We also had a great discussion about this last night on BlogTV. Participants discussed what they look for in company, the differences between small and large businesses, how to protect yourself from dishonest companies, and the value of customer service.
However, during the broadcast, one of the viewers asked me to put myself in a company’s shoes and think about how they would feel about what I was doing (which was basically discussing their business practices). My reply was simple – if I ever owned a company (and I don’t plan to), I certainly would be transparent with my customers and would do my best to ensure a situation like this never happened. Heck, I probably would have joined the discussion and provided clarification to my consumers if I felt that it was important. One thing that I think businesses need to realize is that consumers are generally forgiving – however, you need to admit your wrongdoing and make amends.
On a totally unrelated note, we started talking about random things later in the broadcast (that often happens, haha), and I think we are going to have another BlogTV soon discussing skincare. People started sharing their mask recipes and I was super intrigued!!! I will post the date/time once I figure it out.
Thank you to everyone who joined last night, I really enjoyed our discussion! xoxoxo
questfortheperfectcurl.com 
Elle,
This is a very interesting post. I find myself lurking on forums to find the “real deal” reviews for a product opposed to the business’s website. Silly me for expecting a business owner to promote their business on THEIR site not an open forum/blog as a regular consumer. SO, when it comes out, and it usually does, that a raving review is from the business owner and not a consumer…I’m done.
P.S. Your hair growth is amazing!
Thanks,
Tam
Actually I did explain to my professor considering the fact when i said it she gave me a look, So I went in depth, and spoke about hair products with protien in it, or when you literally put heavy protien products on your hair specifically. Because of course i’m not talking about eating protein we can’t really regulate that because protien is in almost everything. I literally said like when people do egg treatments,and things of that nature, she said it seemed silly and it’s most likely a myth, and she’s a bio professor so she knows hair is dead once it leaves the scalp, we spoke about protein turning into fat everything. Very interesting class.
And I agree with you on the term “protein sensitive” it is a word that was probably made up, and she said she would do some research, so instatntly it made me want to do my own, and I realized thier was no scientific evidence and when I googled it most websites that pop-up are from natural hair sites, so that made me believe it was even more of a myth that was made up ” one of those “Black people’s hair doesn’t grow past their shoulders” type myths.
But I have her class tomorrow and she’s a really good professor she knows her ish, and I’ll definitely give you guys feedback on her info.
Thank you for clarifying. I would also specify hydrolyzed protein. I don’t really believe the molecules of protein in eggs and food are small enough to penetrate the hair. I have read about protein in hair chemistry books, so I certainly do not think that PS is a myth.
Yeah, it reminds me of the way that some people got hold of details about different phases of hair growth, and started telling themselves that when their hair wasn’t getting any longer, it was b/c it was all in the “resting phase.”
Information is great but not everyone knows how to properly synthesize it.
Not sure if your class is basic bio or not, but remember that people start really focusing on certain areas of research, so maybe a histology or biochemistry professor would be able to offer different perspectives on the answer to your question too. B/c of course the biochem teacher understands protein from the level of the amino acids and the ways that they join to become proteins, and the histology professor can shed more light on the physical structure of the hair.
last week in my bio 100 class we discussed protien, so I brought up protien sensitivity, and how would you know?, and my teacher gave me this look like hmm… ” and she said that’s probably something that’s a myth she never heard of it, protien is very important for your body so there’s no way you can have too much protien till the point where it can effect your hair,skin or nails” and with out protien you can die (obviously) Just thopugh I would inform you because you say your protien sensitive
Protein sensitive topically on my hair. Not biologically – I highly doubt your professor understood what you were talking about. Hair is dead once it leaves the scalp – the protein that you will digest internally is completely different than hydrolyzed protein applied topically to your hair. I do agree that an excess of protein in your body would not affect your hair, skin or nails, mainly because after a certain point your body processes it as fat.
My take is that while protein heavy products can have a real effect on hair, the issue is that the term “protein sensitive” has no actual scientific meaning, so saying it to a chemistry, bio, biochem, or histology prof is going to yield a look of confusion.
People are coming up with a lot of hair lingo/slang that might relate to something scientifically but since the descriptors are being created by non-scientists, there is a disconnect.
I think that’s the problem. I probably should have put this under the other girl’s comment, but my point was basically that she needed to ask her professor about how protein products interact with her hair strands (answer is that it can temporarily fill in gaps). She asked a question that had no meaning to her prof b/c it has no real meaning in science. The problem with curly hair is that it can leave some people with hair that is harder to comb until it dries, and does need to be topped off with a lot of moisturizing conditioner.
Just like anything else, some slang becomes community or culture specific so always translate back when asking a question of someone who isn’t part of that community.
Good point, Nic. Very true. And I’m not even sure that “protein sensitive” is really the correct term, because it really means that your hair doesn’t need as much protein (coarse hair, new hair) so build up can happen quickly. I mean, we know what it means, but it doesn’t make sense just saying it. Hm.
yes the internet can be very sketchy not to put no names out there but remember the whole moptopmaven scandal(s) so it’s just crazy the natural hair is getting so popular it’s turning people crazy lol….But your hair collor is so fly and the lipstick is cute
The BlogTV was fun…had never done that before.
But yes, the anonymity of the internet can make it easy for people to reincarnate themselves over and over again which is bad if they don’t have good business practices. It makes it easy for people to promise something that they don’t ever deliver.
I mean, since I’ve been using the internet to purchase things, I’ve had the experience of someone taking my money and getting no product (which is why you should always pay with something like Paypal or a credit card), people who send out things that just aren’t very good, or people who take 100 years to ship. And I’ve never bothered to return anything but when I just didn’t get it, I launched a claim and got reimbursed by Paypal.
I whittled down things a lot after trying many products, but for me, shipping time, transparency regarding your shipping/delivery time, and consistent/quality products that seem to be worth what you are charging is what gets my repeat business. Don’t charge me $30 for some shea butter you put in a pretty jar, and don’t charge me $30 for something that you just bought from someone else or that is identical to what I can find in the store for less (since I personally have no issue with things like mineral oil, preservatives, etc.). I’m not paying a “sister tax” to help you make money.
I think a couple of things happen. People are able to create online personas and also establish “relationships” with the people who view them. And I think that it lulls some people into a false sense of loyalty/camraderie, b/c I do recall reading a story about someone who took money from people, never delivered things to them, and published a tale of woe that convinced some people to wait JUST long enough to be unable to get their money back from Paypal. Yet some people were defending this to the hilt even though this kind of behavior gets your fired, sued, or jailed in real life.
I think people should remember that a business is a business, and visiting someone’s blog or You Tube channel doesn’t give you a personal relationship with them, and in the end, if someone takes your money for a good or service, they need to either deliver that OR return your money in a timely fashion.
And I don’t really necessarily trust the integrity of the “manufacturing environments or practices.” It doesn’t really matter what ingredients you are using if your environment isn’t sterile, well-maintained, etc. “Natural” ingredients aren’t naturally better if they aren’t properly stored, processed, and preserved.
One company that did a good job (although I wound up not being crazy about the products-good quality, just nothing special on my hair) had an owner who sent me a PERSONAL email when my order was delayed, refunded my shipping, and sent me a sample. That is something people should take notes on, b/c I’d still recommend her products and share them with friends to see if they like them better.
The internet makes it really easy for people who should not run a business to throw up a virtual shingle, so that’s a big problem. There are professional and ethical ways to use social media to create buzz or publicity for your item, and it’s clear a lot of people don’t understand that (nor do they understand, pricing, manufacturing, finance, etc). I honestly think some of these people dont ‘even have the money to purchase their supplies, and the lag in fulfilling orders comes from people who need to get enough money from customers before they can purchase supplies and make their product and send it to you. That is not good.
And being honest about this is not hating or sabotage. If you want to survive and compete, you need to learn how to do that, and not expect people to give you a pass on bad practices and habits.