Friday, June 23, 2023

Is there really an Olaplex Lawsuit?



For years I considered Olaplex products to be the gold standard of hair care. However, due to the allegations in the lawsuit against the company I’ve been afraid to use my once go to hair mask. I actually just went to Ulta to return my No. 3 hair mask, and was surprised to hear the employees were unfamiliar lawsuit. So that being said, let’s break down the whole ordeal. 



In February 2023, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Olaplex Holdings Inc. The federal lawsuit alleges that Olaplex products have caused their customers to experience serious injury and hair loss. Additionally, they are claiming the company is "misleading the public and false[ly] advertising." The suit has now grown to include over 100 plaintiffs as of this month. 

Further research shows, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has 98 adverse reports regarding Olaplex products. Now, I don’t believe that necessarily has to do with the lawsuit, but I thought it was worth mentioning. 



Olaplax CEO JuE Wong posted a video to the company’s social media accounts and said, “We are prepared to vigorously defend our company, our brand, and our products against these baseless accusations. We want to reassure our community of professional stylists, customers, and fans that they can continue to use our products with confidence.” Olaplex is firm in their denial of all allegations that their products are unsafe/cause damage. 



What I find interesting is Olaplex’s IG page. Hear me out, so they have no mention of suit on their page. Olaplex has over 2 million follows on IG. With that kind of following they should be getting way more than 14-18 comments per post. Furthermore,  reading through the comments I noticed they are all suspiciously positive. Now call me a conspiracy theorists, and for the record this is just my opinion, but it looks like they are going in and deleting any negative comments. It is very rare for a company of their size, with that large of a follower count to only have about 15 comments on a post; all of which are glaringly positive. That looks extra suspicious when you have a pending class action lawsuit filed against you don’t you think? But like I said, that’s just my opinion that no one asked for. 

I’m curious though, what are your thoughts? Are you still using Olaplex? Is this the first you’re hearing of the lawsuit? Are you totally phased or are you returning everything? Let me know! 


Until next time, 


Sammy

Friday, June 9, 2023

Exposed: Don’t Trust What You See On Social Media



Look, it’s no secret that people edit their photos. I have definitely adjusted my angles to make myself look taller or cranked up the saturation to make a photo more vibrant. No one is going to be bothered if you slightly edit your photos before you post them. It becomes a problem however, when you brand yourself as body positive, build a massive following and two companies from posting "real" photos of your body, and then get exposed for photoshopping the entire time. 

“Body positive" influencer Karina Irby has been called out for editing her body to look "skinner" by John Dorsey aka @goob_u2. The reason I, like many others on the internet, find this so upsetting is because she built a career off of posting her authentic body, and encouraging others to do the same. Scrolling her Instagram you’ll see captions such as:




Irby's entire brand and persona is centered around being unabashedly herself. She even takes the time to explain how harmful unrealistic beauty expectations can be on young women especially. She shares the struggles she went through as a teenager comparing herself to airbrushed images. 



She even takes it one step further by posting photos of herself both edited and "not edited” which was highlighted in @goob_u2's reel.  She captioned this post calling out influencers who edit their bodies, and accuses them of being part of the problem. Irby then goes on to say, "Be the change you want to see."



She decided to go on a weight loss journey which is great. Good for her. Do whatever will make you feel your best, and be your healthiest. The problem is, she is editing her body to look thinner than it really is. This goes against absolutely EVERYTHING she preaches, and completely contradicts the message she built her massive following on. It is extremely deceitful, and honestly just down right sad. We are talking about a person who literally writes captions about the beauty of cellulite, and founded two businesses by branding herself as "authentic" and unedited. She has shamed and judged others who edit their photos, only to be exposed for doing it too.




This photo is one of the many examples @goob_u2 shows as evidence of Karina Irby editing her body. As you can see she made her waist much smaller. If you draw a straight line from the top of the door down you can see where the door magically disappears. This is an obvious result of bad photoshopping.

Please use this as reminder to stop comparing yourself to people you see on social media. That also goes for influencers who built their entire platform on “body positivity.”


Until next time, 

Sammy




Sunday, June 4, 2023

Watercolor: Part 1

 


Original Watercolor by Me 

This painting was made for and inspired by a family friend.