The makers of WEN by Chaz Dean are facing a consumer fraud lawsuit by an Illinois woman alleging that their products cause hair loss.

Plaintiff Julie D. says she suffered from “extreme hair loss and damage” after using WEN Pomegranate Cleansing Conditioner. She is now suing WEN by Chaz Dean Inc., the company that makes WEN products.

WEN products were developed by celebrity hairstylist Chaz Dean. Dean reportedly created the formula for WEN products himself by mixing the ingredients in his sink. According to Dean’s website, WEN products reflect the natural and holistic lifestyle that Dean espouses.

Advertisement firm Guthy-Renker is also named as a defendant in Julie’s WEN lawsuit. Guthy-Renker is the direct marketing company that promoted WEN products through a series of celebrity-heavy late-night television infomercials.

Julie claims that at least one ingredient in her WEN conditioner actually acts as “a depilatory and caustic agent” by damaging either the hair follicle or the hair strand itself.

She says that the defendants failed to properly warn consumers about the hazard of hair loss and damage associated with WEN products. The defendants concealed those risks by claiming the products are safe, she claims.

The WEN lawsuit quotes advertisements by the defendants as saying that WEN products are “gentle enough to use every day” and that “[t]he more you use, the better the results.”

She says the defendants represented that WEN products would improve hair in many respects, including by repairing damage caused by other treatments like coloring, bleaching, or heat-based styling.

Julie argues that the average U.S. consumer would reasonably understand these representations to imply that WEN products would not cause hair damage or loss. She also notes that the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act requires any potentially hazardous cosmetics to bear an appropriate warning.

Contrary to that requirement, Julie says, the labeling for WEN fails to provide adequate instructions for safe use of the product.  This WEN lawsuit is raising claims based on theories of negligence, breach of warranty, strict liability for a defective product, and violation of Illinois consumer protection laws.

Julie is asking the court for an award of actual, consequential and punitive damages, as well as reimbursement of her attorneys’ fees and costs of the litigation.

The WEN Hair Damage Lawsuit is Case No. 16-cv-31 filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois.

Complaints About WEN Products

Julie is hardly alone in her allegations. In a California federal court, over 200 women from 40 different states have joined in a WEN class action lawsuit making roughly the same allegations as Julie’s.

Yet despite the growing litigation. sales of WEN products are still brisk. Guthy-Renker reportedly raked in $100 million in sales in WEN’s second year on the market.

Consumer review websites also show hundreds of negative reviews from consumers claiming WEN caused similar damage and hair loss. One reviewer said she had founder herself having to explain that her hair loss was not caused by chemotherapy. Another said WEN left her hair looking like she had “combed it out with a pork chop.”

Plaintiffs in the California class action also allege that Guthy-Renker deleted some of these negative online reviews and comments about WEN products.

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