NEW YORK – More than 200 women have joined a class action lawsuit against WEN by Chaz Dean, and marketing company Guthy-Renker, claiming it causes hair loss, breakage, scalp irritation and rash.
Chaz Dean, known for styling A-list stars such as Brooke Shields and Alyssa Milano, created the product as an alternative way to clean hair. The product is said to “replace shampoo, conditioner, deep conditioner, detangler and leave-in conditioner,” according to WEN hair care site.
Actresses Brook Shields and Angie Harmon are also seen on the site promoting the product. A bottle costs about $30.
WEN hair care claims using its products will strengthen people’s hair and leave it healthy-looking and clean. However, some women are speaking out saying the product has left them with bald spots and thinning hair.
“Started using in August…Hair looks great but have lost 60% of my hair,” a customer commented on WEN’s Facebook page.
“I can’t leave my house I’m depressed wen hair products is responsible for my hair loss I have been shampooing and conditioning my hair with their non-shampooing conditioner which blocked my pores and caused my hair to be basically washed with lotion,” another customer wrote.
Complaints have been building for over a year. A Florida woman name Amy Friedman filed a class action lawsuit on July 31, 2014. The court documents said Friedman bought the WEN Cleansing Conditioner in January 2014. Her hair began falling out within two weeks of using it, she claims. She stopped using the cleansing conditioner, but her hair continued to fall out for three more weeks, according to the suit.
The class action lawsuit states that WEN advertisements are misleading and Guthy-Renker “reinforces its false statements” that have led women to buy the products thinking it would produce positive results.
WEN’s customer care has replied to a few complaints made on its Facebook page. It recommends the customers experiencing these side effects to contact its team.
“We take our customers’ experiences with our products very seriously and our Corporate Escalation Team would like to learn more,” the company replied to comments on Facebook.
Despite the negative reviews, some women said they’ve seen positive results from using WEN.
“WEN has changed my life, I have longer hair now that is manageable,” one user said on Facebook.
PIX11 News reached out to WEN for comment, but the company has not responded. This is what a spokesperson from WEN said to Buzzfeed News:
We take great pride in the quality of our products and believe every product meets our high standards. We want all of our customers to have positive experiences with our products, and we encourage any customer with any questions to contact us.
With well over 10 million WEN products shipped since 2008, our customers’ overwhelmingly positive response to Wen is a testament to the benefits it can deliver for its users. These benefits are reflected in consistently high rankings from independent consumer product sites as well.
Importantly, there is no scientific evidence whatsoever to support any claim that our hair care products caused anyone to lose their hair. There are many reasons why individuals may lose their hair, all unrelated to WEN hair care products. We intend to vigorously contest the allegations made against our products.