I am definitely not winning any friends at L’Oreal with this blog but I have never been afraid of kickin up a little dirt.
How many beauty brands do you think L’Oreal owns?
Five.. Six?
How about 26!
Yes, 26 separate brands. They have cleverly hidden all of these different brands under one roof without the consumer or the stylists’ knowing. Many large companies do this to ensure that the consumer stays ignorant of their domination in one industry.
We have all seen the lack of accountability of large corporations lately: BP Oil Spill, Halliburton no-bid contracts, Goldman Sachs financial collapse, Nike sweat shops, or my favorite, health insurance companies that have ruined healthcare for most of America.
I do have to admit that I am prejudice against large companies, especially if they are publicly traded. My prejudice arouse from the a documentary called “The Corporation.” I had never put much thought into it before; the large corporations are so common that you can easily ignore them: Starbucks, Walmart, Chevron, McDonalds, etc.
I’m including information below regarding the movie…worth the time. But back to the Goliath of L’Oreal…they own the following brands just to name a few professional brands: L'Oréal Professionnel, Kérastase, Redken, Matrix, Pureology, Shu Uemura, Artec and Mizani.
They ALSO own these drug store brands: L’Oreal Paris, Garnier, Maybelline New York, Softsheen.Carson, and luxury lines like Lancome, Shu Uemura, and Keihl’s.
And to top it all off…. L’Oreal also owns the second largest Professional Beauty Distributor- Salon Centric (formerly known as Beauty Alliance) and has bought up the following small distributors over the last few years: Beauty Alliance, Columbia’s, Maly’s, Marshalls, Mid City, Ace, CB Sullivan.
So when it comes to Professional Beauty Supplies L’Oreal owns not only the products but it also owns the largest method to getting that product to salons.
Salons are my passion! They are small loving communities dedicated to comfort, beauty and creativity. I don’t think that a lot of salons know the vastness of L’Oreal and all of the hidden competion they have in drugstores (they even have a new Ammonia-Free Color called Natural Match.)
This domination in combination with the diversion (see previous blog) does not give the freedom of choice to the Salon. An independent salon has to hunt and peck to find a honest independent brand.
If you have found this blog then you have found an independent brand- Screen Hair Care. Our line is an Italian, family-owned brand that won’t sell out to one of the Consolidation Monsters. This line will never be sold to L’Oreal (especially after this blog) or P & G (their blog is coming soon.) And since we do not want to be bought, every decision we make is in the best interest of a long term relationship with the Salon.
Thanks for reading…Here is the info on the movie “The Corporation”
Wishing you a good hair day,
Andrea
I highly recommend that you take an hour and ½ to watch this very entertaining (seriously it is funny but it may freak you out a little) documentary-here is a link to their trailer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Y9YZxA5uM8
