TELL the BIG hair product compagnies that ...

[Cailie]

http://www.dayza.com/Users-Photos/1291668173.jpg (http://www.dayza.com/file/Users-Photos/1291668173.jpg/1.html)

As long hair lovers, we are generally big consumers of hair products. Consumers have an impact on how the industry works.... so lets make a thread to tell the big corporations in the hair-care-world what we like, what we want and what we buy ... and then we can send the thread to them (at least I will !) ! :p


Let me start ...



Dear big corporation of hair cosmetics / products ....



I want ... products that are natural, socially responsible, not tested on animals and made out of ingredients that are not dangerous for my health and the earth's environment.





What do YOU want to tell the major shampoo, conditioner, hair care industries ?

[Anje]

I just don't want them adding silicones and protein to the products that work for me now! Reformulations are bad, mkay? Reformulations that don't announce that they're reformulations are even worse.

[aenflex]

Stop marketing to us as if we are idiots who honestly believe the secret to great hair/beautiful skin lies in one teeny tube or bottle!
Stop testing your caustic poop-stew on animals you cretins!
Donate some of your huge profits to something that actually matters!
Since the FDA barely nods in your direciton, regulate yourselves!
Stop using women's insecurities to make money!

[milagro]

Cut on superstars in ads 'cause everybody knows they are groomed by an army of stylists and photoshopped afterwards as well. Use better and safer ingredients and environment-friendly technologies instead. Price cut would also be welcome as a side affect :)

[Carina]

I would tell them to stop selling promises in a bottle.I can't stand how they write on the bottles these days.:p

[Pixna]

I want products that are natural, socially responsible, not tested on animals and made out of ingredients that are not dangerous for my health and the earth's environment.

My sentiments precisely!!! :redgrin:

[spidermom]

Bring back Natures Gate Rainwater, Aloe, and Sea Kelp conditioner!

[Cailie]

Yes, I do read all those ingredients before buying a product, even if you write them very very tiny.

... and yes, I do search every one of those ingredients to know what they are and decide if I feel it's safe for me and my hair when the name is impossible to pronounce and too obscure...

[pepperminttea]

'Cones and protein don't work for everyone.
Unannounced ingredients changes are not okay. Just release them with a different fragrance as something new and leave the stuff that works alone, please.
Airbrushing just makes me think you pay more for the marketing than improving the product.
If you could also try to help me not kill the planet or animals, that'd also be great.

Oh, and Herbal Essences? The only moans you get out of me are annoyance from reading your ingredients list. :p

[Roscata]

I want products that are natural, socially responsible, not tested on animals and made out of ingredients that are not dangerous for my health and the earth's environment.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

[Coan-Teen]

Stop testing unsafe formulations on animals. If you aren't sure if it's safe, chances are you shouldn't be using it, and if you're that curious, try it yourselves.

Stop trying to make ingredients inaccessible by using tiny, non-contrasting text. The reality of sales has changed. Consumers are more informed. Obfuscation will not protect your profit margins.

[chelssix]

-NO more animal testing!!!!

-Not everything needs to smell like tropical fruit, or like heavy florals. Some things can just smell clean.

-If your product can cause heavy build-up, design a more gentle clarifier that works with YOUR products. I'll buy it, and everyone will win- I'll have healthier hair, and you'll have more money.

-I spend money on my hair, so treat me like a smart consumer who cares about the product, and not about promises or empowerment in a bottle.

[Alvrodul]

Please have the ingredients list readable without requiring a microscope!

[princessp]

Let me start ...

Dear big corporation of hair cosmetics / products ....

I want ... products that are natural, socially responsible, not tested on animals and made out of ingredients that are not dangerous for my health and the earth's environment.

This is exactly what I would say too!

[Toadstool]

Stop testing on animals!

[redwoman]

I would like ingredients I can pronounce and recognize what they are. Stop the animal testing, thats just sickening. Biodegradeable packaging would be nice if it could be done.

[GoddesJourney]

Less is more. A lot of us are really sensitive to fragrances and perfumes. When buying a shampoo or conditioner, the first thing I do is look at the overall size of the ingredient list. If there are forty ingredients, that's too many. Most of those are unnecessary. The second thing I do (if the ingredients look acceptable) is open the bottle and smell it. If it smells too strong or too "perfumy", I close it and put it back on the shelf and walk away. Then I try to clear that scent from my memory.

I hate it when good, dependable products get replaced by "new and improved" products. It should say "we cheapened the formula, paid a lot out to marketting to change the bottle, and as a consequence raised the price a lot". I never like the new product enough to buy it. Usually, I wouldn't even use it if it were free.

Try to stick to natural ingredients that are actually natural.

Some people like silicones in their products and some people don't. Things like shea butter and avocado or macadamia oils are good replacements for silicones for those of us who prefer "cleaner" ingredients.

It is nice to have some shampoo options without harsh detergents.

We know you can sell cleaner products with fewer ingredients at reasonable prices. Don't charge three times as much for one. We won't buy it. Furthermore, if it merely claims to be like said product, we will turn the bottle around and read the back. If there is insufficient info, we will look it up online. If it's not what it is pretending to be, we will put it back on the shelf disappointed.

We're much smarter now as consumers, and much better informed. Don't try to pull stuff on us. It's insulting.

ETA: I forgot to mention that I'm also pretty fed up with products that say "fragrance free" or "unscented" but aren't. I open the bottle and it smells like cheap perfume. Then I turn it around and see "fragrance" on the ingredient list. Really? Come on, now. I can read. I pay attention. Don't try to sell me that if that's not what it is. Ridiculous.

[CarpeDM]

WOW Cailie, you are speaking my language. I totally agree with your statement. I am so tired of the mass marketing ploys aimed towards women. The beauty industry is focused on getting women to buy beauty products that are dangerous to our health and our environment through manipulative advertising. Most beauty products are full of harmful chemicals, but you won't see that on a commercial. Dear big beauty corporations, I want the real truth disclosed.

[Cailie]

-I spend money on my hair, so treat me like a smart consumer who cares about the product, and not about promises or empowerment in a bottle.


I agree ! :hifive:

[christine1989]

I want products that really improve the condition of my hair in the long run- not products that claim to improve hair when in reality they only mask the damage.

[Lianna]

Ingredients list in every online store, since we can't get our hands on the product.

[MissManda]

I agree with everything posted above, so I will not repeat it. :)

Could you please stop using euphemisms on the labels of your products?

[kabelaced]

DON'T add little nuances of organic products or "buzz" products to something, and advertise it as "enriched with X" all over the bottle if it's second to last on the ingredients list!

Stop adding so many ingredients to your products!

We don't care about the advertising! Simple is good! Let your hair products speak for themselves. A good product's merit will spread by word of mouth.

[Cailie]

When we like a product, we buy it, we share the information online, we review it on youtube, we talk about it on forums (Long Hair Community has over 11 230 members and much more readers : most are long hair or long-hair-to-be people, from all around the world). When we like a product, we buy it or recommend it to our family and friends and we can stay loyal to a brand a very long time.

When we don't like a product or a brand, or we are deceived by a product or a corporate conduct, we share THAT information all over the world.


And before we try something new, we look for reviews and get to know your reputation.


;)

[Intransigentia]

"I want ... products that are natural, socially responsible, not tested on animals and made out of ingredients that are not dangerous for my health and the earth's environment. "

Said it all really.

My $0.02:

Quit it with the !@#$ digitally-manipulated images in your ads. I know, and you know, that the people in your ads don't look like that in real life. Cut it the hell out and show what your product does, not the dubious miracles you can accomplish with Photoshop. Unless you're selling me some kind of magical cloaking device/hologram projector or something.

Cut the bizarre and stupid claims. Some of us know how dumb you have to think we are, to fall for your lines, and we don't like it.

On the sciencey-sounding end, don't make up bull!@#$ words like micro-cera-lipo-whatsophile and tell us it's totally what our hair or skin needs, unless (1) there really is such a thing in the scientific literature outside your marketing campaign, and (2) micro-cera-lipo-whatsophile is a listed ingredient in your product.
While we're at it, quit using weasel-words like "the look", as in, "for the look of healthy hair". I know legislation makes it illegal for you to claim you actually improve the health of the hair, because then your product would technically be a drug. So quit making drug-like claims, and then using "look" or "appearance" to make it something you can legally say. Why not just tell us what your product actually does? For example, "strips most natural oils and leaves minimal residue" on an extra-body shampoo, or "coats hair in a mixture of silicone and oil to create a slippery texture and aid in combing." I mean seriously, how much of LHC is about "what does this ingredient do" and "why does my hair/scalp like/dislike this"?

On the woo-end,

cut it with the "natural" crap. It's a made-up concept designed to sell stuff to people who are creeped out by modernity. Smallpox and cyanide are all-natural, but that doesn't make them something I want in my shampoo.
Quit making assertions for which evidence is lacking. Yes, maybe your product does contain herbal extracts or essential oils or other interesting "natural" stuff. But unless you have evidence that these extracts/oils/stuff, in this formulation and concentration, do the things you say, don't say they do anything other than smell nice.



Heh, apparently I have some pretty strong feelings about evidence-based haircare. This was supposed to be two short bullet points, not a rant.

[jaine]

Is anyone having any trouble finding the exact type of product you want? Because the most effective way to tell companies what you want is - to buy it.

I look for cruelty-free, silicone-free, non-irritating ingredients with essential oils but no artificial fragrance. Luckily there is no shortage of brands to choose from and I always get what I want.

[GRU]

If you want to have a product line for everyone, you need to make a product line for every need.

Make a line that is silicone-free. Offer formulas for dry, normal, and oily hair in this line.
Make a line that is sulfate-free. Offer formulas for dry, normal, and oily hair in this line.
Make a line that is full of cones. Offer formulas for dry, normal, and oily hair in this line.
Make a line that is full of sulfates. Offer formulas for dry, normal, and oily hair in this line.

It pisses me off when you have WONDERFUL choices for other women, but don't offer me the same products that are 'cone-free. What am I, chopped liver?

[Milui Elenath]

If you use words like "anti-aging formula for hair" I immediately dismiss your company as dubious /unethical regardless of your product! ;)

Also when you say a product is all natural or plant based and then I read the ingredients . . . some of us - probably most of us - are actually quite good at deciphering those big words and if we're not we're looking it up!

I guess I'm asking for some honesty and ethics from a corporation! :suspect:

[Buddaphlyy]

I would like you to lower prices (free would be perfect for my budget). That's all.

[faeflame]

I just want a simple, natural product line without a lot of dangerous, useless chemical garbage in it. It is ironic that I am willing to pay more money for a shampoo with fewer fancy ingredients.

[enfys]

Stop discontinuing the ranges aimed at long hair that actually worked. Yes, Trevor Sorbie, I mean you.

Stop making bottles that can't be used with one hand. I have a wet, squeezing hand and a receiving hand. Test your packaging in a shower!

Remember that some people like or need sulphates and silicones. Don't assume they aren't wanted anymore.

Sell things in bargain bumper sized bottles. Aussie? Please?

Don't use extensions on the models or celebs in your ads. It will be boosted in post production anyway.

Make it easier to see when a bottle is running low; why are they all opaque plastic?

There are a few I don't think were mentioned,

[Coan-Teen]

Stop making bottles that can't be used with one hand. I have a wet, squeezing hand and a receiving hand. Test your packaging in a shower!

Haha. This!

[sneakybea]

I agree with pretty much everything that's been said, particularly about the animal testing. And I'd like to add; enough with the double talk. You know, when your ad for conditioner says "50% of users experienced less breakage" and the fine print reads "vs. ordinary shampoo without conditioner," I'm not buying it.
Ancientgirl

[squiggyflop]

tell them that i want products that are absolutely bursting with dimethicone.. i know i may be the only one.. oh and i want them to stop changing the formulas of my detangler spray to include less cones.. when i spray the stuff i want the bathroom floor to become like an ice rink for days afterward.. because my hair needs the slipperyness..

[tinywife]

Stop using photoshop so I can tell what actual nice hair is supposed to look like.
This applies to faces and figures as well.

[MsBubbles]

Attention Sunsilk!! Bring back the old Hydra TLC (bright pink bottle) conditioner! I absolutely loved that stuff.

Attention Giovanni! Bring back your 50 - 50 hydrating conditioner for heaven's sake!! I absolutely loved that stuff.

I know you guys have to constantly change and update your product-appearances to keep up with the Joneses, but keep the product name the same so I can just keep buying the product in the swanky new bottle!

PS Squiggy: camellia oil will turn your bathroom floor into a slideboard! (http://www.jumpusa.com/slideboard.jpg)

[prosperina]

Stop putting such harsh sulfates in shampoos. Seriously, if I have to dilute it, its too much. Also regular shampoo should not give me itchy pimply places on my scalp. More sulfate free products!!

And more cones! (And yes, I realize I contradict myself).

[Elenna]

Biodegradeable packaging???

Quit adding herbs and other "natural" ingredients to highly processed products as if that was going to make it a natural product.

Quit advertising (on label, magazines, and commercials) as "natural" if it isn't.

Quit adding fragances real or lab-made in all of your products. We want unscented versions for those sensitive, don't want extra scents, or want products with less ingredients.

Quit marketing as organic, even if organic in origin, unnatural products.

Quit buying up traditional natural shampoo/hand cream/bath companies and changing the formulas particulary with unnatural ingredient subsitutions or reformulating entirely. While there has to be bateria protection in products, I'm particulary leery of formaldehyde.

Quit being sneaky about ingredients. A honest listing of your ingredients. Instead of vague descriptions, latin, or not listed in order of amounts used

Quit putting peel-back labels on bottles of questionable ingredients.

[rena]

Yes, I do read all those ingredients before buying a product, even if you write them very very tiny.

... and yes, I do search every one of those ingredients to know what they are and decide if I feel it's safe for me and my hair when the name is impossible to pronounce and too obscure...

Indeed! I also say change those blasted ingredients to something safe for us, our environment, and especially our hair without testing it on anaimals!

And once you change those ingredients...Make the print bigger for pete's sake! Not all of use carry little magnifying glasses in our pockets!

[EdG]

I'd say "Quit sneaking cones into my shampoos!"

It's pretty much impossible to find a shampoo without silicones. I've had to settle for ones that seem to have less.
Ed

[HintOfMint]

"I want ... products that are natural, socially responsible, not tested on animals and made out of ingredients that are not dangerous for my health and the earth's environment. "

Said it all really.

My $0.02:
Quit it with the !@#$ digitally-manipulated images in your ads. I know, and you know, that the people in your ads don't look like that in real life. Cut it the hell out and show what your product does, not the dubious miracles you can accomplish with Photoshop. Unless you're selling me some kind of magical cloaking device/hologram projector or something.
Cut the bizarre and stupid claims. Some of us know how dumb you have to think we are, to fall for your lines, and we don't like it.
On the sciencey-sounding end, don't make up bull!@#$ words like micro-cera-lipo-whatsophile and tell us it's totally what our hair or skin needs, unless (1) there really is such a thing in the scientific literature outside your marketing campaign, and (2) micro-cera-lipo-whatsophile is a listed ingredient in your product.
While we're at it, quit using weasel-words like "the look", as in, "for the look of healthy hair". I know legislation makes it illegal for you to claim you actually improve the health of the hair, because then your product would technically be a drug. So quit making drug-like claims, and then using "look" or "appearance" to make it something you can legally say. Why not just tell us what your product actually does? For example, "strips most natural oils and leaves minimal residue" on an extra-body shampoo, or "coats hair in a mixture of silicone and oil to create a slippery texture and aid in combing." I mean seriously, how much of LHC is about "what does this ingredient do" and "why does my hair/scalp like/dislike this"?
On the woo-end,
cut it with the "natural" crap. It's a made-up concept designed to sell stuff to people who are creeped out by modernity. Smallpox and cyanide are all-natural, but that doesn't make them something I want in my shampoo.
Quit making assertions for which evidence is lacking. Yes, maybe your product does contain herbal extracts or essential oils or other interesting "natural" stuff. But unless you have evidence that these extracts/oils/stuff, in this formulation and concentration, do the things you say, don't say they do anything other than smell nice.
Heh, apparently I have some pretty strong feelings about evidence-based haircare. This was supposed to be two short bullet points, not a rant.

Perfect, really.

[rena]

Stop putting stuff like this in your advertisements:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=9&ved=0CD0QtwIwCA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Du_T ong0RCDo&ei=Sbf9TPiGLoWClAePnOilCA&usg=AFQjCNFAiFm1IO3sO4UNOPDcZjVE_DX33A (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=9&ved=0CD0QtwIwCA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Du_T ong0RCDo&ei=Sbf9TPiGLoWClAePnOilCA&usg=AFQjCNFAiFm1IO3sO4UNOPDcZjVE_DX33A)

Its extremely insulting to people who naturally have this hair :(
Seeing a commercial like this could easily give a curly (like me) some sort of complex.

Try including stuff that encourages people to love their own hair! Not try to force it into someone else's hair type with damaging chemicles (that smell HORRIBLE to boot)

[Barniie]

Try to name brands as what they are. Make a line called CONES, another called CONE-FREE. Scented and unscented. SLS and SLS free. Someone then, maybe, just maybe, might realise that their hair doesn't like the Unscented Cone with SLS shampoo that their friend loves, and will maybe go for the Scented Cone-free sans SLS formula that works for THEM.


That is all :)

[christine1989]

Stop putting stuff like this in your advertisements:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=9&ved=0CD0QtwIwCA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Du_T ong0RCDo&ei=Sbf9TPiGLoWClAePnOilCA&usg=AFQjCNFAiFm1IO3sO4UNOPDcZjVE_DX33A (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=9&ved=0CD0QtwIwCA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Du_T ong0RCDo&ei=Sbf9TPiGLoWClAePnOilCA&usg=AFQjCNFAiFm1IO3sO4UNOPDcZjVE_DX33A)

Its extremely insulting to people who naturally have this hair :(
Seeing a commercial like this could easily give a curly (like me) some sort of complex.

Try including stuff that encourages people to love their own hair! Not try to force it into someone else's hair type with damaging chemicles (that smell HORRIBLE to boot)

The joke is on Garnier because after watching that commercial I WANTED that lovely, super curly hair- not the product they were pitching. :)

[myria]

My list:
1 - Quit showing shampoo ads where people pile their hair up on top of their head. They make me cringe when I imagine the tangles.
2 - Stop just making things up that just sound good but are so far down the ingredients list I'm not convinced they make a difference. Nutriserum/pro keratin/pearl protein anyone?
3- Stop pretending buying a spray-in conditioner is going to make up for flat-ironing your hair. And never, ever use the phrase heat-activated protection. :brickwall

And while you're at it, bring back salon selectives (the strawberry scented one, not the berry one) I can't seem to get it anywhere and it was the best conditioner ever.

[eezepeeze]

1. Celebrate the wonderful individuality of consumers by offering more options: more mainstream, drugstore lines for curlies, wavies, African-American, Asian, etc. hair that can be found in the main aisle in the regular drugstore, not off in some dusty corner.

2. Stop the false advertising! Stop photoshoping your models' hair to some unachievable brilliance and length that looks more like Barbie doll hair than real hair. Stop making promises that your products cannot live up to.

3. Use more reality in your advertising!! I want to see real women like me, with real hair challenges using real products getting real results that make their real lives easier. I do not want to see a photoshopped model. That does nothing to help me choose the best option for my hair.

4. Stop assuming everyone has-- or wants--straight, fine, blonde hair. Some of us are brunettes. Curlies. Thick. Coarse. Embrace the differences and discover how large your market share could really be!

5. Please, understand the powerhouse that is the influence and purchasing power of your target market--the modern female. When she likes a product, she may review it once or twice or tell her friends about it, but when she dislikes a product, she tells twice as many people and those people tell everyone they know as well. It behooves you to understand us. Stop assuming you know what we want and find out what we need. When you bring it to the market, we will buy it.

6. Please refrain from making your products smell like artificial coconut. It's a rather cheap smell and I think you can do better. Many of us would rather have a neutral scent to our hair care products so they do not interfere with perfumes or other fragrances. Some are sensitive to scents, as well.

7. Please do not assume that we will fall for the old "it's in a salon, it must be better" trick. We are savvy consumers and we know better. Put quality products in the supermarket where we can have easy access, please.

Once again, may I reiterate: Celebrate the marvelous diversity of your consumer base. Respect us. Advertise truthfully. Make your products easy to find, use, and purchase.

[Debra83]

If you have to test something on an animal to see if it is safe, should you even be making the product? Just in case? Because long term use, years and years, are never tested for before you put the stuff out on the shelf anyway. If it doesn't kill us in the first year, it doesn't mean it won't in ten years. Why not just test it on the people who make it, and come up with the formulas? Or their kids? THAT WAY you know that they'll try to be safe with the product right off the bat, instead of trying to cut corners to make a quick buck.

[Arya]

We're not stupid.
1. when you call it all natural, and then have ingredients that sound like "alpha-hydroxyconeate" on the ingredients list...I stop believing you. And stop buying.
2. When you say NOW WITH ROSEMARY, and I flip the bottle over, and see it's the last on the list...I stop believing you. And stop buying.
3. Tell me what the shampoo DOES SPECIFICALLY, not just that it will "make your hair beautiful and manageable".
4. Why is every red-head shampoo about protecting colour?? Some red-heads DON'T DYE THEIR HAIR BUT STILL NEED SHAMPOO.
5.Stop testing on animals. It makes me not buy your line.
6. Stop using ingredients that give me cancer and neurological damage. It makes me not buy your line and lobby my government to make your job more regulated, harder and more expensive.
7. Stop using ingredients that aren't biodegradable. If they can make biodegradable laundry soap, I assume you can do the same.

[luxepiggy]

Dear P&G:

I want my Pantene Ice Shine products. Why did you discontinue them? Do you know how many people used to stop me on the street or in the mall to ask me what I used to make my hair so shiny? For years I sent people off to buy Ice Shine because it worked better than those expensive salon products.

These days, I can't recommend Pantene any more, because your new products make my hair dull and lacklustre. So now I send them to buy Fekkai instead.

Furthermore, you might want to invest in some training for your customer service representatives. I sent a query through the "contact us" page on your website asking which of the new products was most comparable to Ice Shine, and this is the response I received:

Thanks for contacting Pantene.

I’m sorry to hear you’re disappointed in the recent changes made to Pantene. We understand how frustrating it can be when your favorite products are changed for one reason or another. Our Pantene consumers told us we needed to make it simpler to find the right product, and we listened. Please be assured I’m sharing your comments with the rest of the Pantene Team.

Since I don’t have a recommendation for you at this time, you may want to check our brand websites for information about our current products. You might find a new favorite!

Thanks again for getting in touch!

Jay
Pantene TeamWe are not amused.

I also called your customer service number . . . http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff33/shoppingpiglet/smilies/ah5.gif

So, just bring back Pantene Ice Shine, OK? That stuff was amazing. I mean look, just look:
http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff33/shoppingpiglet/Picture009-1.jpg

^That's how my hair looked like in real life, without photoshop, special lighting, flatironing, or product. Just Pantene Ice Shine shampoo & conditioner. WHY would you discontinue a product that made my hair look like that??? :confused:

Warm Regards,
Piggy (^(oo)^)v

[milagro]

Quit buying up traditional natural shampoo/hand cream/bath companies and changing the formulas particulary with unnatural ingredient subsitutions or reformulating entirely.
That x 1000!
And it doesn't apply to cosmetics only.

[contradiction]

Bring back old style Herbal Essences shampoo and conditioner! The new stuff is crap.

[anemix1005]

1.- stop testing on animals
2.- make shampoos and conditioners with such a strong smell PLEASE, I can't use some of them because the smell makes me dizzy, seriously.
3.- please, please, please, please! try making some cone free lines, I'm sure a lot of people will thank you for that, you can also make commercials saying that for some people cones don't work.
4.- why do you want to put such a big quantity of weird chemicals in your products? it doesn't make anyone any good, you have to spend more money on them, make your products a big harm and a lot of people won't buy them because of that.

[Dragon]

We need more shampoos and conditioners that are free from fragrance and colours as its hard to find any. Natural fragrance are fine if you have to use any. And we need more that is suitable for sensitive scalps which are also free from silicone and protein. Also when you change the formula can you keep the old ones as not every one likes the new stuff.

[Dragon]

Also don't test on animals.

[myria]

Another one to add: stop putting conditioner in bubble bath-type bottles, (especially boots' naturals) it makes it impossible to get the last inch or so out.

[LissaJane]

Dear big corporation of hair cosmetics / products ....



I want ... products that are natural, socially responsible, not tested on animals and made out of ingredients that are not dangerous for my health and the earth's environment.

This. Exactly this.
Except I would extend it to general skin, body, nails & cosmetic, etc products.

[LissaJane]

Bring back old style Herbal Essences shampoo and conditioner! The new stuff is crap.
I love your sig :)

[Dreams_in_Pink]

Dear big companies,

Everyone knows that shampooing will NOT make our hair look "perfect". Stop trying to make us believe that.

[Hana212]

If possible.. make me a shampoo and conditioner range that is cone free and sls free that will brighten my dyed blonde hair, take away the brassiness and keep my pretty ashy tones!! As natural as possible is best, and one that won't turn my hair purple!

[dropinthebucket]

I just stopped buying them all. Now I only use locally made shampoo bars, with a castor oil base. I still worry a bit about castor bean processing and production, and if it's fair trade, so I try to be careful about that. The argan oil I use is from an African company that has set up a collective to give poor women and their children an industry they can make a living from - it's fair trade, and ecologically sustainable (I think I found the product through World Vision).

Interestingly, I recently read an article stating that the big companies have been hit hard by consumers like me (and you, and you, and you, and all the rest of us who've stopped buying these products) - hit right where it hurts, in their profits. They've also, the article said, started figuring out that consumers can be pretty savvy, and just sticking Organic on the label, or Natural, doesn't fool anyone. Fingers crossed that change may be on the way!

Great thread idea, Caillie!!

[lapushka]

1. Celebrate the wonderful individuality of consumers by offering more options: more mainstream, drugstore lines for curlies, wavies, African-American, Asian, etc. hair that can be found in the main aisle in the regular drugstore, not off in some dusty corner.

2. Stop the false advertising! Stop photoshoping your models' hair to some unachievable brilliance and length that looks more like Barbie doll hair than real hair. Stop making promises that your products cannot live up to.

3. Use more reality in your advertising!! I want to see real women like me, with real hair challenges using real products getting real results that make their real lives easier. I do not want to see a photoshopped model. That does nothing to help me choose the best option for my hair.

4. Stop assuming everyone has-- or wants--straight, fine, blonde hair. Some of us are brunettes. Curlies. Thick. Coarse. Embrace the differences and discover how large your market share could really be!

5. Please, understand the powerhouse that is the influence and purchasing power of your target market--the modern female. When she likes a product, she may review it once or twice or tell her friends about it, but when she dislikes a product, she tells twice as many people and those people tell everyone they know as well. It behooves you to understand us. Stop assuming you know what we want and find out what we need. When you bring it to the market, we will buy it.

6. Please refrain from making your products smell like artificial coconut. It's a rather cheap smell and I think you can do better. Many of us would rather have a neutral scent to our hair care products so they do not interfere with perfumes or other fragrances. Some are sensitive to scents, as well.

7. Please do not assume that we will fall for the old "it's in a salon, it must be better" trick. We are savvy consumers and we know better. Put quality products in the supermarket where we can have easy access, please.

Once again, may I reiterate: Celebrate the marvelous diversity of your consumer base. Respect us. Advertise truthfully. Make your products easy to find, use, and purchase.

This. Well said! I agree with everything but n° 6, because I looove the smell of coconut, artificial or no. :)

By the way hair care products are being put on the market, by the way they are being marketed for makes me think it's all thought up by people with blinders on. The industry is in its ivory tower and Rapunzel is nowhere in sight. The industry doesn't particularly seem to understand its target market or the potential for improvement that's out there. They are creating a beauty image that's so surreal and far gone from reality that it is all losing its purpose and missing the mark.

Where are the bigger sized bottles? Don't only sell product in 150 ml (5.1oz) and 200 ml (6.8oz) bottles, this goes *especially* for conditioner. It's empty in no time. I don't particularly want to buy 5 bottles of conditioner at once just to not have to buy a new bottle every week or every other week! Yes, there are a few products like the Franck Provost line and Schwarzkopf's Syoss line, and that probably accounts in part for their popularity (they cost about the same as the smaller bottles), but they've only recently come on the market and the damn bottles aren't particularly easy to use.

There are sleek haired, wavy haired, curly haired ladies and gents out there who would like to stay that way and who need products *for* them not *against* them. Curly or wavy hair doesn't equal frizzy hair and the commercials who do put curly or wavy hair on the same level as frizzy hair insult so many people, especially if you use a curly or wavy haired model who looks gorgeous and who doesn't have the least bit of frizz. No way in hell I'm buying those products now. It's insulting. Maybe create a product line for sleek and textured hair (more moisture) the way there's a product line for oily, dry, normal hair. More diversity is good so that there's something for everyone, without insulting half the population.

[GRU]

Curly or wavy hair doesn't equal frizzy hair and the commercials who do put curly or wavy hair on the same level as frizzy hair insult so many people, especially if you use a curly or wavy haired model who looks gorgeous and who doesn't have the least bit of frizz.

Reminded me of the Garnier Fructis commercial that showed what happens to a curly-head in humidity:

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b23/ImaHockeyMom/boards/hair2.jpg

Puh-leeze! :rolleyes:

I've had some pretty bad humidity-induced frizz situations in my day, but any moron can see that her hair has been teased and back-combed to within an inch of its life. :rolleyes:

[Cailie]

- I need much more conditionner than shampoo, what's up with the bottles being so much smaller that the shampoo ones ?

- biodegradable containers, please !

- when we don't find what we're looking for ... me make it at home ourselves ;)

[Mirsha]

Dear hair product companies,

Please sell conditioner by the gallon. :whistle:

Please sell unscented hair products! (my biggest problem, I DO NOT want my hair to overpower my perfume :nono: which happens so easily with lighter scents on me. )

[Khiwanean]

[eta: this only applies to companies in the U.S.A.] I know you (and even the small companies too) don't like the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010. You're right that it is unrealistic and not science based. But something similar would greatly increase our confidence that you actually care about our health. Unless you're legally obliged to use ingredients that aren't widely irritant, how do we know that you are paying attention to things like the Cosmetic Ingredient Review and not just using irritating ingredients because they are cheaper? If you are going to lobby against the bill, how about you put your money where your mouth is and come up with your own version AND encourage public input so we know it's not just going to be ineffectual. Please standardize the use of words like "natural" and "hypoallergenic". e.g. natural ingredients should be unprocessed (with the exclusion of oils, which should only be processed to be extracted), hypoallergenic should not cause irritation or allergic reaction in over 1 out of x large number of people.

Don't put silicones in shampoos. They can build up on the scalps of some people. And a lot of people still wash their hair every day, so that can mean awful build up for affected daily washers.

Try offering products that are formulated specifically for either soft or hard water. That makes a big difference in how shampoos and conditioners work, but you don't take that into account.

Make your ingredients available for each product online and include updates about reformulations. Include regional formulations as well and indicate the region in which those formulations are sold. I look up the ingredients of my products before I ever buy them and I'm sure to patronize stores whose sites that let me check the ingredients. It would encourage brand loyalty if one could look up the ingredients in the products offered by their favorite brand.

[papillion]

Bring out a range of truly unscented/unfragranced products: lots of people need these products, and there are very few available. As well as making your customers happy, you are almost certainly guaranteed to get huge sales.

[Cailie]

I agree with the no fragrance idea ; it has been linked to health problems such as neurotoxicity / allergies / immunotoxicity / etc. (and quite franckly, it only covers the scent we decide to wear)

http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/ingredient.php?ingred06=702512

[may1em]

1. Stop packaging things in bottles that I can't take the lid off of - it makes it impossible to rinse it out properly before recycling the bottle.

2. Ingredients lists available online, and legibly on the product.

3. Cut it out with the synthetic fragrance, already. I don't necessarily want to smell like a florist shop or Skittles.

[hairobsessed1]

An advert with REAL women with REAL hair.

[Amraann]

Stop lying.. for example stop saying things like "baby shampoo does not sting the eyes."
I have gotten baby shampoo in my eyes and it does in fact sting.

Stop assuming that every female is in some race to keep up with the latest Cosmo trend. Many of us do not care if some fashion writer has decided that straight (or curly or short) hair is in fashion this season.
Just because some fashion mag says so does not mean that everyone in the world now wants that hair.. Nor does it mean we want you do re-vamp your product every time some new trend takes hold.
On that same note do not assume that all of us wish to cut our hair into the latest style every 3 months.
Maybe you hope that so that women will not notice that your product does not live up to your claims?

Please stop trying to make us believe that your models actually have that hair. We all know that what they actually have is hair extensions and about 10 different styling products as well as 2 hours worth of hair styling to achieve that look.

Can you also make products that actually do what you claim? This applies to ALL beauty products. AND do not charge me a small fortune for a product that does not do what you claim.

[lapushka]

I wouldn't mind some fragrance free options either. Could also be a product that is great for sensitive scalps.

If Aldi had conditioner (in my country they don't), I think I'd use it. No marketing, no commercials, no issues. And good for my wallet. Their conefree shampoos are great, so I wouldn't mind a conditioner. That's mainly the reason why I love drugstore brands: no marketing techniques, no commercials, no issues, and good for my wallet. Why does it need to be more complicated than that anyway? I won't notice the difference.

[spoonshine]

Stop airbrushing humanity into oblivion. You're hurting people.

The animal testing...you're still doing this? Seriously, just stop it. It's beyond demented.

Simpler products with fewer ingredients.

[Hummy]

They will never take my money again. I prefer simple, "no-name" brands, with natural ingredients. I want to pay for the content of the bottle, not for expensive commercials that present fake healthy hair. And, of course, many of the things written by all of you.

[ktani]

Many small cosmetic companies have no clue what they are doing, (especially when it comes to preservatives), stay under the regulations which do exist radar, and use conventional ingredients, some of which have been tested on animals. And their advertising can be even more bogus than that of the BIG companies. Just because an ingredient is natural does not mean it is safe or useful.

http://www.chicandgreendaily.com/2010/07/safe-cosmetics-act-of-2010.html

And let us not forget, http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showpost.php?p=351826&postcount=2.

It is about selective, informed, consumer purchasing, cosmetic companies following safe manufacturing practices and doing their own research on ingredients.

[littlenvy]

I stopped using the "big name" products, so I no longer care what they put in it. Just want them to make sure its not tested on animals and that the chemicals don't hurt the envirnonment.

I do, however, want them to STOP telling us in the ads that their product can repair or restore :rolleyes: damaged hair and make it healthy again!! Some people believe that BS!
And stop showing models that have had their hair styled for 3 hours with no less than 5 different products and tell me that I can get that after one week of using your shampoo :rolleyes:
And in case they really, truly didn't know this ... Shea butter does NOT penetrate and deeply mositurizes the hair. It only coats it sealing the moisture in. There is a difference between the two.

[Intransigentia]

I had my rant about what I hate, now for what I want:

Bring on the barely-scented, and better yet, unscented/fragrance-free stuff! Don't get me wrong, I love beautiful scents, BUT
- I have strong opinions about scent. If I dislike the scent, and especially if it's quite a strong scent, that's an automatic don't-buy. Whereas even if I love the scent, there are still a number of other things to consider before I make a do-buy decision.
- I personally am only mildly scent-sensitive - I wouldn't even know it, except that some scents affect my singing, for example I can't sustain a note for quite as long as normal, or my high range suffers, or my voice gets tired faster than usual. I'm just an amateur, so it's merely an annoyance, it keeps me from doing my personal best. But still.
- A lot of singers, and many other people I'll encounter randomly, are much more scent-sensitive than I am. I'd prefer not to worry about ruining somebody's day/concert/whatever just by being in their vicinity with freshly-done hair.

[Sheltie_Momma]

What I want is to buy shampoo and conditioner in bulk concentrate and then mix it up to refill it into a container in the shower.

[GRU]

What I want is to buy shampoo and conditioner in bulk concentrate and then mix it up to refill it into a container in the shower.


^^^^ This!

Why are we spending big bucks on products that have WATER listed in the top few ingredients? I can get water for next-to-nothing out of my faucet!!!!