Shortage of hair care products hits local businesses, beauty school
Things are getting hairy for cosmetologists in the Akron area.
As with so many other industries, they are facing a shortage of the products they need to function, including shampoos, foot scrubs, combs, heat protectants and even toe rope. Most began having problems stocking their shelves after the 2020 pandemic and the supply chain issues that followed.
Other shortages impacting NEO: Fewer workers, higher prices, less stuff: Shortages are changing lives in Northeast Ohio
The waiting game
Shelly Hill, owner of GoodFellas Men’s Grooming in Norton, has waited three months for a shipment of Paul Mitchell’s Tea Tree products. This line is one of the few that doesn’t cause Hill’s eczema on her hands to flare up, which is why she uses it more than any other. After calling multiple CosmoProf distributors in the area and receiving conflicting answers as to what’s causing the delay, she was told it may be another three months before the products arrive.
“Within the last year you would go to get 10 (bottles) and there'd be four or there'd be three,” Hill said. “You could see it kind of dwindling, and now you're just waiting. (Previously) you could call other stores and then drive from one store to another to get it and now none of the stores have it.”
You may be thinking, “There’s a simple solution, just switch product lines.” Hill and other hairdressers wish their woes could be solved with such ease. To find a product with the same ingredients and proportions with a recognizable name that customers trust is no small feat. It’s also not guaranteed that the new product line would not face the same supply chain issues down the road.
No shirt, no shoes ... no shirts:‘It’s been a nightmare.’ Local businesses struggle to find T-shirts, hats amid shortage
To add salt to the wound, the prices of products and tools cosmetologists can acquire have risen substantially. What was once $10 or $12 is now closer to $20, a fact that’s causing many of Hill’s friends in the industry to raise prices. Since the same is happening outside of salons to food, transportation and housing, clients are coming in less often.
“Men will typically go two to three weeks between haircuts, and now it's once a month they’ll get a cut,” Hill said. “They go further in between, and I do believe that it's inflation. Everything else is going up, so your hair is going to be the last thing you spend money on when your groceries went up tremendously and gas has went up tremendously.”
In May, the Ohio State Cosmetology and Barber Board passed a law that requires instruments with natural bristles be discarded after each use for sanitation purposes. The action further narrowed what types of nail brushes and hairbrushes business owners can use on clients during a period when their options are already limited.
'This is the new norm to me'
Nearly all the products that Akron’s Positive Image Salon uses have been out of stock at one point or another, according to stylist Candace Diamond. One of their wholesalers is JT Bailey & Co. in Cleveland.
JT Bailey's manager, Michael Bailey, said there isn’t merely one reason why most products are becoming harder to find. It could be the cost and availability of certain chemicals, a lack of containers to put product in, international shipping issues or a mix of all three.
“There's a couple of companies where you get things, but you never really get a complete shipment anymore,” Bailey said. “Everybody's just trying to do the best that they can do. I've become adjusted to it because this is the new norm to me.”
That attitude is shared by customers at Essence Beauty Mart, according to its owner, Peter Kim. They’ve grown accustomed to not being able to purchase what they need both inside and out of the Akron shop, he said.
Manufacturers are often hesitant to substitute chemicals since the change may alter the product’s functionality or lower their brand, but Bailey suggests they may not have a choice down the road.
So, what’s the user of a back-ordered or recently discontinued product to do?
“You’re just going to have to be more open, as it was years ago, and not be locked into one item because you may not have that option,” Bailey said. “There's a lot of still good-quality products out there, but you may not get your hands on what you want ... you’re going to have to make do with what you can get.”
Making do
That’s exactly what the owners of Gerber Akron Beauty School have been doing.
Obtaining pedicure products like masks and creams for their students hasn’t been too troublesome; well ... unless foot scrubs are involved. Rita Mako and her husband, Joseph, have had foot scrubs on back order since June 2021, so they’ve “made do” by making their own using cornmeal and lotion.
Both are nothing compared to the disappearance of the conditioning shampoo they’ve used for the last six years called Quantum, they said.
“It's good for Black hair that's been relaxed, it’s good for Caucasian hair that's colored or permed, so it's a good all-around conditioning shampoo that nobody seems to be carrying anymore,” Rita Mako explained. “We're looking for a replacement because we have probably 60% Black clients and maybe the rest are Caucasian clients, and (that’s) the same with our students. So, we need to have stuff that's going to work for both types of hair.”
The pair usually purchased Quantum from manufacturer Zotos Professional. Company representative Cara Linden said the conditioning shampoo, along with all other liquids that previously supported the line’s perms, have been discontinued.
“We’re dealing with situations with shipping and getting ingredients and componentry to make our products work, just like any other company is today,” she said.
Linden isn’t sure when these issues will resolve, but suggests customers contact the company for alternative brands with the same or similar formulas as their discontinued or back-ordered product.
“Our out-of-stock situation has really come down a lot,” Linden said. “The list was quite long for a while, but it is getting shorter. So, we are making progress, but it takes time.”
Contact Beacon Journal reporter Tawney Beans at tbeans@gannett.com and on Twitter @TawneyBeans.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron salons struggle to find hair care, beauty products amid shortage
