Tag: real hair truth

Working For Nothing In 2024, NOTHING!

~ Joseph Kellner

I once listen to a gentleman who was black say to me “I’m still living in slavery”. That was about in 1990 and I was living in Ft. Lauderdale working as a hairdresser. Life in my profession was hard and you really, really had to marry the profession. To be successful. Time went by and I began to really have a good experience in the profession. I had my own business, I went to advanced training twice a year for a week at a time. And practiced and practiced all along the course of my profession. I went to makeup school and bought a camera. And started taking photo’s of my work and as time went by a lot of my work appeared in magazines. Especially in Europe. I really spread out my wings to embrace the fashion world and adopted wardrobe in my photo-shoots.

Money was no problem it was always flowing. My wife and I bought house, beautiful house I may say. Payed our debts and put my son in good schools. Mind you there was a price to pay, I never seen the sun rise or set for many years. I do well in my profession. But no it is 2024 and a lot of private business are closed. Especially since we had COVID which destroyed small business. Leaving employment opportunity only at the large corporations in the beauty industry. Which you can no longer make a living at anymore.

Now it all about them, the corporations and only them. I think back at what that black man once told me that he was still living in slavery. NOW EVERYONE is in slavery, corporate slavery. Which means for the side of the hairdresser in the industry you will get what they give you. And alone that is financial poverty. I am starting my third documentary and in doing so I see the break up of the beauty industry. Employment is high and pay is low. So low they will only give you commission. A very low commission. With no salary or benefits. And if you do get benefits you will not have a paycheck left.

I came acrossed a Job post for the Eforea spa at Hilton Orlando on indeed.com. Here is what they are offering you now starting off as a hairdresser at there multi-million dollar hotels for employment.

Full job description

Cosmetologist, Eforea Spa at Hilton Orlando

Set over 26 acres, near the major theme parks and International Drive, stands the beautiful We are looking to welcome a Cosmetologist to the team!

Rate of Pay: $5. 63/Hr (30% commission and 18% gratuity)

Schedule: Potential Shift (10AM-6PM) – Need Full flexibility and Availability

As a Cosmetologist, you would be responsible for providing professional hair care and treatments, nail treatments, and facials to guests in the hotel’s continuing effort to deliver outstanding guest service and financial profitability. Specifically, you would be responsible for performing the following tasks to the highest standards: etc, etc, etc.

Now take the time to think for yourself will this rate of pay allow you to pay your bills.

Really think about it.

Too Much Responsibility, Not Enough Pay

~ Joseph Kellner

A former Ulta manager’s experience working for the beauty retailer has drawn many viewers and sparked discussion among commenters on TikTok. Posted by user Kenya Broadnax (@kbmakeupme24), the two-part retelling of her three years of experience with the company has drawn over half a million views as of Sunday. She has previously shared experiences working for other companies. In her first video, she says she worked for the beauty retailer from 2012 to 2015, starting as a cashier and working her way from a cashiering position up to a prestige manager position.

When she first took her position as a prestige manager within the store, she says she was offered $10 per hour because she did not have a college degree, even though the store’s standard for management was $17 hourly. They eventually agreed to $14 an hour, which she says their payroll specialist called “pushing it.” “The communication was terrible, payroll was terrible, the lack of schedule was terrible,” she says in the video. “We would open the store with two people—a manager and a cashier—and the manager would be in the office the entire time. As the cashier, you’re up at the front by yourself doing returns, doing exchanges, checking customers out, you’re color matching in prestige, you’re helping people, you’re trying to deter theft, all one person doing that entire job for at least two to three hours before someone shows up to cover you.”

During her time at Ulta, she says she did not have the opportunity to take lunch breaks and worked under unprofessional management who were transphobic. In a second video, she says she essentially had too much responsibility for not enough pay and was expected to oversee more than she realistically felt able to with an understaffed team.

The Daily Dot has reached out to Broadnax via Instagram direct message, as well as to Ulta directly via email regarding the video. Several viewers expressed frustration on behalf of the poster and shared that they had similar stories about working for Ulta. “Sometimes I don’t know who Ulta hates more: clients or employees,” one commenter wrote. “That was definitely the company wide culture at that time,” another user said. “I got so fed up I walked out during my shift in 2015.” “Working at Ulta was the worst decision I have ever made in my life,” one user echoed.

Why Beauty Lawsuits Are Set to Increase (Part One)

~ Joseph Kellner

Beauty companies seem to be coming under increasing fire with lawsuits, fueled in part by the rise of Tik-Tok and other social media platforms, and legal experts are expecting the number of cases to surge. For a quick recap of the current ones garnering the most attention.

In a suit against Olaplex, several plaintiffs have claimed they have sustained personal injuries to their hair and scalp including hair loss and damaged hair, something chief executive officer JuE Wong has vehemently denied on social media. There’s also a case against L’Oreal, in which Missouri resident Jennifer Mitchell filed a lawsuit against the beauty giant and a slew of other companies, claiming that her uterine cancer was “directly and approximately” caused by her regular and prolonged exposure to phthalates and other endocrine-disrupting chemicals found in their hair care products. Recently, it was consolidated into a new class action multi-district litigation (MDL).

Then there’s the suit against Sephora where Lindsey Finster alleged that a significant percentage of products with the “Clean At Sephora” tag contain ingredients inconsistent with how consumers understand this term. In particular, it claimed that Saie Mascara 101 contains numerous synthetic ingredients, several of which have been reported to cause possible harm.

“If you Google the Olaplex case, that says it kind of started from Tik-Tok. As an attorney, it is crazy to think that trends in litigation are going to come from social media outlets,” said Marissa Alkhazov, a shareholder in Buchalter law firm’s Seattle office and the Northwest chair of the firm’s products liability practice group. “But the fact of the matter is that information is spread so widely now, and there’s this huge audience and our society is more litigious.”

Kelly A. Bonner, an associate at law firm Duane Morris, added that a growing interest and concern by consumers about what’s in their products and the mainstreaming of clean beauty products, which has become a very big business, along with competing ideas about what constitutes clean, are other driving factors, compounded by media coverage.

“You have a 24/7 global media landscape that amplifies those concerns and you add to that a very active and increasingly organized plaintiffs’ bar and what you’re going to see are a lot more cases, a lot more attention and a lot more media coverage,” she said.

While beauty suits are nothing new with a class action suit brought against Los Angeles hair stylist Chaz Dean’s brand Wen in 2016 among past cases, John Gardella, a shareholder at CMBG3 Law, believes that a focus on ESG practices also means there is likely to be an uptick in suits similar to the one against Sephora that is currently playing out in court. (The L’Oreal and Olaplex cases are considered product liability suits, while Sephora is involved in a consumer fraud litigation.)

“There’s a big push in the U.S. on that particular topic and it’s caught the attention of many plaintiffs’ attorneys in terms of how various industries are marketing their products and whether or not they are truly as they say,” he said.

“I think almost every company markets their products in some way being safe to use, environmentally friendly, clean, things like that,” he continued. “The nature of the beauty industry at the moment is such that there are many synthetic products or components in those products. So the plaintiffs’ attorneys have certainly taken a closer look at exactly what’s being said as compared to what is in those products and that’s driving a lot of lawsuits that we’re seeing.”

Were Is The Labor Force

~ Joseph Kellner

Those that are keeping status quo attributed it to continuously slow business and a less-than-thriving economy. Salon owners will not be hiring new staff because they can’t afford to pay a living wage, and paying anything less is not in alignment with their morals. Or really with there GREED. Salon owners and corporate hack shacks will not go far anymore. I believe the beauty industry and the cosmetologists that were out of work during the pandemic. Have been given time to rethink there wage standards. And with different generation look at the industry as a waste of time. Especially if some one comes over the border and can get a job at Walmart at $15.00 a hour.

For those salon owners and corporate salons, actively seeking staff, be it stylists, colorists, assistants or receptionists, the quest is unanimously laborious and mostly unfruitful. “Salon owners are finding it more challenging than ever to find young stylists who are passionate about the beauty industry and who want to work more then two to three days a week.” Corporate salons advertise everywhere. Nobody is even looking at our ads for hiring,because all they offer is commissions. THAT’S IT! Some salon owners use the old trick in the industry of poaching from other salons after failed attempts with traditional advertising methods.

The tried and true method of reaching out directly to beauty schools for new licensed graduates is, for now, a thing of the past—most cosmetology schools were closed during the pandemic, likely due to a combination of stay-at-home orders and a widespread aversion to in-person experiences. The industry is simply behind when it comes to pay, benefits etc.

Some salon owners and corporate hacks find the solution is to hire back former employees rather than continue attempts to attract a new workforce. Others who are seeking help turn to resources such as Indeed, Craigslist, Facebook and Instagram. But either way the salon industry is a industry like China who slaves the work force. No pay, no benefits, no vacation. no medical. NOTHING.

Clients Have Changed Since The Government Lock Down

~ Joseph Kellner

Inflation and/or stock market volatility are not causing a slowdown in spending from salon clients. Those that did report a decrease in spending (47.1 percent) said they’re experiencing less frequent visits, a decline in add-on services, a delay in appointments and less spending on retail. And, of course, some clients have opted to take their hair routine into their own hands, coloring at home or embracing their grey. Those who are seeing an uptick in services said they are mostly conditioning treatments, smoothing services and color upgrades. Yes this industry will be changing. Especially if we see a depression in the future. Right now a lot of consumers have to worry about the increase in gas, rent, mortgages, food etc. In the next few months we will see new elections come arising and people will vote for there choose. A lot of citizens are very unhappy with the current administration and there handling of nationwide matters. Maybe the tide will change for the better for our nation. But to me there is a change in priority in beauty needs. Basic survival is the constant now. Not hair.

  • Clients are expressing more creativity and spontaneity, and especially a willingness to try new services.
  • Clients are booking standing appointments as far out as a year.
  • Clients are seeking low or bald haircuts to spend less on maintenance.