Everyone has a love for beauty. Whether it's the pursuit of novel hair colors or the elderly dyeing gray hair black, hair dye has become a high-frequency product in people's daily life. Compared with barber shops that often dye hair for hundreds of yuan, "home dyeing" seems to be more cost-effective, and online hair dyes have shown a growth trend in recent years.
However, the Xinhua Daily Telegraph reporter's investigation found that in stark contrast to the rapid development of the industry, on the online sales platform, hair dye exaggerated publicity, inconsistent appearance, shoddy and other situations need urgent attention.
Is a single hair dye only 1 yuan? The market for online hair dye is growing rapidly
"Hair dye is a pure natural, plant-based ingredient, and is generally not allergenic", "We have all obtained the special certificate of plant conditioning type of hair dye in the Drug Administration", "Hair dyeing and hair care are two-in-one, it dyes our hair, and the maintenance is our hair, and the plant ingredients ginseng and Polygonum multiflorum are the nutrients we need for our hair"...... The reporter casually entered the live broadcast room of some hair dye brands, and the anchor's recommendation made many consumers excited.
"My father just ordered the hair dye because it was cheap. The anchor said that 10 packs of hair dye are only 11.9 yuan, and a single hair dye is only 1 yuan, and it is said to be a plant ingredient, which can be used by the elderly, children, and lactating women. But once I bought it, I used it once, and my scalp became severely allergic. Ms. Zhou from Chongqing said.
After more than a month of complaints and evidence, Ms. Zhou was able to obtain the claim after mediation with the merchant, the market supervision department, and the platform. Ms. Zhou believes that the hair dye market is chaotic now, and merchants blindly emphasize that hair dye is pure and natural, without informing the risk of use, and the elderly have low ability to identify, and it is easy to buy problem products.
On the consumer service platform "Black Cat Complaints", there are thousands of complaints about hair dyes. Most of the complaints are related to false advertising, and there are also symptoms such as rashes, itching and even pus after consumers use hair dye purchased online.
Ms. Huang, a 24-year-old consumer in Guangzhou, began her scalp to become red, swollen and pus after using the "gentle hair dye" purchased online. Ms. Huang said: "I dyed my hair according to the operation steps of the hair dye, and after using it, I was a little itchy that night, and I thought it was a normal reaction, but the next day I was a little uncomfortable, and my scalp was very itchy and burning. Soon after, the scalp began to become red and swollen, and there was a stinging sensation. ”
Subsequently, Ms. Huang went to the Tianhe District People's Hospital in Guangzhou and was diagnosed with "contact dermatitis". "It's been two or three months now, and I've spent more than 2,000 medical expenses, but the situation hasn't improved, and there have been repeated problems, including pus, and bleeding in serious places." Ms. Huang said.
At present, hair dye has become a hot single product of "beauty economy" and "silver economy", and the market has ushered in an explosive period, and a number of market research reports show that the market size of hair dye in mainland China has reached about 20 billion yuan.
According to reports, in the mainland, hair dye is a special cosmetic product, which can only be produced and imported after registration with the State Drug Administration. Common hair dyes on the market are generally through the action of dye precursors and coupling agents under the action of strong oxidants, through oxidative polymerization reactions, to produce pigment macromolecules that can be fixed in the hair, thereby changing the hair color.
"At present, there are more middle-aged and elderly people with gray hair in the hair dyeing population, mainly because of the demand for black dyeing." Qiao Jianjun, director and professor of the Department of Dermatology at the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, said that hair dye dermatitis is very common among all kinds of patients treated in daily outpatient clinics, and it is a type of contact dermatitis. The main ingredients in hair dye are "resorcinol", "p-phenylenediamine" and "aminophenol", which can make the color of hair dye adhere to the hair for a longer time and is not easy to wash off, but it is also a strong allergen, for patients who are prone to allergies, it can cause skin itching, redness, rashes, blisters, skin erosion and even infection.
Arbitrarily exaggerated publicity, the hair dye market is full of chaos
The reporter saw in the major e-commerce platforms and live broadcast rooms that the online shopping platform, which is an important sales channel for hair dyes, can be described as chaotic:
The first is exaggerated propaganda. Many anchors claim that the ingredients of hair dye are "pure plants", and at the same time, in order to prove that hair dye is low allergenic, many live broadcast rooms and product pages use promotional slogans such as "suitable for pregnant women", "suitable for children", and "natural and non-irritating". "The main ingredients of hair dye are all chemical ingredients, but merchants use trace ingredients such as He Shou Wu and ginseng as the main ingredients to advertise, which is suspected of exaggerating the publicity." Qiao Jianjun said.
Chen Yinjiang, deputy secretary-general of the Consumer Rights Protection Law Research Association of the China Law Society, said that according to the scope of efficacy of children's cosmetics, hair dye does not belong to the category of children's cosmetics, and it is not recommended that children use hair dyes.
The reporter found that there are also hair dyes that advertise "pharmacy exclusive" to create a high-quality product image. However, the reporter learned that there is no so-called "beauty salon monopoly" and "pharmacy monopoly" in the hair dye category. The relevant person in charge of the Guangdong Provincial Food and Drug Administration said that there are no special laws and regulations on the sales channels for hair dyes, whether it is online or offline sales of cosmetics, the implementation of product standards are consistent, cosmetics manufacturers and operators should be in accordance with laws, regulations, mandatory national standards, technical specifications to engage in production and business activities.
The second is that the inside and the outside are inconsistent, the packaging conceals the relevant ingredients, and the instructions for use and the products recommended by the merchants are not standardized. According to the regulations, the detected ingredients and product labels of products shall be consistent with the technical requirements stated in the product registration materials. The reporter saw in the notice of many non-compliant cosmetics issued by the State Food and Drug Administration in the past six months that the "ingredient comparison" of many hair dye (paste) brands was unqualified, for example, the product clearly contained "p-aminophenol", but it was not stated on the product label and registration information. It is reported that in the "Safety and Technical Specifications for Cosmetics", more than 70 kinds of permitted hair dyes such as resorcinol are now included, all of which have clear requirements for use restrictions.
Third, many products on the market ignore the education of allergy testing for consumers. When the reporter asked how to test allergies in his live broadcast room, the anchor said that the product could be applied to the arm for 20 to 40 minutes, but the skin allergy test filled in the basic information of the domestic special cosmetics registration information on the website of the State Food and Drug Administration needs to wait for 24 hours.
Experts recommend regulating the consumer market for hair dyes as soon as possible
The interviewed industry insiders and experts believe that the development of the hair dye industry should be "fast" and "steady", and the market should be regulated as soon as possible, the chaos should be rectified, and the rights and interests of consumers should be protected.
Chen Yinjiang believes that the promotion of hair dye products in live broadcast rooms and social platforms must be recommended to consumers in accordance with the requirements of the Advertising Law. According to the "Safety and Technical Standards for Cosmetics", the label of products using hair dye must be marked with warnings such as "hair dye may cause severe allergic reactions" and "not suitable for consumers under 16 years old". However, many live broadcast rooms and online shopping product promotion pages have certain problems of excessive and exaggerated publicity, and the platform should standardize the publicity content of the hair dye section, including listing allergenic ingredients.
Wang Guirong, CEO of Youduo Biotechnology Co., Ltd., said that the self-discipline mechanism of the hair dye industry is not sound enough, and the sense of corporate integrity is not strong, which will also exacerbate the market chaos and affect the development and reputation of the entire industry. Wang Guirong suggested raising the industry entry threshold, strengthening the review and supervision of enterprises, and ensuring that only qualified enterprises can enter the market to produce and sell hair dye products.
Qiao Jianjun suggested that hair dyes usually have strong allergens such as "p-phenylenediamine", and consumers should have allergy tests before using hair dye products, and it is recommended to test on the inside of the arm and behind the root of the ear for 72 hours, if there is no redness, swelling, itching and other allergic phenomena before use. If you experience skin allergies after using hair dyes, you should seek medical attention promptly.
Chen Yinjiang said that if consumers have problems with use, they should keep the screenshots of consumption and medical treatment vouchers, enhance the awareness of the safety risks of using hair dyes, and encourage doctors and other authoritative professionals to strengthen science popularization.