Category: Industry News

The industry is ever changing here are some various topics in the Industry! Good and Bad

ClassAction.com filed a lawsuit against L’Oreal and Matrix

~ Joseph Kellner

Always in trouble they are, in a industry were you have manufacturing deception and price gouging. It come to me this is the same old same old crap in my industry.  I was once told when I entered in the beauty its a ‘whore’s business”, or the beauty shows are “flea markets”. That was the best advice and description I could have ever have gotten. And as time has past in my 30 years I see nothing has or will change in my industry. Shop to you drop are the ‘Beauty Shows”. It’s all soap my friends with maybe a little oils, or fragrance. That”s all it is.  So as usual the manufacturers will say anything advertising wise to make a sell to you as the consumer and as to me the professional. I never fall for it anymore.  It has been a very long time since I have been to a “hair show – flea market” that I have lost my respect for the manufacturers. Also they are filled with “snake -oil” salesmen and saleswomen to be correct.  Buy this and buy that will be the first impression from them, I once did a documentary called ‘The real Hair Truth” and we had a few snake oil sales men in it. These are people who will go from company to company selling there “speal” to them for a paycheck. And offering there devotion to them for a few nickels. Most of them do it because of a over sized ego. And most of them there work looks no better than a beauty school drop out. But the manufacturers will place anything on a bottle or label.  Its makes no difference to them if they get caught they will pay penny’s on the dollars in civil court. big Deal, no worry’s maybe they will say a batch of products did not have the “SECRET INGREDIENTS”. MERELY A TECHNICAL GLITCH WITH THE FACTORY MACHINERY.

In the latest case of a company allegedly promising ingredients and benefits its products do not offer or contain, last week ClassAction.com filed a false advertising lawsuit against L’Oreal USA and Matrix Essentials over an array of hair products that appear not to contain the protein keratin.

The products cited in the complaint are the following:

  • Matrix Biolage Keratindose Pro-Keratin + Silk Shampoo
  • Pro-Keratin + Silk Conditioner
  • Pro-Keratin Renewal Spray

The 39-page complaint—filed in the Southern District of New York on January 26, 2017—states:

Through its uniform, nationwide advertising campaign… Defendants have led consumers to believe that their Keratindose Products actually contain keratin and will confer the claimed benefits of keratin to the consumer.

In reality, the Keratindose Products do not contain any keratin at all and are incapable of providing the claimed benefits of keratin to the consumer.

The complaint states that the products’ labels are “false, deceptive and misleading, in violation of the Federal Food Drug & Cosmetics Act and its parallel state statutes, and almost every state warranty, consumer protection, and product labeling law throughout the United States.”

The plaintiffs seek relief for damages, for the defendants to stop engaging in the deceptive advertising alleged in the complaint, and any other relief the Court deems just and proper.

Click on the link to download the file to read. Loreal_Matrix_Keratin_Lawsuit(1)

I am not surprised at all with the lawsuit, but what is surprising to me in my industry we have this so called organization called the “PBA” PROFESSIONAL BEAUTY ASSOCIATION.  THEY DO NOT SAY A PEEP ABOUT ANY OF THESE LAWSUITS OR DO ANY INVESTIGATING AT ALL. BECAUSE THEY ARE IN BED WITH THE MANUFACTURERS.  They tought themselves as the watch dawg’s for the beauty business. Basically if you join them they charge you $300.00 for membership and give you a 10% discount on a hair show.  I call them the Professional bullshit association. They do nothing for the professional but they will sure do a lot for the manufacturers. And anything to do with Licensureship, anything that will hurt the manufacturers schools or state boards they will jump on in a minute. Because if they reported the truth about the industry they would lose manufacturers dollars. They use that to sustain themselves. With out that they would be history. Good day everyone.

L’Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt dies at age 94

~ Joseph Kellner

PARIS – Liliane Bettencourt, the L’Oreal cosmetics heiress and the world’s richest woman, has died at her home in a chic Parisian suburb. She was 94.

Bettencourt’s daughter, Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, said in a written statement Thursday that her mother “left peacefully” overnight in Neuilly-sur-Seine.

Liliane Bettencourt was the only child of Eugene Schueller, who founded L’Oreal in the early 20th century. Forbes magazine estimated her fortune to be worth $39.5 billion this year.

L’Oreal Chairman and CEO Jean-Paul Agon expressed “great admiration” for Bettencourt. Agon said she “always looked” after the company and its employees and “she has personally contributed greatly to its success for many years.”

Born in 1922 in Paris, she married French politician Andre Bettencourt at the age of 27. Her husband notably served as a minister at the end of the 1960s and beginning of the 1970s. He died in 2007.

Liliane Bettencourt inherited the L’Oreal fortune upon the death of her father in 1957. When the company went public six years later, she continued to own a majority stake

 

As the world’s leading beauty company, L’Oreal generated sales amounting to 25.8 billion euros in 2016 and employs 89,300 people worldwide, according to the company.

Bettencourt’s name has been involved in a politico-financial scandal known in France as the “Bettencourt Affair”, which has wound its way through French courts and newspapers for years.

The case stemmed from a 2007 complaint filed by Bettencourt’s daughter accusing one of her mother’s closest friends, the photographer Francois-Marie Banier, of manipulating the elderly widow into giving him artwork and cash.

In 2015, a French court handed Banier a three-year prison sentence on charges of swindling millions of euros from Bettencourt by taking advantage of her weak mental state. The court acquitted a former ally of former President Nicolas Sarkozy in the case.

Sarkozy’s former campaign treasurer, Eric Woerth, was acquitted on charges of “abuse of weakness” and taking donations from Bettencourt during the 2007 presidential election campaign.

Sarkozy himself was cleared in 2013 of preliminary charges.

Bettencourt is survived by her daughter, Francoise, who was born in 1953.

Why You Shouldn’t Be An Entrepreneur

~ Joseph Kellner

 

 

When a hopeful entrepreneur asks me advice on beginning a startup, my advice is always the same: Don’t do it. It’s awful.

That is not the full truth. The reality is that it’s difficult to start and run a business. It’s a tremendous investment that takes time, effort and capital. Your focus is always on the business. Fantastic highs give way to horrible lows. It causes drastic mood swings (that might seem irrational to others) and extreme financial stress that few really understand. If someone one is going to make it, they won’t listen to my suggestion and will move full-steam ahead.

If this is the path you go down, there are a few things you should expect.

 

Uneven Work/Life Balance

I’ve always struggled with the work/life balance ratios that people often refer to. I genuinely love the challenges that come with creating a business, so I guess you could say I’ve never worked a day in my life. How is that for balance? But in all seriousness, I am almost constantly thinking about work, whether I’m running, reading, with friends or out with my girlfriend. In the back of my head, I’m going over checklists, thinking up new strategies or applications of new technologies. This can make relationships difficult, as you’re always ducking out to take a phone call, canceling dates or are unable to totally focus on on someone. On the flip side, I’m free to make my own schedule, stepping out to take care of personal things or work remotely if I need to.

An Always Moving Finish Line

There are going to be times where it feels like everyone is trying to prevent you from getting to where you want to be. It is easy to get discouraged and swayed. Entrepreneurs must go into what I call “cut-throat mode.” You need to navigate politics, get buy-in and ultimately arrive at your goal. Chances are, until that goal is achieved, you won’t be happy. And even when that happens, a new goal will inevitably appear to embark upon. To compound matters, there may even be multiple goals at the same time. This can ultimately make it challenging to have fun or do social activities with non-entrepreneurs because there is always something more important, in your mind, to do. After all, time is money, and both can be the difference between success and failure.

To tackle this, try breaking your goals into manageable pieces so they are more actionable. Understanding everything that needs to happen and having a plan for how you will accomplish each step eases the burden.

Always Being ‘On’

As an entrepreneur, you always need to be thinking about how your business is perceived by the mainstream. Because of this, you always need to be “on.” You don’t have the luxury of disclosing issues or problems. In order to protect and propel your organization, your guard always needs to be up — prepared to spin negatives or take advantage of opportunities when they appear. For example, responding to questions like “How is the business going?” is incredibly complex. I always stay positive and keep in mind who is asking. You never know who you are going to meet or what they might know. Make sure you are representing yourself and your company well.

Inevitable Stressors

Most humans fail over and over, and this is generally a good thing as long as you learn from it. However, when running a business, there are a lot of dependencies, and ensuring the bottlenecks you are creating are solved can cause a lot of pressure and stress. For example, missing payroll is a very realistic possibility for most startups. Whatever the situation may be, you are the one who is generally responsible for fixing the problem, and chances are you will not always have the answer.

Is It Worth It?

Being an entrepreneur is one of the best and worst things I’ve decided to do. I’ve learned more than I could have imaged and have been faced with challenging situations I never thought I would have to go through, but I’ve also had a ton of fun. If I could choose a different career path, I wouldn’t. It’s not for everyone, but if you are the type of person who, after reading this, still wants to pursue creating your dream company, good for you. Just remember it will most likely be the hardest thing you’ve ever done, but with perseverance, you might just pull it off.

Free Advice For All

~ Joseph Kellner

Take Pride on how you present yourself. When you give your first impression it is very important. Set a example in your surroundings. Only you are responsible of how you want to be visually perceived.  Pressed shirts, Blouses, Trousers, Shined Shoes, Hair, Trimmed or Polished Nails, Tattoos, Jewelry are all areas people or your clients will perceive you. Customers will measure you initially by your outward presentation. Remember our profession is a art and craft. You need to express your own individualism.

Certain age groups you will attract by your appearance and also your age too.

When you do not use your talents where you are employed, or as a salon owner, or studio artist. You need to find a area where you can. You cannot spend hard earned money on schooling or advanced education. To come back to a atmosphere where you cannot utilize your skills. It is your responsibility to find your niche.

Your journey in life is very personnel and important. Do not let the others influence you. Fly straight and on your OWN course. There will be changes, but without these changes there will be no fun in the adventure.

If you feel professionally you are weak at some points, take charge of your weaknesses.  Always try to strive for perfection in what you are doing. Practice is the key. Also practice will give you all the answers. Take control of your fears. It is only you holding your back.

Corporate Slavery Thrives At The Regis Corporation And Hair Masters.

~ Joseph Kellner

Once again there is not a ending to the corporate slavery I see in my industry. A few weeks ago I applied for a job as Salon Manager, (Corporate Leader as Regis Corporation calls it). At one of there locations called Hair Masters which is located in Metro-west, Florida 32819. I did not go into the job looking for employment since I already have my own studio and basically quite comfortable where I am at. But this interview which was a phone interview I decided to use for the start of my third documentary. Basically outline the corporate greed that is abundant in my industry. The Beauty/Cosmetic Industry.  A phone interview was set up with me and the individual from the company I would say was quite accommodating with my questions. Again I say I used this interview for the documentation of my next Documentary.

After the pleasantry’s The Interviewer gave a job description of the position I was applying for. In the Regis Corporation the job title is SALON LEADER.  Old school terms MANAGER. The job was for a full time position and the details of the job were as follows.

  • Hiring of stylists
  • Education of Stylists. Which for the Regis Corporation is video’s and no funds to send people to school.
  • Ordering of Hair Color, Retail Ordering, Promotions Etc.
  • Weekly Payroll
  • Cleaning of the salon
  • Running the phone operations and scheduling
  • Daily and weekly closeouts
  • Deposits to the bank
  • Training of Employee’s

This seemed like a job or position for someone to move up the ladder and go places with the company.  But may I say the pay is only 50%. And that’s 50% o of what you tell me, no minimum salary with a percentage of services, cheap benefits. And basically they will get FREE labor from anyone stupid enough to take the position.  Company’s have decided to prey on the uneducated of our industry, and promising the sky but with no real modern pay structure. In my industry I have been around the most talented and they know the story. But if you take a person off the streets of Orlando and give them a job at Universal Studios frying shrimp they give the employee a base salary which normally is $400.00 a week, 401k, Free Tickets to the attractions, etc. But a HUGE corporation like Regis cannot even muster up the tidings of giving any of there employee’s a livable wage. Sad how my industry has been degraded, ran through the muck and no one has the BALLS to say anything. I will say I received 50% in 1986 as a stylist, but with the constant strains of Rental increase, Electric, Day Care, Food no one can live off of 50% of nothing. Such a sad state of affairs we are in in this Beauty Industry.

I feel sorry for all the younger professionals who get a bad taste in there mouth when the abundance of Greed and and there lack of Business Knowledge are taken advantage of. And I say True knowledge of how the Beauty Industry is really ran by these corporations and websites. There are no places to go to get help within the industry, unless you hire your own attorney for representation. The are no Organizations to belong to, unless you are in the film industry and you are apart of a Local. This has been going on for a long time.

This is corporate Slavery!

If you are interested in the position here is the information to apply.

 Dina Blades
Senior District Leader
diand2@regisconnect.com   Phone Number: (772) 501-5486