There’s a term for how your favorite products end up in the grocery store, pharmacy, eBay and the worst one of all-Amazon. The term is diversion.

It’s basically back alley beauty products.

Have you ever noticed that the salon products you buy have a sweet little message on the back letting you know that “This product is guaranteed when sold by professional recommendation”? Diversion is a big, illegal business that seriously hurts businesses like mine. A lot of people give me the skeptical face when I first introduce the concept of diversion, so I’ll tell you the same thing I tell those side-eying skeptics: diversion is such a huge business, that to become an authorized seller of professional products like Unite, Pulp Riot, and InCommon, salon owners must sign an anti-diversion agreement stating that we won't redistribute those products to any unauthorized resellers. The reason companies do this is because it’s in their best interest that their products are recommended specifically for the hair types they’re being used on. What better way to ensure people get the right thing for their hair than to sell by professional recommendation? It strengthens brand reliability in the eyes of the customer because (ideally) the products being recommended will work like a dream for that specific hair type. Have you ever tried a product that’s meant for smoothing out coarse hair types on fine hair? It’s not pretty.

How does it happen, and why don’t brands stop them if it’s so important?

If only it were that simple. Some brands do take measures to combat diversion via barcode tracking, violator reporting lines, and legal action, when necessary. Back in 2009, L’Oreal sued Sally Beauty for selling their products to an unauthorized wholesaler. It happens all the time but it can be really tough and expensive to track shampoo bottles being shipped all over the world, especially after they've been sitting in a storage facility or warehouse for a while. Eventually, those once salon-quality products end up on shelves at CVS, Rite Aid, Target and other big-box stores. Then, they sit there on a shelf for who knows how much longer before finding it’s way to an unsuspecting customer’s shower.

So, why should you care? Quite a few reasons, actually. Aside from the bacteria roulette you’re playing with old beauty products, you run the risk of essentially flushing your money right down the toilet. That “Redken” product you grab off the shelf at Safeway or on Amazon is usually priced the same or higher than at your local salon. It is also very likely to be expired or just plain counterfeit (it’s not hard to dig bottles out of a dumpster in the city and fill them up with lotion). The convenience of grabbing it from the grocery store is far outweighed by the risks, if you ask me.

This brings me to the next and (in my opinion) most important reason to buy your hair products where you get your hair cut: I talk a lot about making an effort to be an informed consumer and voting with your dollar. Why not “vote” in a way that also helps your hairstylist? By purchasing your products from a small business rather than online or from a big chain, you’re keeping money in our local economy, supporting local jobs, enabling us to continue investing in our education, AND benefitting from our years of expertise as hair professionals.
The real question is, why wouldn’t you care?

With that being said, as hairstylists, I also believe that it is our responsibility as professionals to fully educate ourselves in the lines we carry. Recommending products with knowledge and integrity as well as educating our clients how to use them is a huge part of our job; If our customers, who love us so much, are buying products online we have to ask ourselves: why? Is it because we’ve never bothered to ask them what they’re using and if it’s working for them? Did they buy something expensive from a salon one time that was just being pushed on them for commissions and it actually sucked for their hair type so now they don’t trust us? Do some investigating there; we know they’re washing and often styling their hair with something.

Stylists — it is our job to guide our customers to the hair care choices that are right for them with kindness and integrity. If you can do that, you’ll build relationships and soon you won’t have to investigate so hard or feel like “a pushy salesperson” because they trust you, they’ll be asking you! You will become your client’s go-to person for all of their haircare needs.

Shop your Maxwell Salon beauty favorites in our online store and #SupportLocalBusiness

#KitsapBeautyPROFESSIONALS

Interesting reads:

This Forbes article, or this one from Consumer Affairs