Category: Industry News

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

US Labor Department’s OSHA issues hazard Alert!

~ Joseph Kellner ~ Leave a comment

 

US Labor Department’s OSHA issues hazard alert to hair salon owners, workers
on smoothing and straightening products that could release formaldehyde!

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is issuing a hazard alert to hair salon owners and workers about potential formaldehyde exposure from working with some hair smoothing and straightening products.

The hazard alert, available on OSHA’s website at http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/formaldehyde/hazard_alert.html, provides information about OSHA’s investigations, the health hazards of formaldehyde and how to protect people who are working with hair smoothing and straightening products.

Responding to complaints and referrals about possible exposure to formaldehyde, federal OSHA and many state occupational safety and health agencies are conducting investigations. Oregon’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Connecticut’s Department of Public Health, and agencies in several other states already have issued warnings.

Federal OSHA has found formaldehyde in the air when stylists used hair smoothing products, some of which do not have formaldehyde listed on their labels or in material safety data sheets as required by law. During one investigation, the agency’s air tests showed formaldehyde at levels greater than OSHA’s limits for a salon, even though the product tested was labeled as formaldehyde-free. California’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently issued violations to an importer and distributer of smoothing products labeled formaldehyde-free for failing to list formaldehyde as a hazardous ingredient on the company’s product labels and in the material safety data sheets.

Formaldehyde presents a health hazard if workers are exposed. It can irritate the eyes and nose; cause allergic reactions of the skin, eyes and lungs; and is linked to nose and lung cancer.

OSHA requires manufacturers, importers and distributors of products that contain formaldehyde as a gas or in solution, or that can release formaldehyde during use, to include information about formaldehyde and its hazards on product labels and in the material safety data sheets that are sent to employers.

“Workers have the right to know the risks associated with the chemicals with which they work, and how to protect themselves,” said federal OSHA Assistant Secretary Dr. David Michaels. “Employers need to know these risks in order to ensure the safety and health of their employees.”

To eliminate potential worker exposure, OSHA recommends that salon owners use products that do not contain formaldehyde, methylene glycol, formalin, methylene oxide, paraform, formic aldehyde, methanal, oxomethane, oxymethylene or Chemical Abstract Service Number 50-00-0.

If a salon owner decides to continue using a formaldehyde-containing hair smoothing product, then he or she must follow OSHA’s formaldehyde standard. Important requirements of this standard include conducting air monitoring, installing ventilation where needed and training workers about formaldehyde, as well as providing protective equipment such as gloves, chemical splash goggles, face shields and chemical resistant aprons.

The material safety data sheet includes important information about what a product contains and how the ingredients can affect a worker’s health. Salon owners and other employers must have a material safety data sheet for any of the products they use that contain hazardous chemicals. They must also make the sheet available to stylists and other workers.

OSHA currently has a number of ongoing investigations at salons and of importers/distributors/manufacturers relating to hair smoothing and straightening products. Some citations have been issued.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to ensure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov/index.html.

Spain’s competition regulators fine P&G and L’Oreal over hair care price-fixing

~ Joseph Kellner ~ Leave a comment
As if we would not already know!

The National Competition Commission has hit the local operators of Procter & Gamble and L’Oreal with multi-million Euro fines over price fixing of professional hair care products in Spain.

The anti-trust authority is fining a total of eight companies operating in the salon professional sector, for their involvement in what the commission refers to as a cartel.

The body is also fining industry association the National Association of Perfume and Cosmetics, claiming that it also played a key part of the cartel.

L’Oreal ordered to pay €23.2m

The fines total €50m and it is L’Oreal that has been given the highest in the group at.€23.2m, while Productos Cosmeticos SLU, which was bought by L’Oreal in 2004, was totld to pay €12m.

The other companies named by the commission as being part of the cartel are Eugene Perma Espana, Cosmetica Cosbar Cosmetica Tecnica, The Colomer Group Spain and DSP Haircare Products.

The cartel was allegedly formed back in 1989 and is refered to by the commission as the G8 in its documentation. It is alleged that leaders of the eight business units met twice a year to discuss various market strategies, including pricing.

Henkel Iberica blows the whistle

The panel of judges from the anti-trust authorities said that they were informed of the price-fixing activities by the eighth member of the cartel, Henkel Iberica.

According to documentation released by the authorities, the fact that Henkel Iberica informed the body about the cartel’s activities meant that the company was free from prosecution due to a law passed in 2008.

Press reports also detail that L’Oreal has subsequently issued a statement denying that the meetings with the other companies were for the purpose of price-fixing, while P&G has refused to comment on the matter.

Great Reviews for the Documentary THE REAL HAIR TRUTH!

~ Joseph Kellner

The Real Hair Truth Documentary Review

Are you looking to jump in headfirst into the beauty industry as a hair dresser? Are you currently going to a beauty school to obtain your license? Before you continue your journey through the beauty industry, let Joseph Kellner give you some words of advice. His words of wisdom can be found in The Real Hair Truth Documentary, which was put together by him with the help of advice from numerous hairstylist professionals and salon owners. A nearly two hour documentary covering the truth of the hair industry, some facts are a hit, while some parts you’ll wonder about the entire purpose of the film.

What Kellner talks about in this documentary is of how over-saturated and perhaps unethical the beauty industry is today, and why it needs to be improved. Included in the documentary are facts and experiences from real professionals in the industry, from the booth rental based salons, lack of hourly wages and benefits for hairdressers, and lack of education to help hair dressers evolve in their careers. Kellner also brings up one good point of the beauty industry today, the art aspect of the industry is missing and has turned into a show biz, with manufacturers shoving products down the consumer’s throat, entertainment performances taking place at hair shows instead of pure education, and the same hairstylists and individuals who show up at the hair shows and tell attendees the same information previously given the year prior.

Kellner makes it clear that the beauty industry is a very tough industry, and that education is truly lacking, with the government involved to try and get their fair share by providing mandatory license tests with no meaning. So if you’re in a beauty school expecting to know everything about hair and coloring, and expect to make a lot of money once you graduate, think again. Kellner and the professionals in the documentary pinpoint that education is continuous process, and you have to find resources and people who are willing to help you obtain more knowledge to succeed. That source of information provided from the documentary is there to let you know how this industry operates, and what to prepare for.

Three fourth’s of the way through The Real Hair Truth is where things take a different turn. During that time Kellner is talking about product diversion, professional salon products being sold to and displayed in grocery stores, counterfeit hair products, and what people can do with products once they purchase them. It’s during this time you start to wonder if this is a documentary about expecting of what’s to come when starting your hair dresser career, or how the hair industry is from a business standpoint. The real message isn’t told clearly enough, as the part about product distribution and such should have been compiled into a separate documentary.

A few tips provided by the film, like ways to market yourself when starting your career as a hairdresser, was welcomed. A couple of hair academies Kellner recommends in the film was also helpful, but it would have been great to also hear from him or the others involved in the film of how to bring change to the industry in a positive manner, like ways to bring the art back into the hair industry or of how education can be enhanced so people new to the industry can be properly trained to work behind the chair.

From viewing this documentary, it would mostly appeal to individuals going to a beauty school or are looking to start their careers as a hairdresser. Information from the film lets you know that you have to put in hard work, have dedication, be well educated, and be business savvy to survive in the industry. Remember this isn’t a how-to film, but rather an alert message of how the beauty industry is, with many flaws that need to be improved. Though some tips of ways to succeed as a hairdresser or improve the beauty industry would have been welcomed, the hair truth has definitely been told. If you want the truth about the industry, you can’t go wrong with purchasing this documentary.

Pure’ity Blog

Education of the Beauty School Student

~ Joseph Kellner
Many of us in the beauty industry have seen the disastrous effects of inadequate beauty school training. A student graduates beauty school with high hopes of doing a job that they love, only to become quickly frustrated by their inability to make a good living. The exception to this is the student who is lucky enough to have a mentor in the industry that provides them with the real education that they need to succeed. So why, after years of paid education, does a student require more on-the-job training to be a success? The answer is usually an inadequate and flawed beauty school system.
If we look at beauty schools as producers of a product then we can understand that beauty school graduates are a product that is thrown into the marketplace unfinished. The reasons for this start at the very foundation of beauty school: curriculum, requirements, intentions and corruption. First, beauty school curriculum is typically outdated and obsolete. One may assume that doing hair could not have drastically changed over the last decade or two. But with new tools and products coming out every year it becomes imperative for beauty schools to keep up with the times. The use of old textbooks and out-dated styling techniques cripples the student coming into the industry. Veteran hairstylists constantly pursue new education while beauty school students are taught the same old thing. Shouldn’t beauty schools be required to update their curriculum so that the product they produce, the new stylist, will enter the marketplace with the most up-to-date information? The answer would be yes if it were required of the schools to produce a good product.
Unfortunately, beauty schools are based on quantity instead of quality. A good quality school would be interested in producing students that have the knowledge and skills to succeed in the industry. Requirements should be based on teaching the student to run a business, be a salesperson, market their services as well as be a great stylist. Requirements based on hours alone do not come close to achieving this basic standard. Therefore, students graduate with deficiencies and become frustrated when they learn that just doing hair is not enough to build a business.
Perhaps the most flawed part of the beauty education system is the corruption of the schools. Manufacturer Schools, those that are named and based around a major name-brand product, not only have the intention of producing as many students as possible in order to gain profit from tuition, they also intend to brainwash students into being loyal to their hair products. What could be more genius than to produce students that will go out into the world selling your products for you? It is exceptionally good for the manufacturer but not so good for the stylists or the salon owner who hires them. Diversion of hair products from salon-only status to readily available anywhere has ruined the stylist’s ability to make income from sales.
We have all noticed the massive wave of diversion from products sold “at salons only” to available at all major drugstores, super markets and warehouse stores. Major manufacturers have betrayed the trust of the stylists and salon owners who have spent years supporting their products, only to be left with products sitting on the shelves. And yet these products have a huge influence on beauty school education. Not only do Manufacturer schools push the diverted products, most beauty schools become favorable to certain products based on
marketing designed to gain loyalty from the students. Little do the students know that they are being brainwashed to support a product that WILL NOT support them.
“Product Diversion” should be a required subject at all beauty schools. Students need to learn the effects of diversion on their business. For example, a good stylist/salesperson could sell around $7000 of product a month from behind the chair, which would be about half that in profit for the salon owner and 10% profit for the stylist. After the wave of diversion these numbers have drastically reduced. Consumers buy products from the grocery store. The salon owner and the stylist are losing income because of faulty training that starts in beauty school. The most tragic part of this debacle is that new students and those graduating will not even know what they have missed: an industry that supports its stylists. Until beauty schools are required to truly educate the stylist on the business of beauty, then stylist and salon owners will continue to struggle.

Joseph Kellner – The REAL Hair Truth Documentary

Martin Rodriguez

Little Film Makes Big Waves!

~ Joseph Kellner

 

Early this morning I made route to my editor’s office to work on the second documentary and do the customary up to date information for the next film. After 4 hours of editing I decided to call it quits. I made my way back to take care of emails, walk the dogs, appointments etc. And I noticed I sold several films. When I sell a film I always see who bought it and my wife loves to see where they are being sent to.

This purchase was from Christina Senezak who works in a law firm in New York on the Avenues of the America’s (She can be reached at cmsenezak@pbwt.com). The law firm Paterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler LLP represents Loreal in the Class action Law Suit brought against them by the Group SALONFAD. Why would the attorneys of Loreal want a copy of my film?? Hmmmm. It so happens the law firms for Conair, and also TIGI are all located on the same street. Why didn’t they include Paul Mitchell are they the red-headed stepchild of the group. Either way the Lawsuit brought on by themselves is starting to make headway in the beauty industry. Bravo to SalonFad. SalonFad was given copys of the film and they were pleased to receive them. I spoke to the attorney for the group in Texas and was asked if I would be interested in helping them out with the lawsuit. I provide them with any and all assistance I possibly can, thru several telephone conversations with Niel Casson. It was explained to me from Mr Casson that it is “imperative for me to join this wave of change within our industry”.  Mr Casson has his views on the changes being made and changes that should be made within our industry. But I will not align myself fully to any one certain group.  But it seems the defense attorneys for the Manufacturers in this lawsuit want to see the documentary THE REAL HAIR TRUTH. Well they can find another way to view it! So if you want to make things right in you industry you can do it! You just got to stand up for what is right. If you want to educate the industry through haircutting, hair coloring, up do’s so be it. If you want to make a product line and teach about non-diversion so be it! Do whatever floats your boat but have purpose in your intent! I will expose the industry and try to make changes for the betterment of the Professional Beauty Industry.  Talking to my friend Martin he says “Non-diversion needs to be taught on the beauty school level”. Which I highly agree, Strength from knowledge and experience must be given to these students to make them aware of the deception the manufacturers lead them into!  Below are a list of the law firms who represent the Manufacturers in this class action lawsuit.

For Defendant L’Oreal USA, Inc.:

Catherine Anne Williams

Frederick Burdett Warder III

Paterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler LLP

1133 Avenue of the Americas

New York, NY 10036

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For Defendants Convair Corporation and TIGI Linea, LP:

Lewis Richard Clayton

Susana Michele Buergel

Andres N. Madrid

Scott Jonathan Sholder

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP

1285 Avenue of the Americas

New York, NY 10036

 ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

For Defendant The Procter and Gamble Company:

Eileen Miriam Patt

Harold Paul Weinberger

Norman Christopher Simon

Kramer, Levin , Naftalis & Frankel, LLP

1177 Avenue of the Americas

New York, NY 10036

Is it not amazing that they all work on the same street. Anyways since the REAL HAIR TRUTH, tells the truth of the industry. We did not fill the order from the Law firmPaterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler LLP. They can get there copy of the documentary from somewhere else. This film shows how you can investigate your industry, and get several points acrossed about the corruption in our industry. The Real Hair Truth aims to expose, and educate the beauty industry of its pro’s and con’s. Do not be afraid to stand up for what is right, have a purpose in your life. Change your industry!  But either way you look at it this LITTLE FILM IS MAKING BIG WAVES!

 

Best Regards

Joseph Kellner