The lovely Sarah from StyleIt joined me for a nice lunch and some shopping today. We stopped by Duane Reade for some essentials and while cruising in the hair care aisle, we noticed a HUGE display of high-end, salon hair care products, including Matrix and Redken.
So, what's the big deal, right? It's pretty common to see salon haircare in drugstores. Well, you might be surprised to know that drugstores and other mass retailers are NOT authorized distributors for salon brands like Kerastase, L'Oreal Professional, Bumble & Bumble or Aveda. In fact, what you're seeing on store shelves is actually "Diverted" product, not authorized by the distributor. Do yourself a favor in 2009 and purchase your hair essentials from the proper channels as:
- Diverted product is almost always more expensive - surprising, but true! You'll pay, on average, 10% more!
- Diverted product could be old or outdated (in fact, we spotted several discontinued products on the shelves of DR today)
- Diverted product could even be contaminated or watered down - so you're paying a premium for a product that isn't worth it.
David Cragg, the president of L'Oreal Professional Products (which include Redken, Matrix, Kerastase, Shu Uemura Art of Hair, Pureology and several other brands, though NOT Aveda or B&B, mentioned above), is featured in an anti-diversion video, which you can check out here.
Don't forget to buy products through authorized outlets - for a salon locator, visit each brand's website. If you're a Kerastase addict (as I am), you can even buy directly through their site - www.kerastase.com.
8 comments:
I'm glad you mentioned this. Someone told me this once (I think it may have been a hair stylist), and now I'm constantly warning my friends not to buy salon products from drugstores.
The diverted products are 100% genuine since they come straight from the manufacturer.
Hi Anonymous,
Unfortunately, that's not true! They rarely come from the manufacturer - they generally come from wholesalers. Hope that helps!
Hi eye,
wholsesales buy it from manufacturers right? it's a consumer ripp off
L'oreal is the only manufacturer who is really fighting diversion...
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/aug/12/salon-supplier-claims-companies-diverted-products-/
Love the article and we just found out that diversion could be a think of the past if manufactures fight. The real deal is upc gets covered with a new code and product tampering occurs with the products sold in food and drug stores. These products are now illegal and can't be sold with recent laws. If you see them call the manufacture and watch them get removed. Check out this article we found in salon today.
http://www.salontoday.com/ArticleLanding/tabid/130/Default.aspx?tid=1&ContentID=837251
Girl they have wepons now to fight diversion. Lets see how they use these new tools.
CUL,
Lisa Lee
You should all check out this website http://www.beautyindustryfund.com/DiversionData/ReportView/default.asp. It shows the total diverted sales of the major salon product manufacturors. I wouldn't trust Loreal. They say they're fighting diversion but Matrix has more diverted sales than any other manufactuor. These numbers are reported by AC Nielson and do not lie. It's obvious that Bumble & Bumble has a terrible anti-diversion program. In 2008 their diversion sales increased by over 2000%. Now I see their product everywhere. It looks like Sebastian is on the right track. They were one of the only manufacturors to decrease their diversion in 2008 and in 2009 they've decreased their diverted sales more than other company (by 53%!). According to Nielson they have half the diverted sales of Paul Mitchell and less than a quarter of the diverted sales of Matrix.
Beauty care profession really a nice job. salon and makeup also an important issue a beautician and the customer. All looking to be nice but I think only one bad side is excessive/wrong use of cosmetics and makeup accessories may be harmful.
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