The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
4,329 films were submitted to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This blog had 18,000 views in 2012. If each view were a film, this blog would power 4 Film Festivals
Los Angeles—The California Superior Court, County of Los Angeles, issued an order on November 29, 2012 requiring the manufacturers of Brazilian Blowout hair straightening solution, GIB, LLC (GIB) to stop selling its product in California within 30 days and prove that its new, reformulated product meets California Air Quality Standards. According to the attorney general’s court papers, testing by three different laboratories shows that GIB’s hair straightening product violates California air quality law and emits smog-forming pollutants at levels higher than allowed by the California Air Resources Board. Formaldehyde, a human carcinogen, is a major ingredient in Brazilian Blowout.
“The move to pull the original Brazilian Blowout formula from the market is a victory for women’s health,” said Alexandra Scranton, on behalf of the National Healthy Nail and Beauty Salon Alliance. “Brazilian Blowout continues to expose salon workers to cancer-causing chemicals and it clearly violates California’s air pollution standards.”
In a previous settlement agreement with California Attorney General Kamala Harris’s office, GIB agreed to stop deceptively advertising the product as formaldehyde-free and put caution stickers on their product advising users that it releases carcinogenic formaldehyde gas. The company also agreed to participate in further testing to evaluate whether its Brazilian Blowout product violated California air quality laws and reformulate its product if it were found in violation.
Three independent laboratory tests showed that Brazilian Blowout releases high levels of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and in violation of its previous agreement with the State of California, GIB had refused to either reformulate Brazilian Blowout or remove it from the marketplace. Following that refusal, the California Attorney General’s Office asked the California Superior Court to remove Brazilian Blowout from the market on October 9, 2012.
According to the California Air Resources Board, VOCs are an important component in the formation of ground level ozone, a major part of California’s smog problem. The Board’s air quality standards require that Brazilian Blowout contain no more than six percent VOCs by weight. Testing by two independent labs approved by the company, and testing by the Board, found Brazilian Blowout contained between 8.1 percent and 11.49 percent of regulated VOCs by weight.
“We applaud the attorney general for vigorously pursuing an action against this manufacturer who evidently believes it can ignore the law without repercussion. A cosmetic product should never contain formaldehyde, a known carcinogen and respiratory irritant. It’s reassuring that the original formula of Brazilian Blowout, due to violating air quality laws, will no longer be around to harm consumers and hair salon workers in California,” said Catherine Porter with the National Healthy Nail and Beauty Salon Alliance.
Stylists who regularly perform Brazilian Blowout treatments are exposed to formaldehyde gas at levels well in excess of the state’s Proposition 65 warning threshold, according to the California AG’s lawsuit.
“As a hairstylist that has been seriously affected by Brazilian Blowout, I know firsthand just how dangerous this product is. Getting the original Brazilian Blowout formula off the shelves will be a big win for salon workers who have suffered irreparable health problems due to exposure to this product,” said California salon worker Jennifer Arce.
According to the California Attorney General’s office, the California Air Resources Board will test the reformulation of Brazilian Blowout by December 15 to ensure the product meets the VOC limit of six percent.
Brazilian Blowout has been banned in Canada and at least four other countries, including Germany, France, Ireland and Australia, but is still allowed to be sold in the U.S. The federal Safe Cosmetics Act, introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives in July 2011 by Reps. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) would ban chemicals known to cause cancer from cosmetics, as many other countries have already done.
“This dangerous product never should have been on the market to begin with,” said Janet Nudelman on behalf of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. “But because of lax U.S. regulation, countless stylists and salon patrons have been exposed to harmful levels of formaldehyde. Unfortunately, Brazilian Blowout is just one of many examples of why Congress needs to pass the Safe Cosmetics Act.”
The last few years have really surprised me. Nothing at all will suprise me about the manufacturers, magazines, or the so called PBA (Professional Bullshit Association) in our beauty industry. The manufacturer deception, mislabeling and fraud is ever so apparent in the industry. Industry magazines will advertise NAHA , Cosmoprof, Premier, Vegas shows while really addressing the important fundamentals of needed change in my industry. It would be to important for industry publications to take topics by the horns and really research the effects of manufacturer deception and mislabeling within our industry. And beauty professionals just sit back and sweep it under the rug. Industry publications have turned into the Sears Roebuck for manufacturers to sell their wares in. They promote of vision of an industry they want you to perceive and to only know. Getting into one of these publications is hit or miss in my industry. So called industry icons will align themselves with these magazines to keep there “Aura’s FRESH”. Protecting their name, keeping it in the loop for financial gain, but not really being worthy of leadership. “Here is the newest SOAP YOU CAN BUY EVERYONE”!
Entrepreneurship the Solution to Manufacturer Deception in the Beauty Industry!
Ask yourself each and every day “What is the industry really about, are the issues being given proper attention?’
Do you have an EXCLUSIVE on your retail shelves?
Is there still formaldehyde in Keratin treatments?
Has the “So Called PBA” taken legal action’s to make you industry safer and help you with a healthier salon environment?
Is Paul Mitchel, Matrix, Redken, etc still being sold in the commercial sector?
Can Professional hair color be bought on the internet?
Can Keratin treatments be bought on the internet?
Did you know? The European Commission believes the use of methylene glycol/formaldehyde at 0.2 per cent formaldehyde equivalent is not considered safe in hair straighteners following a meeting held on the subject in June!
Does your salon owner follow the guidelines from OSHA regarding Keratin treatments?
Did you know there was salon workers and advocates from all over the country are descending upon Washington D.C. for a day of action to raise awareness about toxic chemical exposure in the workplace. Did you know that?
Entrepreneurship the Solution to Manufacturer Deception in the Beauty Industry!
Entrepreneurs come in all Colors, Genders, Religions, Sizes and Ages. We all speak the same language, and we all come from the same mother. We strive to make a difference in our Community’s, Professions and Industry’s.
We are not afraid to speak up!
We are not ashamed to make mistake’s, but to only look at them as success’s. We are Leaders not follower’s. We try and try again and grow with like minded individuals. We are not afraid to ask the questions. We constantly seek answers and solutions.
We stay the course we have set!
And we love to hear, We cant do it! Thats the worst thing to say to a Entrepreneur. “You cant do it, there is no market for it, NO One will support you”. YOUR CRAZY Yes we are all a wee bit crazy. But we ask ourselves each and every day. Why Not? Instead of why.
We follow our own path and we know what success is, We live it everyday! Nothing stops you from being successful but yourself. We are self educated. Yes it may cost you money, you will learn patience, and time is every so abundant for you. We try and try again. We are not afraid.
We like change! We embrace it!
We are hated. We are the crazy ones, who see the world in a different light, we never give up. Passion is our middle name. We all believe in what we are doing we may not change the masses but to only change one, one person is the extreme we seek. We believe in ourselves.
We have our own Philosophy’s.
We encourage each other, and lift each other up when we are in our valleys. And we believe in sharing. We have no jealousy, envy, we share knowing we will make this world a better place. Believing in your mission in life is very important, and sharing everything for others benefit to grow is true wisdom. We do business together.
We don’t give up, we stay true to our mission!
Be careful who you align yourself with. If you are on the right side of the road and others go left stay true to your course. You will gain fruition. You will see your idea grow, you will gain a education that no ivy league college will be able to give you. Yes! You will beat to your own drum and when that happens make it a way of your life. We don’t jump on others bandwagon for advertisements, we write our own books, publish our own magazines, create our own shows, and make our own products and films.
We network together!
We are not followers!
We are not afraid to fail we embrace our failures as a learning experience.
Don’t make someone else wealthy, invest in yourself and and that is what I call success and entrepreneurship. Living your day the way you want. That is true success, Fame is overnight and short!
Best Regards
Joseph Kellner
You are all the Sheep… the Brainwashed Sheep… the followers of the Dark ones whom enslave you. The Product companys, the Manufacturered schools, the Websites, and Industry magazines and So Called Organizations. You are all Members of the Control System. Nothing more than Robots going through everyday professional life not knowing the Truth about your Profession and the Multi-Dimensions that are all around you. You go to work not knowing that you yourself are multi-dimensional. But you will not have access to all this until you take off your blinders and see the truth. I write these words simply as a Messenger of Light… a Bringer of Truth.
Most of your clients have never even have heard of the term “private label products”, so they just assume you manufacture them yourself. But even for the clients who know how private label products work, as long as the products are of high quality and smartly packaged, they will be equally impressed.
You will also have CONTROL!
100% Complete control over your own “High Quality, Personal BRAND” haircare line that is sold exclusively at your salon or from your salons website with your name or salon LOGO on every Bottle, Tube & Jar!
You will be purchasing your Personally Branded Products at the Lowest Possible Price of any product line when compared to any other haircare line (Big-name brand or other private label brand company) and reselling your products at the Highest Possible Markup (200% to 500%) which will give you the Highest Possible “Profit Margin” of any other haircare line on the market today.
You will never have to worry about **Diversion** or some Big-name company taking advantage of you and destroying your “Professional Credibility” ever again.
The Easy Answer Is
1-Profit
2-Image
3-Control
In reality, profit is the main (or only) reason we sell retail products.
Companies in our industry selling private label haircare products to salons like yours and mine are selling on the premise that we would be able to make a much higher percentage of profit by selling their products (under our own brand name) then we would by selling big-name hair care products produced by large famous haircare manufacturers. Private-label hair care products do lift the image of your salon. There is no doubt about it. If you have handsomely packaged bottles, tubes and jars with your salon name or logo on them, it’s very impressive to your clients.
Hair care product manufacturers develop a line of products, and then they come to us “Salon Owners and Booth Renters” and do an elaborate sales pitch with a lot of big promises.
Bottom line they are full of shit!
The Real Hair Truth 
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