Who doesn't love a bargain? Especially on luxury, salon-worthy hair products. But if you find a "too good to be true" deal on salon-quality hair products at a discount store, those retailers may not be authorized to sell it. In the business, it's called "diversion".
Like the products in your fridge, the ones in your shower have a shelf life. Salon owner Johanna Amarante says products are considered expired after two years.
"Whatever ingredients that product has will no longer do the job like its supposed to," Amarante explained.
If you find a salon-quality product in a discount retailer, it's probably expired. Buyers get hold of outdated stock, sell to retailers, who add their own bar code. Another sign of an outdated product may be the packaging. Manufacturers update packaging when they reformulate the line.
"So it's newer technology," said Amarante said. "Better type of ingredients in there that are healthier for the hair."
What's more concerning is salon owners who go out of business and sell their high-quality stock to a buyer, who may then dilute it.
"They will add alcohol which would really strip that person's color, create more damage to the hair," said Amarante. "They will dilute it with water. At that point too much water will dilute the pure ingredients so it's not going to work the way its supposed to."
This problem is so bad, some companies including Redken and Pureology have website pages to help consumers identify products that are being sold through unauthorized retailers.
Channel 2 contacted discount retailer T.J. Maxx to ask how it can sell name brand hair products, like Redken, since they are not an authorized retailer. We specifically asked if the products are expired. Spokesperson Erika Tower emailed the following statement:
“At T.J. Maxx, we take great pride in offering our customers amazing values on high-quality and brand-name products. While we do not typically comment on how we buy particular products or categories, we can tell you that across the business our buyers take advantage of a wide variety of opportunities, such as department store cancelations, a manufacturer making up too much product, or a closeout deal when a vendor wants to clear merchandise at the end of a season. Above all, our merchandise vendors represent and warrant that the goods they supply to us are in compliance with all applicable laws, regulations and industry standards. Customers with questions are welcome to contact customer service at 1-800-926-6299. As always, we greatly value the patronage of our customers.”