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subscribe to beauty blog via RSSDiversion, Running Rampant At A Mass Retailer Near You?
December 5, 2008 5:56 pm
Don’t get too excited the next time you see Kérastase or Shu Uemura Art of Hair at the supermarket. The appearance of these professional lines at your corner store is the result of “diversion,” a dirty word coined by L’Oréal’s professional division to describe the counterfeit salon products that are making their way to unapproved shelves across the nation. An “epidemic” that can result in jacked-up prices and outdated, even tainted formulas, L’Oréal is cutting off salons who sell to diverters, tracking diverted goods, and conducting routine sweeps at unspecified locations—well-orchestrated “sting operations,” if you will—in an effort to remedy the situation. To keep consumers like yourselves in the know, they’ve even taped a YouTube-accessible PSA starring a C-list news anchor with a Midwestern neutral accent about the risks associated with diversion, which we’ve provided here for your viewing pleasure. Click, watch, and join the resistance.
tags: Diversion, Hair, Kérastase, L'Oréal, Shu Uemura Art of Hair
This article really caught my attention because as a Paul Mitchell hairstylist, I know this company is dealing with the same issue. It has really become a nuisance!
By Nigelific on 12/10/08 at 1:42 pmIt was brought to my attention while I was in beauty school. It seemed at first that Paul Mitchell was trying to stop diversion because they were loosing money. That may be a factor, however, the campaign to stop it is more so for the consumers’ benefit. The people who are illegally selling these products couldn’t care less about how old the product is (disgusting, considering to bacteria growth!, or if it is truly the real product… sometimes, they refill bottles with who knows what!
Not only is the campaign to prevent consumers from harmful and unauthentic products, but it is also to help out the professional! If these products continue to sell the way they do and in the places they are being sold, it can no longer be considered a “professional” product. First of all, if the line is so accessible to the public, people think they can get the same effect at home as they would in the salon. Sometimes, this is true, but it is usually quite the contrary. On top of that, if they’re unaware that the product they are being sold is bogus, but has the Paul Mitchell name on it, what will they think of the company?!
It is important that diversion be stopped for everyone’s sake; for the consumer, so that they can have a guaranteed healty and safe product. And for the hairdresser, so they can remain professional, with professional products!