Influencers Allege That The Famous Curly Hair Brand Is Damaging Their Hair
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The wonderful world of women’s hair is one that is extremely dynamic. All of us have different types and textures of hair, which is why there are an endless amount of products found world-wide just for it. From straight to curly, thick to thin, we all have special ways to care for our hair.
For all the curly girls out there, it is a constant battle of determination and pricey products that lead to a beautiful head of curls. Curly hair is some of nature’s most high-maintenance creations. And because of this hair care brands that cater to curls tend to have die-hard devotion to its magic.
That has definitely been the case for the beloved brand DevaCurl. DevaCurl began in 1994 and since then has expanded in a major way with branded products, devices, a Rolodex of “Deva Inspired” stylists, who use DevaCurl’s recommended cut method on curly girls. All of this and more make room for it to be alarming that something may be going on in the DevaWorld.
In recent months, internet influences, especially those on YouTube, have alleged that DevaCurl is damaging their hair, causing dandruff, frizz, and changes to their curl patterns.
High-profile YouTuber, Ayesha Malik, who has a subscriber army of about 197,000 people made a video last month expressing her concerns about the products. She explained that her hair became seriously damaged after years of exclusively using DevaCurl products, which she’d often recommended on her channel, including with paid partnerships with the company. Malik is almost in tears as she describes the changes to her hair and her much more limp curl pattern.
“I am suffering from severe hair and scalp issues,” Malik said in the video description. “I used to recommend DevaCurl, but not anymore.”
Of course, the video is alarming curly girls and hair guru’s across the world. It has received over 500,000 views and counting!
Thanks to YouTube’s algorithms, it is easy to find other videos similar to Malik’s. In fact, there are dozens more videos with very similar claims. Including one by India Batson, a prominent beauty YouTuber who has happily given glowing DevaCurl recommendations on her page and the company’s website in the past. She posted a video expressing shock at the DevaCurl controversy.
“I have not been taking this situation surrounding DevaCurl lightly,” Batson posted to Instagram. “I have seen your questions and messages of sheer panic. I have been calling influencers in the curly hair community trying to get to the bottom of this, reaching out to Devacurl personally and researching online to understand what is at the root cause.”
Batson also said she has “asked the DevaCurl team to remove my images from their website,” and said she would be “redoing my Amazon recommendations for my future videos on my channel,” implying she’d no longer recommend DevaCurl products.
Another influencer that isn’t too happy with DevaCurl and has been a persistent critic of the brand is Stephanie Mero. Mero is a hairstylist in Florida who goes by the name CurlNinja. Last summer she started making videos alleging that DevaCurl harmed her hair and that of her clients. Since then she’s posted over 10 videos criticizing the brand along with encouraging viewers to file complaints with the FDA!
Since these influencer videos surfaced, DevaCurl’s comments on social media have become filled with angry consumers saying they also experienced hair damage.
DevaCurl did not address the controversy surroundings its products until recently.
DevaCurl responds:
Over two decades ago, DevaCurl was born from conversations with our consumers and from our salons and stylists about what they wanted and needed to embrace their curls. As a result, our community has grown to include millions of Devas around the world who use our products every day. All of our formulas are subject to rigorous and thorough testing to ensure our products meet strict internal quality assurance standards and regulatory requirements before they reach the market. We don’t speculate on why some people are attributing the challenges with their curls to our products. As part of our ongoing commitment to product safety and the satisfaction of our Deva Community, we are conducting additional testing with an independent party. We are committed to providing our customers with all the information they need to continue to use DevaCurl with confidence. We’ll be posting updates on our website, and we encourage our consumers to share their experiences with us at customercare@devacurl.com. We will go above and beyond to help anyone on their curl journey.
DevaCurl also posted on their website:
Because some of our community have recently asked more questions about some of our products we have conducted additional testing at the manufacturer and warehouse level. In addition, we worked with an independent third-party toxicologist to verify the safety of these formulas. All these tests verified there are no safety issues with our products.
Hair controversies can cause companies serious time and money, hopefully DevaCurl can get ahead of this and make whatever necessary changes may be needed to keep our curly girls satisfied with beautiful, healthy, and thriving hair.
Source: VICE
