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How to make money in the cosmetic industry
It seems there are a couple avenues for making money in our industry.
1. You can create products, learn marketing, and cash in.
or
2. Make up fictional associations between scary sounding ingredients and sue big companies for using them. https://www.classaction.org/blog/class-action-lawsuit-claims-ogx-shampoos-conditioners-may-cause-scalp-irritation-hair-loss
It seems like a lot of people are attempting route 2.
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29 Replies
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Marketing, marketing and marketing once again 😉
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The lawsuit argues that Johnson & Johnson chose to use DMDM hydantoin in its OGX products despite being fully aware of its potential adverse health effects and the availability of alternative non-synthetic preservatives that “do not release known human carcinogens.” These include glyoxylic acid, potassium sorbate, sorbic acid, citric acid, rosemary oil extract, neem oil extract, lavender oil, grapefruit seed extract and vinegar. The use of DMDM hydantoin as a preservative was therefore an “entirely unnecessary risk” given safer alternatives exist, the case alleges.
… huh? …
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Pattsi - arghhhh! Can you provide the link?
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Pattsi said:The lawsuit argues that Johnson & Johnson chose to use DMDM hydantoin in its OGX products despite being fully aware of its potential adverse health effects and the availability of alternative non-synthetic preservatives that “do not release known human carcinogens.” These include glyoxylic acid, potassium sorbate, sorbic acid, citric acid, rosemary oil extract, neem oil extract, lavender oil, grapefruit seed extract and vinegar. The use of DMDM hydantoin as a preservative was therefore an “entirely unnecessary risk” given safer alternatives exist, the case alleges.… huh? …
I think the more significant, salient fact here is that J&J apparently had removed DMDM from all of its other products, and issued public statements that it would do so by 2015, and did indeed deliver on that public statement.
But, it did not remove DMDM from the OGX line post 2016 acquisition. So, it appears that J&J is in a bit of a box as to the duality of removing DMDM across the board except for this one product line in explaining it’s conflicting position on DMDM in its products.
This is an extension of the Tresemme class action suit that alleges the same.
And, this all started on TikTok … There’s a good lesson here: Using “controversial” ingredients can be expensive, both monetarily and as it affects brand reputation.
The lawsuit may not have much merit, but that does not mean that news of it will not damage the brand/product line and the legal fees defending it could get quite pricy.
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@PhilGeis - In their page and pdf page 25 in the link Perry posted. They made the case public.
@MarkBroussard - Agreed, the damage was done.
These days, can’t predict the outcome too. What if the judge rules in their favor, that’s cover CA and FL with tons of amazing people who believe in alternative fact.
Maybe they might come after Dove next.
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I once had a client who had to deal with a consumer who threatened to sue claiming that the consumer’s face was burned by the Hyaluronic Acid serum I developed. It only contained multi-molecular weight HA, water and preservative.
I suspect this will get settled out of court and J&J will replace DMDM in the OGX line.
BTW: I personally cannot use Tresemme shampoo … it literally makes the skin on my hands peel.
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Thanks Pattsi - J&J cstarted this some time back - took quat 15 out of their baby shampoo after many decades and appropriate safety assessment.
such total BS - https://www.cfs.gov.hk/english/multimedia/multimedia_pub/multimedia_pub_fsf_06_01.html
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MarkBroussard said:BTW: I personally cannot use Tresemme shampoo … it literally makes the skin on my hands peel.
What in that shampoo, do you attribute to this issue?
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I have no idea and did not really investigate regarding specific ingredients. I noticed that my hands started peeling quite badly and thought that perhaps Tresemme was the issue. Switched to Dove Creamy Sensitive Skin Body wash and the peeling went away. Tried Tresemme again and the peeling came back. Switched back to Dove and the peeling stopped. I did not notice any irritation on my scalp, interestingly enough.
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MarkBroussard said:@Graillotion
I have no idea and did not really investigate regarding specific ingredients. I noticed that my hands started peeling quite badly and thought that perhaps Tresemme was the issue. Switched to Dove Creamy Sensitive Skin Body wash and the peeling went away. Tried Tresemme again and the peeling came back. Switched back to Dove and the peeling stopped. I did not notice any irritation on my scalp, interestingly enough.
I am very interested to see the ingredients list of these two products. Can you share them please.
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@MarkBroussard - No way!!!! Me too, thought I was alone.
@PhilGeis - Sadly DMDM is dead now. It’s a guess game what next. When mass brands replace controversial ingredient I have no choice but to follow suit which is hard on us small brand. Totally BS.
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Yep … peel like a snake shedding its skin when I use Tresemme.
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When consumers speak … smart brands listen … it’s the most basic fundamental of marketing.
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Pattsi said:@MarkBroussard - No way!!!! Me too, thought I was alone.
@PhilGeis - Sadly DMDM is dead now. It’s a guess game what next. When mass brands replace controversial ingredient I have no choice but to follow suit which is hard on us small brand. Totally BS.
A lot of global folks dropped the formaldehyde releasers when Japan refused to soften the draconion warning. China and EWG effectively teamed up to bully J&J out of Quat 15 for its baby shampoo 10 or so years ago. FDA and SCCS/EU/CIR still find ’em safe but i understand you point.
The idiotic suit completely ignores the real risk - microbial contamination - in place of its imaginary formaldehyde risk. -
To quote BobZChemist: “The customer isn’t always right, but the customer is the customer”
There are other alternatives for preservation … it’s not as though DMDM is the only preservation option available to formulators.
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MarkBroussard said:To quote BobZChemist: “The customer isn’t always right, but the customer is the customer”
There are other alternatives for preservation … it’s not as though DMDM is the only preservation option available to formulators.
There are “alternatives” to the traditional preservatives and they are associated of levels of FDA enforement not seen this the 1960’s - e.g. https://sfamjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/lam.12995
Before wokeness hit cosmetic preservation, small and medium-sized manufacturers copied traditional systems of major manusacturers qualified typically with more stressful protocols than the USP 51 and confirmed with in-use testing. The major guys have tried to stay within their safety assesments - while others “qualify” marketing-driven alternatives with 51, producing underpreserved products . These are associated with the increased recalls - and certainly > rates of in-use contamination.
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@PhilGeis - I wouldn’t call it “wokeness” just stupid.
J&J did not create OGX, they bought the brand in 2016. https://drugstorenews.com/beauty/johnson-johnson-buy-ogx-shampoo-maker-b Most likely, they simply didn’t make the preservative change because there was no compelling reason to change it.
@MarkBroussard - there are alternative preservative options for the moment. What happens in 5 years when people start suing and claim that Benzoic acid, Benzyl Alcohol, potassium sorbate or phenoxyethanol harmed them?
CIR & SCCS say these ingredients are safe for use in cosmetics. That’s all that should matter. If it affects sales then brands that don’t use those ingredients will have an opportunity. I personally doubt these things have much real impact on the vast majority of consumer’s decision to buy products.
Incidentally, in 2005 I washed my hair with the Tresemme shampoo base over 500 times. Never had any peeling or any other problem with the product.
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@Perry:
No point in worrying about something you cannot control, that being what may happen in the future. What you can do to protect yourself is not use “controversial” ingredients, keep track of the consumer trends and try to stay a step ahead.
Unless the government provides some sort of liability shield to companies that properly use ingredients that are approved by the FDA for use in cosmetic/personal care products, these class action lawsuits will certainly continue.
You would think that the large consumer products companies under attack would put pressure on politicians to effect some rational changes regarding the legal system. There’s a whole industry of law firms who specialize in consumer class action lawsuits.
As I mentioned, I had a client who was threatened by a consumer claiming they suffered burns on their face from a Hyaluronic Acid serum.
I can assure you that there is some ingredient or ingredient combination in the Tresemme product line that causes skin peeling. I have experienced it myself and confirmed that it is Tresemme Shampoo that caused that reaction on my skin.
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As in woke to the imaginary “dangers” and blind to the risks. Plenty of alternatives when the low bar of USP 51 is the gate to market.
Large companies, PCPC and other industry org’s have pursued preservative defense efforts for years to no benefit. No new primary preservatives are being developed - there’s not enough money in cosmetics (even global) to justify the safety and regulatory effort.
The lawsuit will be interesting. Technical absurdity /dislike of big companies/EWG et al. hand wringing. Interesting to watch folks argue for poor preservation with the myriad of weak combinations claiming “broad spectrum” across a wide pH range. -
It’s likely they changed the formula, but I personally formulated the Tresemme shampoos & conditioners back in 2004 - 2005 ish. Skin peeling was not a problem noted in any of our safety testing.
In looking at the formula now, they use Sodium C12-13 Pareth Sulfate as the main surfactant. Perhaps that’s a problem for you. But I will note they don’t have a single formula used across the line so it’s not exactly accurate to say “Tresemme shampoo causes skin peeling.” Perhaps the SKU that you tried did. That doesn’t mean they all do.
@PhilGeis - I think the main reason we’re seeing this lawsuit now is because a few years back Suave settled a similar lawsuit. That opened the floodgates.
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This would have been in the 2004 - 2008 timeframe as I was living in Portugal at the time. Different people are sensitive to different ingredients in different ways … my skin just reacted to it by peeling. No big deal, I just moved on to another product.
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@MarkBroussard - Interesting. I agree different skin, different reactions. I used Old Spice deodorant once and it caused a red rash under my armpits. Just went back to my old Speed Stick standard and problem disappeared.
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@Perry:
I have sensitive skin, so virtually any ingredient or combination could have caused that reaction. Particularly fragrance. It’s not that the product was not well formulated, it’s just that my skin reacted to it.
As you know, despite your best efforts, someone, somewhere will have a reaction to any cosmetic product you develop.
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Here’s your motivation:
“Previously, Unilever faced legal action over this ingredient and its Suave Professionals Keratin Infusion products. That complaint triggered a recall of the products in 2012 and a 2016 settlement worth $10.25 million.“
That’s a $3.5 million payday for a lawyer on the plaintiff’s side of the lawsuit.
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