WEN Hair Care Product Hair Loss Class Action Lawsuit Joined By 200 Women

The makers of WEN hair care products face a class action lawsuit involving more than 200 women, who allege that the cleansing conditioners damaged their hair and caused some users to begin going bald. 

The complaint (PDF) was originally filed against celebrity hair stylist Chaz Dean and the marketing company Guthy-Renker in July, but recently, more than 200 women joined in the case indicating they experienced problems with WEN hair products.

All of the women say that the product hair loss, rashes, scalp irritation, and damaged their hair, seeking class action status to represent all women who purchased WEN Cleansing Condition haircare products, such as Sweet Almond Mint, Lavender, Pomegranate and Summer Honey Peach.

WEN Cleansing Condition is designed to be an all-in-one hair cleaner that replaces shampoo, conditioners and detanglers, costing about $30 a bottle.

While WEN advertising claims it strengthens hair, dozens of women say it does the exact opposite, and continues to cause hair loss and damage even after they stop using it.

The first lawsuit was filed in federal court in California by Amy Friedman of Florida, who bought a WEN Cleansing Conditioner Sweet Almond Mint kit in January 2014. The lawsuit claims that she began losing her hair within two weeks of first using the product.

Friedman indicates that she stopped using WEN, but her hair continued to fall out for three more weeks, eventually resulting in her losing between a quarter and a third of her hair until she began taking supplements and vitamins to cause it to begin growing back.

“Perhaps most striking about this situation is Defendants’ clear and unambiguous knowledge of the hair loss caused by WEN Cleansing Conditioner,” the lawsuit states. “For example, Guthy-Renker alone has received more than 17,000 complaints of hair loss caused by WEN Cleansing Conditioner.”

Friedman notes that when she contacted the FDA about WEN hair loss problems, Guthy-Renker sent her an email with more than two dozen questions about her use of WEN which appears to indicate that the company was well aware of the hair loss problems and had developed a formulaic approach to the complaints.

The WEN hair cleanser class action lawsuit accuses Guthy-Renker of misleading and false advertising, of failing to warn that the products could cause hair loss and other complications, breach of warranty, negligence, strict product liability, and violation of California unfair competition laws.

The lawsuit calls for class certification for both women in Florida and nationwide who purchased WEN products between August 1, 2009 and the present.