lolascurls
New Member
Thanks, OP! I was so out of the loop on this one!
:wow:
:wow:
BAMBOOZLED by Afroveda
- Thread starter Rastafarai
- Start date
LovinLocks I realize that the original post was about Afroveda...did you read through the thread? My post was in response to a post on the first page that listed several small companies that use bases.
I continue to support the company, but I like to be well-informed. Instead of putting them on blast, I plan to email the company and ask a few questions.
miss stress
Well-Known Member
yeah I wanna know that too cause if I can make the avocado condish at home that would b great
Honi
There is no board.
Bases are easy to make from scratch. I've made them. There are tons of recipes online that you can follow and tweak. It can be expensive though so using a base makes sense if you are moving alot of product. I agree with the ladies. BUT....don't tweak a bulk base and charge an arm/leg for it cause you added some EO, powders, WLAJ, etc. That's just wrong. 
Oh...thanks to the poster that posted that site for bulk conditioners. There are so many that I know of and tried. This one is next on the list.
Oh...thanks to the poster that posted that site for bulk conditioners. There are so many that I know of and tried. This one is next on the list.
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coolhandlulu
Struttin' and stuntin'
I'm not so surprised or offended by the companies using bases per se; it's the exorbitant prices and they lying when using the term handmade.
*Frisky*
Well-Known Member
I was under the impression that had to list every single thing. Like Noir said earlier, the FDA has some strict labeling laws now and I think that might be the reason alot of these smaller company's products are surfacing like this because by law, they have to disclose every ingredient. I ordered some butter from a lady that makes her own product and she does not list all the ingredients. It is just one statement saying "essential oils" and I am sure she is doing that so people won't try to copy and make their own but I would have to risk that instead of facing legal action.
LittleLuxe
New Member
*Frisky*
Well-Known Member
Totally off subject, @Frisky what kinda of puppy is that( boston terrier)? he/she is sooo cute I want one
Thank you!! He is a yorkie...he is my BABY!!! hahahahhahaha..he loves to just sprawl out on his back and go to sleep.
Imoan
Well-Known Member
aagh I ment to say Yorkshire terriers.. omg he is too cute my friend bought one for like $400 bucks. I want one.. putting it on my christmas lilst. lol
LittleLuxe
New Member
Haha, if I looked as cute as him sprawled out and asleep I would to. Just gorgeous! Goodness gracious girl, I am in love with the color of his paws they look like gold toffee. Kay let me stop drooling now, lol, glad you're enjoying a new baby.
EllePixie yes, I like the company and I will continue to order from them! I hope that my posts about the company were not taken the wrong way!
They are EXTREMELY affordable and the customer service is very good. I think a lot of their products are unique, but some are not. lol @ finding Cocasta for wholesale....
MyInvisibleChyrsalis
Well-Known Member
Looks like I'm buying some hair masque base and some fragrance from saveonscents.com and calling it a day...
makeupvixen
Well-Known Member
The day that AfroVeda went up in price I ran to her vendors to place my order of the Shea Amla before their prices changed too! Well ladies I ended up getting the New Jar with the obvious New Formula. This mess is watered down. The smell isn't strong like before! The color is obviously different! It's like a freaking milk and not a butter.
I am so freaking glad Mala is being exposed for her lies!
Look at this crap!!!
I am so freaking glad Mala is being exposed for her lies!
Look at this crap!!!
Attachments
Kurlee
Well-Known Member
very pretty hair!
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Just for the record, an emulsification is not some complex process. A very simple emulsification that anyone with a handmixer/blender can make is mayonnaise. And with your hand mixer, you can make some very nice products at home. Basic baking is chemistry on the same level but few people realize it or make the connection.
You don't have to be a chemist, and it's pretty clear looking at a lot of these sites/products that no one with a chemistry or business or manufacturing background is involved. All three would be great. A sound business plan would allow her or anyone like her to try for a loan or find investors (probably a better bet in this economy, getting an SBA loan is not easy to get as it still requires good credit and collateral). It's probably a hurdle many of these people cannot clear.
Thanks to the internet, you can easily learn the properties of the different ingredients that go in your average conditioner or moisturizing treatment. You can find some basic recipes to tweak. Just like baking cookies, there are things that are essential and must be in the right proportion for the recipe to work (eggs, flour, baking soda), and there are "extras" that make it "taste" good (chocolate chips for example). The bases save you a lot of the trial and error since you have a good portion of the work done and you have to customize things. Yes, you can over mix things and ruin an emulsification, but it's not rocket science. So in this equation, the bases are those necessary ingredients, and the extra oils and fragrances are the flavoring, but it's true that too much can overwhelm your product and ruin it's desired consistency.
One big issue I think people have with Afroveda is that she hasn't perfected any of this but wants to raise her prices dramatically. It takes too long for her to turnaround her product (which other people making natural products do a much better job of, so it can't be blamed on her "high quality.") Her products are inconsistent and sometimes spoil, which means that she probably doesn't understand much about what she is using and the ratios needed (and yes, getting some of these things right does require measuring precisely). If you took chemistry in high school (and hopefully college), then you remember how important this precision is. But it's not complicated. But it does mean that if you are at the end of your bottle/box of ingredients, and are running out, you'd need to shelve your next batch until you get more.
And as we are seeing here, you shouldn't lie in your own marketing b/c it creates a backlash when the truth comes out, something that many major corporations have experienced as well.
The bases means that anyone mixing their own products has to deal with far fewer ingredients and thus has less room for error. The wholesale sites provide the bases, the preservatives, etc., and even some basic recipes, and in many cases the FRACTION/PERCENTAGE of your finished product that the ingredient needs to be in.
I remember the sloppy kids in chemistry class. But I also remember that with good instructions, someone who couldn't actually balance a chemical equation could get a good product in lab if they at least followed the directions to a T. Of course, the people who were bad in chemistry always underestimated how much their imprecision would affect their finished product.
I haven't made my own things at home before, but as someone with a lot of lab experience (and who enjoys to cook), I am probably going to start trying some things on my own. There are things that I'd like that I can't necessarily find in anything I've tried. The whole cost/benefit of having someone make things matters. There are lots of thing that we buy that we can make ourselves, and someone jacking up the prices when the quality if below par isn't going to work.
That being said, have tried and enjoyed many other products that seem to be consistently and professionally made, and have no problem paying for something that is always what it promises to be either (Oyin, Qhemet). Seriously, the price hike (which is probably more to cover advance costs that she can't afford) is silly when it makes her products more than things from high end specialty stores or even the better made natural competitors.
I swear, a lot of these people who are putting up internet store fronts should probably just stick to making this stuff for their friends and family. There is so much to running a good solid business efficiently, esp. when you are manufacturing your own product.
You don't have to be a chemist, and it's pretty clear looking at a lot of these sites/products that no one with a chemistry or business or manufacturing background is involved. All three would be great. A sound business plan would allow her or anyone like her to try for a loan or find investors (probably a better bet in this economy, getting an SBA loan is not easy to get as it still requires good credit and collateral). It's probably a hurdle many of these people cannot clear.
Thanks to the internet, you can easily learn the properties of the different ingredients that go in your average conditioner or moisturizing treatment. You can find some basic recipes to tweak. Just like baking cookies, there are things that are essential and must be in the right proportion for the recipe to work (eggs, flour, baking soda), and there are "extras" that make it "taste" good (chocolate chips for example). The bases save you a lot of the trial and error since you have a good portion of the work done and you have to customize things. Yes, you can over mix things and ruin an emulsification, but it's not rocket science. So in this equation, the bases are those necessary ingredients, and the extra oils and fragrances are the flavoring, but it's true that too much can overwhelm your product and ruin it's desired consistency.
One big issue I think people have with Afroveda is that she hasn't perfected any of this but wants to raise her prices dramatically. It takes too long for her to turnaround her product (which other people making natural products do a much better job of, so it can't be blamed on her "high quality.") Her products are inconsistent and sometimes spoil, which means that she probably doesn't understand much about what she is using and the ratios needed (and yes, getting some of these things right does require measuring precisely). If you took chemistry in high school (and hopefully college), then you remember how important this precision is. But it's not complicated. But it does mean that if you are at the end of your bottle/box of ingredients, and are running out, you'd need to shelve your next batch until you get more.
And as we are seeing here, you shouldn't lie in your own marketing b/c it creates a backlash when the truth comes out, something that many major corporations have experienced as well.
The bases means that anyone mixing their own products has to deal with far fewer ingredients and thus has less room for error. The wholesale sites provide the bases, the preservatives, etc., and even some basic recipes, and in many cases the FRACTION/PERCENTAGE of your finished product that the ingredient needs to be in.
I remember the sloppy kids in chemistry class. But I also remember that with good instructions, someone who couldn't actually balance a chemical equation could get a good product in lab if they at least followed the directions to a T. Of course, the people who were bad in chemistry always underestimated how much their imprecision would affect their finished product.
I haven't made my own things at home before, but as someone with a lot of lab experience (and who enjoys to cook), I am probably going to start trying some things on my own. There are things that I'd like that I can't necessarily find in anything I've tried. The whole cost/benefit of having someone make things matters. There are lots of thing that we buy that we can make ourselves, and someone jacking up the prices when the quality if below par isn't going to work.
That being said, have tried and enjoyed many other products that seem to be consistently and professionally made, and have no problem paying for something that is always what it promises to be either (Oyin, Qhemet). Seriously, the price hike (which is probably more to cover advance costs that she can't afford) is silly when it makes her products more than things from high end specialty stores or even the better made natural competitors.
I swear, a lot of these people who are putting up internet store fronts should probably just stick to making this stuff for their friends and family. There is so much to running a good solid business efficiently, esp. when you are manufacturing your own product.
LittleLuxe
New Member
You said it all perfectly.
LovelyNaps26
Well-Known Member
I'm almost on the verge of crying tears of joy. One year after beginning my HHJ I just got the greatest bit of news. Next year me and MBL hair will thank you. 
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BlkRushhin
New Member
Personally I stopped ordering from Afroveda when I had to email them to remind them to send my order which ended up arriving AFTER Christmas last year.
An_gell
Well-Known Member
Okay so I brought some chocolatte moisture mask from one of Afroveda's vendors on her site. I have been wanting to try it so bad so I figured I would purchase it for the original price before they sold out. Well I got it yesterday and I opened it up and I'm definitely can see what everybody was talking about the butters seperating. I mean the oil seems to be seperating from the butter which smells like coco butter to me. I tried stirring it with a plastic spoon and that made it worse because there was so much oil on the bottom of the butter that hadn't surfaced to the top. All I'm saying is that the oil definitely needs to be blended into the butter a lot better than that. I have brought butters before and they do not look like that is this the norm with her butters?? This is my first time buying but I was expecting better, very disappointed.
Imoan
Well-Known Member
Any1 order from Essential Wholesale? I had like 8 items in my cart only 2 of them where 16oz others where samples and shipping was $30 seems like they only use UPS ground. When I order from vitacost.com who also uses UPS I only pay $4.99 no matter what size the order is.. Essentials need to get w/vitacost on the shipping deal.. gesh!!
Chameleonchick
Well-Known Member
Oh h to the no. I can't believe that. i still have 16 oz jars of the "old" formula and I won't be repurchasing anytime soon.
MissRissa
New Member
i agree with so many of the points made on here. i dont really use butters for the most part so i dont have issue personally with inferiority of the product but as far as the business aspect is concerned, she's cheated herself. i LOVE the ashlii amala raspberry whatever it's called masque. but it's a mfing recession. I've purchased the item once in 18 months because it costs so much. had she just priced it at around $10-16, i would have re upped many times and she could have gotten 2-3x as much os my money since we now know that the base is so cheap.
the same with bee mine. the bee mine that i've purchased, i've LOVED. now i have no idea how much it costs to make her deep condish, and it may actually cost like $20, no clue. but the sole fact that its cost is like $26, is the reason i haven't purchased. i do understand that lines want to have that "super" product, thats a lush treat but if you are pricing it so high (ESPECIALLY when its costs a 1/4 to create)to make it almost unattainable, then you're also cheating yourself.
the same with bee mine. the bee mine that i've purchased, i've LOVED. now i have no idea how much it costs to make her deep condish, and it may actually cost like $20, no clue. but the sole fact that its cost is like $26, is the reason i haven't purchased. i do understand that lines want to have that "super" product, thats a lush treat but if you are pricing it so high (ESPECIALLY when its costs a 1/4 to create)to make it almost unattainable, then you're also cheating yourself.
I ordered 7 items from them, one was a gallon and one was 1/2 gallon, the rest were 16oz and the shipping was around $30. I ordered on tuesday and received thursday.
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Vashti
New Member
Couldn't agree more. It's a sad thing when people become too greedy for their own good. 100% price hike? Sheesh!
About the link to Essential Wholesale - does anyone know if the essential oils they sell are food grade?
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