Olaplex Sued Over Hair Loss And Scalp Damage Claims
The lawsuit is the latest controversy for the ultra-popular hair-care brand.
Photo: Courtesy of brand, Pixabay; Artwork: Brooke Frischer/Fashionista
Olaplex, the bond-building hair care brand long-praised by influencers, celebrities and hairstylists alike, is being sued by about 30 customers for hair- and scalp-damage claims.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday, argues that Olaplex has made false statements about restoration abilities in its formulas. The suit also accuses the brand of knowingly incorporating harmful and irritating ingredients into its product line, without appropriate disclaimers.
"Far from repairing and protecting hair from damage, the products have instead left plaintiffs' hair dry, brittle, frizzy and dull," the lawsuit alleges, per Bloomberg.
Olaplex is assertively rejecting these claims. "Olaplex products do not cause hair loss or hair breakage," reads a statement from a brand spokesperson, shared with Fashionista. "We have full confidence and believe in the safety and efficacy of our products, which are thoroughly tested in-house and by independent third-party laboratories."
This isn't the first time the brand has come under fire for its ingredients. In 2022, Olaplex altered the formula of one of its best-selling products, the No. 3 treatment, after controversy overwhelmed the brand on social media. The discourse stemmed from reports that the U.K. and European Union were considering a ban on the product after concerns of it containing a "reprotoxic" ingredient arose.
At the time, a representative from the brand said in a statement to Fashionista:
"In September 2020, the EU regulatory authority announced their intent to phase out butylphenyl methylpropional commonly referred to as 'lilial' by March of 2022. At Olaplex, lilial was previously used in small amounts as a fragrance in No. 3 Hair Perfector. It is not an active or functional ingredient. While this phase out is limited to the EU, out of an abundance of caution, Olaplex proactively removed lillial from our No. 3 Hair Perfector globally."
Later that year, the brand became a trending topic on social media, and not in a good way, with unhappy customers going on TikTok to complain that the brand's products had damaged their hair.
The plaintiffs in the new lawsuit, via their lawyer Amy Davis, are asking a federal court in California to order Olaplex to stop any false marketing and are seeking monetary damages (of which the number has not been made public).
"Complaints like the ones referenced in this article are, sadly, a fact of life in our industry, and have been made against other brands in the category for years," the spokesperson added. "We are prepared to vigorously defend our company, our brand, and our products against these baseless accusations."
As a rep for the company shared, several board-certified dermatologists, including Dr. Chesahna Kindred and Dr. Sheila Farhang, have publicly asserted that hair products cannot directly cause hair loss.
Amid the pattern of controversy, sales gains slowed in the last year. According to a public records request via Bloomberg, the US Food and Drug Administration received around 25 consumer complaints about Olaplex products.
The case is Albahae et al v. Olaplex Holdings, 2:23-cv-00982, US District Court, Central District of California (Los Angeles).
We'll continue to update this story as new developments emerge.
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