my hair. It was actually better than the REDKEN. But I still had frizz and usually stiff hair.

I also tried the drugstore brands such as Gariener soft curl cream. Though this was probably the best so far it left my hair feeling sticky.
I look at pictures of hair all day long and as a hair dresser I feel I sould be able to obtain the hair in the pictures. Then it hit me why I could not. I needed to practice what I preached to my clients, "Don't expect the same results when you do your hair yourself!" I tell my clients this all day as you can not do your hair as someone else who is standing over you with two hands. It occured to me that the girls with those beautiful curls have 1. not stepped foot outside in the elements, and 2. have not done their own hair.




Now I live in Texas where there is never a shortage of hunidity. Humidity and curls do NOT go together. Even when I straighten my hair it will look great until I step outside. Then wham! Intstant fluff in the means of frizz.

What I tried next was PAUL MITCHELL. I have always loved their products but until recently never really worked where they were sold. And as a firm belief of mine, I try to only use what we sell. So I ventured and spent more money. I went for the Super Skinny Serum and the Round Trip. And gratefully went back to my REDKEN All Soft shampoo and conditioner. This combo works perfect on my curls.
First I shampoo and condition with All Soft shampoo and conditioner.
Second I towel dry my hair
Third I apply the super skinny serum starting at the ends and working my way up.

Fourth I apply the round trip. I flip my head upside down and apply a bit that way, never running my fingers completly through the hair. Just sort of scrunching it. Then I flip my head back over and apply a bit more using the same scrunching motion.
And I am done! I never blowdry my curls. Even on a cold day. While my hair is air drying I will fluff it to add to the body. But NEVER blowdry your curls even with a diffuser. The heat and amount of air blowing on your curls will frizz them no matter how much product you apply. I once heard a hair stylist say the the "do not disturb" slogan was really meant for curls. This is so true. Do all your work to them while they are wet, then when they are all the way dry. And NEVER run your fingers, brush or comb through the hair. You want defined curls, not the crimped frizz that we managed to achieve in the 80's. That is what you get when you do that to your hair.  
Here is another tip.
When you towel dry your hair how do you do it? Do you take the towel and ruffle your hair between it? If so, stop. All you are doing is ruffing up the cuticle. When you rub the hair the wrong way it frays the cuticle of the hair. And this causes frizz. Instead, wrap your hair in you towel for just a few minutes. Then take the hair out and gently squeeze the hair between the towel. This will not disturb the cuticle.
With curls it is all about defining them.