Is Your Stylist Lying To You?
Submitted by Beauty Brains Blog
Courtney’s question: I was reading a magazine article about natural remedies for dandruff and was shocked that the article quoted a hairstylist saying that SLS in shampoo causes dandruff. “That’s impossible” I thought, having been a loyal reader of your blog. It seems that stylists always seem to be handing out this bogus advice about how hair works without any scientific evidence to back it up. Is this just bad training or a conspiracy to sell product?
The Left Brain’s rant:
You’re right about SLS (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate), Courtney. It does not cause dandruff. The real cause is a complex combination of hyperactive skin cells and the effect of a fungus. (For more details read this discussion on the causes of dandruff . ) As far as why stylists give bogus advice, that’s an even more complex subject.
Conspiracy theory
If there is a conspiracy to sell product, I don’t think it comes from stylists. I believe they are a tremendously talented group of people when it comes to cutting, coloring, and styling hair. While stylists are trained in beauty school, for the most part they are not given much background on hair biology or product chemistry. (That’s the forte of cosmetic scientists, like The Beauty Brains.) And without this kind of scientific training, it’s easy for stylists to believe whatever their told by the companies selling salon products.
Blame the salon companies
I really place the blame primarily with some of the salon companies that educate the stylists. Why? It’s well known in the industry that salon products make more outrageous claims than their mass market counterparts. This is partly due to the entrepreneurial nature of the salon business and partly because most salon companies do not have their own R&D or technical resources. They hire companies known as Private Label, or Contract Labs, to create their formulas and to manufacture them. But since they don’t advertise on television, they’re not called on to provide robust support for the claims they make about their products. So, it’s easy for salon companies to pass on information that may be, shall I say, exaggerated, and stylists repeat that information to their customers, whether it’s true or not. And that’s how you get stylists saying SLS causes dandruff.
Bigger may be better
By the way, salon brands that are owned by larger companies like L’Oreal or Proctor and Gamble, are less likely to engage in this kind of misinformation campaign because they are generally backed by better research and development. Many people believe salon products are better than “big company” products, so they don’t like to hear this statement, but it’s true. See our previous posts on L’Oreal and P&G to see which salon brands they own.
The Beauty Brains bottom line
Stylists and scientists are both critical players in the beauty industry. Without scientists, stylists wouldn’t have products to use. And without stylists, there wouldn’t be an expert audience of artists to use our formulas. In my opinion what’s best for the industry, and for consumers, is to have talented stylists providing input to the scientists who are developing formulas. The stylists can learn from the scientists and the scientists can gain insight on how to make better products. That’s the best of BOTH worlds.
What do YOU think? Do you trust what your stylist tells you? If not, where DO you get your beauty information? Leave a comment and share your sources with the rest of the Beauty Brains community
