Paul Mitchell has been a long time activist trying to educate the consumer about diversion. The average consumer is most likely getting ripped off or using a product that is not what is labeled on the front of the bottle. I’ve seen TIGI products in Sebastian bottles, Pantene in Paul Mitchell bottles, conditioner in shampoo bottles, etc. Take it from one who knows…. DON’T BUY DIVERTED PRODUCT.

http://www.paulmitchell.com/About_Us/Documents/get_real_pop_06.pdf

It must depend on where you live what the prices are for diverted product…

In my town and my State (CA)… When I’ve come across the product on store shelves it has always been $5-$10 more expensive then the Salons I’ve worked for… that part always puzzled me… And no, I’m not refering to package deals… just straight up individual bottles… The least I’ve seen it for was $2 more per bottle… so saying it’s “cheaper” at the store shelves? That’s not true here…

OhMaGosh… This topic is completely off it’s rocker and over the top…

First off diversion is a tactic used mostly between greedy product representatives (sales people) and closing or overstocked salons. The Salon wants to get rid of, or move the product out because the salon itself made mistakes. This is where it started and it’s been happening ever since. Very rarely and almost never do they have a “back door” business.

Most Salons distributing or selling the salon products ligitimately, sign contracts that they won’t sell to unauthorized dealers so they can sue them if they can be caught… However “get caught” is the operative words…

That is also where the “outdated” or “old” product comes from. It doesn’t “sit in trucks”… it sits in the overstocked or closed Salon storage unit until they can unload it… That is why the “professional shelf” at Target or Walmart, etc. has only a sprinkling of any one brand of products and never a full line of any.

Also the “store bought is no different” arguement has a long history and is full of myths on both sides.

Let’s get real here… It is 100% mark up on all products. If the products costs $2 to buy from the distributer? Then the store sells it at $4… That means $2 to REBUY for sale and $2 profit… Did we miss economics 101? What? They’re supposed to buy for $2 and sell it for $2?? Who makes money like that? You think your grocery store sells ANYTHING for what they bought it for?

And let’s get down to the heart of it.. the cold hard facts… period…

The FDA ruled LONG ago that the hair is a “dead appendage” of the body not to mention they hardly regulate anything natural, and they REFUSED to get involved in any debate related to professional or store bought… This particular industry of beauty is self regulated… Both sides… There are NO laws governing hair care EXCEPT truth in advertising.

If a product says it contains a protien? it MUST contain that ingredient… BUT it does NOT have to reveal in what quantity (other then it’s place on the ingredient list)or in what potency (strength).

This is why ephedrine was taken off the market… It may have said it contained 30mg of product but its potency could have been that of 300mg… That was not required to be revealed and it was dangerous!

Now that’s not the same with hair care… it’s not neccesarily dangerous… There is increasingly mounting evidence that Sulfates are potentially dangerous (that is not proven yet) and definitely a known irritant… and that is going to change the face of hair care no matter where it is bought. But I digress…

The biggest difference is going to be in the quantity and quality of the ingredients when looking at the list. Shampoos like Pantene, Dove, and the like are using cheaper grade ingredients because…well?… they’re cheaper and they can… they are not different per say… just… cheaper… and larger in molecule size… Some are using the same kind of wax you put on an apple to make it shiney in the conditioner (you thought the shine was natural?)… It’s food grade, edible, and naturally derived… Therefore? Legal and acceptable…

The result from the conditioner is a coating to hopefully “hold in” the moisture you already have and hope that is sufficient enough… Saying that it harms the hair is irresponsible from a professional… It does NOT harm the hair… it usually isn’t enough to provide help, and that’s the actual problem. Look at the ingredents of a store bought shampoo compared to Dawn Dishwashing liquid… They are suprisingly similar… Even some Salon brands might be similar to Dawn’s ingredients by name… Just try using Dawn regularly and tell me it doesn’t have an effect on your color or the condition of your hair? That’s ridiculous to say that it “doesn’t matter”… or the ingredients are fully the “same”…

Salon brands use molecular sizes that are smaller… It may have the same name as the ones on the store brands, but it’s not always the same quality. They use the opposite concept of trying to put back what might have gone missing from your chemical services, heat styling abuse, or just water damage. NO it does not “repair”! That is a word that our industry needs to stop using… What it does is prevent futher damage and more breakage… it temporarily puts a safety net on the weakened hair until you wash it again. They also may advertise a bit much and pass on that cost to the consumer as well… Hey… Economics 101 again…

Salon products have one more thing that sets them apart that you’ll NEVER get from the store bought brand… The Stylist recommendation. They can work with your hair and see what it does and does not respond to… That way they can help you pick out the products based on what your specific needs and desires are, and YES that can take some trial and error. No “one” product is perfect for all… And no product on the store shelf is going to be able to tell you the things you don’t know about your hair.