they're watching us

[Luscious Locks]

does anyone else feel like corporate beauty companies are watching us? i mean seriously, just as soon as a product seems to get rave reviews from the african american community, they up and snatch it off the shelves. one thing that ticks me off the most is that every time i decided to make a product a staple, they discontinue it. i got really mad one day, and called the CON people and begged them to bring back the regular formula. they said that they did not plan to do that. so i got into stalker mode and snuffed some out in some predominantly non black towns since i knew that they would not be on the CON tip. and sure enough i found 5 32 ounce bottles of CON and bought every last one of 'em. in the between using the CON shampoo i will be looking for a new shampoo to call my love.

just had to vent. also, some of you ladies who miss CON may want to try this trick and look in other towns. happy hair growing!

 

[Restore111]

Yes I agree,
may be because they make more money off weaves from us when are hair is damaged.

 

[cutiebe2]

I do think the stalk forums and try to figure out what "we" want. Don't know if that factors into DC items

but I believe they are fuming that the trend on this board his shifted from commercial products to small business/handmade stuff.. they can't compete with hairveda/BT/shescentit or any of the other companies right now!

 

[Napp]

i dont want to sound parinoid but i do remeber someone saying they wish there was a product called tone and even instead of lightening cremes and shortly after ambi came out with a even and clear line. it sounds suspicious.

 

[Curlee_lurker]

I'm sure they look at message boards.

1) I contacted a site about something and told them in generalities about LHCF and they knew what it was and knew everything about the site along with the demographics
2) I used to go to message boards in my previous positions to get more sales insight
3) This is free to minimum cost information about their products from people that really use it and have no reason to lie about it, they'd be stupid not to get "insider info" from us.

I don't think it has anything to do with discontinuing things. No company wants to lose customers.

 

[ImFree27]

of course they do, it makes sense if they want to expand thier business and make more money to know what the people want, they just don't get these ideas out of the blue..

 

[MonaRae]

Oh without a shadow of a doubt! This is the most talked about forum out there. There are other no doubt but LHCF is legendary! We get good and bad press. I'm sure others will not agree but even they got to admit we are well know.

Also, I don't think it to pull products off the shelf althought that could be possible I think its more to make profits!

 

[Luscious Locks]

true. i'm just ragin mad. here i am trying to get myself together to look some kind of cute, and then the products are nowhere to be found. i had read an article once in the ny times talking about how beauty companies are scrambling to cater to our market because apparently we're earning more and more money and are thus increasinly willing to spend it on beauty products. but these companies need to get their research right before they reformulate or discontinue. my mom is fifty something and had been using CON before she she got to the US 20 some-odd years ago. she's mad too cuz now she has to use conditioner.

i'm just a girl in the world striving for beautiful hair... and i need a miracle, but i'm getting nothin...

 

[Muse]

That's funny because I was just reading old threads about Herbal Essence pulling their "Break's Over" leave in off the shelves due to lack of sales they say. But I read here on the board (the few reviews that it did get) that this stuff was very good. What do most AA women look for in any hair product? Moisture. This is not always true amongst whites, a lot of times they complain about oily/greasy hair. So I'm guessing(at least when it comes to product lines aimed at whites) we find the most moisturizing products in those lines and rave about it but they complain that it's too heavy and weighs their hair down so the company pulls it and we are left with a bunch of drying products that works for them but not for us. They are going to cater to their bigger market no matter how much we rave about it on this board. Just MHO

 

[aribell]

It makes good marketing sense. The PJism could definitely work in their favor and ours, if they would just start making products that are actually good for our hair. It would be great if they eavesdropped and started making products based on what they've read here. Then it would just be on store shelves instead of having to go hither and yon for Ethiopian coffee beans, glycerin (which I still haven't been able to find in big quantities), vitamins, and the conventional stuff.

I think we need an LHCF store...complete with all the ingredients for the latest bandwagons!

 

[Shadiyah]

You are so right about that one because I can not use those products. I have read many times people loving sauve and that other cheap conditioner and I can not use any of those products on my hair and I have very thin curly hair that is not as oily as my mother's.

That's funny because I was just reading old threads about Herbal Essence pulling their "Break's Over" leave in off the shelves due to lack of sales they say. But I read here on the board (the few reviews that it did get) that this stuff was very good. What do most AA women look for in any hair product? Moisture. This is not always true amongst whites, a lot of times they complain about oily/greasy hair. So I'm guessing(at least when it comes to product lines aimed at whites) we find the most moisturizing products in those lines and rave about it but they complain that it's too heavy and weighs their hair down so the company pulls it and we are left with a bunch of drying products that works for them but not for us. They are going to cater to their bigger market no matter how much we rave about it on this board. Just MHO

 

[vestaluv1]

That's funny because I was just reading old threads about Herbal Essence pulling their "Break's Over" leave in off the shelves due to lack of sales they say. But I read here on the board (the few reviews that it did get) that this stuff was very good. What do most AA women look for in any hair product? Moisture. This is not always true amongst whites, a lot of times they complain about oily/greasy hair. So I'm guessing(at least when it comes to product lines aimed at whites) we find the most moisturizing products in those lines and rave about it but they complain that it's too heavy and weighs their hair down so the company pulls it and we are left with a bunch of drying products that works for them but not for us. They are going to cater to their bigger market no matter how much we rave about it on this board. Just MHO

I agree with ya!

 

[ShaniKeys]

I'm 100% sure they're watching! And they're not the only ones, I've noticed that alot of individuals are 'borrowing' tips from LHCF without aknowledging it (starting their own sites/blogs/...etc) especially here overseas. When it comes to new hair products for black hair, Europe is always a year behind compared to the US so we still have the old CON shampoos, I'm going to buy it tomorrow.

 

[winnettag]

I'm sure they look at message boards.

1) I contacted a site about something and told them in generalities about LHCF and they knew what it was and knew everything about the site along with the demographics
2) I used to go to message boards in my previous positions to get more sales insight
3) This is free to minimum cost information about their products from people that really use it and have no reason to lie about it, they'd be stupid not to get "insider info" from us.

I don't think it has anything to do with discontinuing things. No company wants to lose customers.

They are definitely taking notes from sites like this.

I agree. Unfortuantely, we aren't in the majority, so our business probably doesn't play a big role in their decision to discontinue products.
I think they use information obtained on forums to jack up prices though!

 

[Chameleonchick]

Oh yes I think they do its all part of the game.... I just hope they would discontinue the crap products though!

 

[SlantedEyezMiss2003]

I think they are watching us, but why not make products we can use to grow our hair and retain length, I mean are they that cruel to take away products that we like? I mean if they change a line and we don't like it, don't they lose money if we go to another product? I mean I don't understand, I never really was a big fan of CON, I like salon shampoo and conditioners, so far nothing has changed for me...but I think it's dumb when they change a product if they are making money from it......JMO....

 

[ebonimama]

After eons of using CON clarifying shampoo, to my horror I went into the beauty supply and couldn't find any! I saw these new bottles of CON Shampoo and Conditioner, but nothing of the old. I went to 3 more BSS to no avail. I had to go to a different product! I haven't had a chance to compare ingredients, but I do know that I liked the previous incarnation of the products. I don't know if my abandonment of CON products will make a difference, but I do know that I will not spend my money on something that does not benefit me.

 

[Morenita]

does anyone else feel like corporate beauty companies are watching us? i mean seriously, just as soon as a product seems to get rave reviews from the african american community, they up and snatch it off the shelves. one thing that ticks me off the most is that every time i decided to make a product a staple, they discontinue it. i got really mad one day, and called the CON people and begged them to bring back the regular formula. they said that they did not plan to do that. so i got into stalker mode and snuffed some out in some predominantly non black towns since i knew that they would not be on the CON tip. and sure enough i found 5 32 ounce bottles of CON and bought every last one of 'em. in the between using the CON shampoo i will be looking for a new shampoo to call my love.

just had to vent. also, some of you ladies who miss CON may want to try this trick and look in other towns. happy hair growing!

Not sure if I agree with this per se. Reminds me of something that my husband, aka "#1 conspiracy theorist" would say But I do agree that sometimes good products go bye-bye. This is why I am trying to build up my choices of staple products so that I don't come to rely too much on any one thing.

After spending some time in this forum researching the products out there though and trying a lot of lines, I've seriously become a large fan of the smaller/privately owned lines however like Hairveda, Qhemet, Curls, Curl Junkie, etc. I would never apply any of the above quotes statements to these companies since they (and others) cater to curly hair and make healthy hair care their objective. I don't have any worries about these products being discontinued because they are "too good," if anything, just worries about the actual companies ceasing to exist due to a lack of support or this weak economy.

 

[LovinLea]

CON? gone
Carson Softsheen Breakthru? gone
Herbal Essences Break's Over? gone

I would have thought that when a product is so popular, they WOULDN'T stop producing it, but the opposite is true. All i have left is my Keracare. If that gets discontinued, it's ON :heated:

 

[CheLala13]

I'm not sure.

But a LHCF store sounds great!

 

[LadyPaniolo]

I actually stumbled upon a site that allowed you to search forum posts for something... say you went on that site and typed in Humecto tub, LHCF would be popping up all over. You could then easily pay your $6.50 to learn what all the ladies here think about the product and use that info to improve it, and make more sales.

It sucks that they discontinue the good products, but some stupid fake vaseline with african herb crumbs that promise to grow your hair for $5 a jar will never go away. It has a picture of Africa and a giraffe on the label it must be good

 

[winnettag]

I actually stumbled upon a site that allowed you to search forum posts for something... say you went on that site and typed in Humecto tub, LHCF would be popping up all over. You could then easily pay your $6.50 to learn what all the ladies here think about the product and use that info to improve it, and make more sales.

It sucks that they discontinue the good products, but some stupid fake vaseline with african herb crumbs that promise to grow your hair for $5 a jar will never go away. It has a picture of Africa and a giraffe on the label it must be good

 

[Urban]

I agree with most things you said OP, just not the whole when black people use it, they pull it from the shelves theory. Rather, I think most companies are fighting to get a piece of the black hair care sector. It's big business.

 

[JessCNU]

I actually stumbled upon a site that allowed you to search forum posts for something... say you went on that site and typed in Humecto tub, LHCF would be popping up all over. You could then easily pay your $6.50 to learn what all the ladies here think about the product and use that info to improve it, and make more sales.

It sucks that they discontinue the good products, but some stupid fake vaseline with african herb crumbs that promise to grow your hair for $5 a jar will never go away. It has a picture of Africa and a giraffe on the label it must be good

 

[SimpleKomplexity]

I could care less. They can't take ALL the good products away. If they discontinue it, I bet there are 3 more products just waitin for me to try that are just as good that I would love. I'm a PJ anyway so I would b happy jsut trying something new. And even if they take away all teh AA products...I still wouldn't care. As long as I got a Sally's Beauty Supply store I'll be FINE

 

[PureSilver]

Yes I agree,
may be because they make more money off weaves from us when are hair is damaged.

In some sense i agree with you but also remeber that of hair growth and length retention has alot to do with how we handle our hair(lots of TLC), patience and much trials and errors. Products to me only enhance our hairs appearance. Don't get me wrong there are SOME products out there that really help for detangling, softness and shine among other things. They are just hateful greddy people who only want to make money. Truth is if they really wanted to make money then they wouldn't alter the products we've had consistent success with but make more of the fabulous stuff and advertise it.

 

[cutiebe2]

They are definitely taking notes from sites like this.

I agree. Unfortuantely, we aren't in the majority, so our business probably doesn't play a big role in their decision to discontinue products.
I think they use information obtained on forums to jack up prices though!

true...in the end we need to realize we are only 12% of the population. If we include all groups with 1a-3a hair, they make up about 80%, so it makes sense for hair products to be catered to them more than us.

It sucks that they discontinue the good products, but some stupid fake vaseline with african herb crumbs that promise to grow your hair for $5 a jar will never go away. It has a picture of Africa and a giraffe on the label it must be good

 

[Allandra]

I wouldn't be surprised if they are watching.

 

[Muse]

I actually stumbled upon a site that allowed you to search forum posts for something... say you went on that site and typed in Humecto tub, LHCF would be popping up all over. You could then easily pay your $6.50 to learn what all the ladies here think about the product and use that info to improve it, and make more sales.

It sucks that they discontinue the good products, but some stupid fake vaseline with african herb crumbs that promise to grow your hair for $5 a jar will never go away. It has a picture of Africa and a giraffe on the label it must be good [/quote]

LOL!!! That is so funny!! but true

 

[trj1922]

I agree that they probably are watching. However, I echo the sentiment of some others that it is probably to cater their "ethnic" products to us rather than discontinue others. We ARE a numerical minority. There are way more of them than us so products aimed at them that work well for us probably won't be purchased heavily by the majority of the population and be discontinued. However, we spend far more on hair care than any other group so it makes sense that they would try to use the info here to cater their "ethnic" products to us. They'll make the buck selling us the products and still make the buck selling weaves, etc. to sistas with damaged hair because the some of us refuse to do what it takes to keep our hair healthy even when we have the info needed to do it. Just sheer force of habit!

I generally avoid large scale commercial products in favor of small businesses run by AA entrepreneurs or Indian Ayurvedic imports aimed at that market. These products are less exposed to the volatility of the general market and are better for the hair. Whenever I can, I encourage Black women to get off the merry-go-round of spending money on all these permutations of colored Vaseline made by people who don't give a rat's butt about the health of your hair and upgrade to products with benefits to both the hair and a Black (or other minority) business.