Women Say This Hair Product Has Caused Bald Patches and Open Sores

Hair loss and other hair damage are the last things you expect to happen after using a shampoo. But several women are blaming hair loss, hair thinning, and scalp damage on Monat hair care products, according to a report by Las Vegas station KTNV.

Heather Fox, Amber Alabaster, and Amber Thomas were named by KTNV as three of the customers who have come forward. Thomas tells Health she used a shampoo from Monat's Junior line on her 2-year-old son, which caused serious damage.

“Immediately on applying the shampoo my son started screaming so I started rinsing it out of his hair,” she says. “At that time chunks of hair was falling out. I immediately dried him off and rushed him to the doctors. His scalp was red and blistered. My doctor took pictures and documented everything.”

Thomas showed Health a copy of a letter from her doctor, which detailed symptoms such as “abrupt and acute hair loss which occurred immediately upon applying the Monat brand shampoo. He has no underlying medical condition to explain hair loss nor is this a part of normal childhood development."

Health reached out to the physician's office, which was unable to verify the authenticity of the letter, citing confidentiality guidelines.

Fox tells Health she experienced severe breakage after using a Monat shampoo and had to cut several inches of damaged hair. The product also changed the texture of her hair from naturally curly to straight, she says. When she told her Monat Market Partner, the title the company uses for their brand representatives who sell their products, the partner replied to Fox that her damage was part of a “detox” process and that she should continue using it for 90 days.

”She said my broken hair was new growth,” Fox says. “My hair continued to get shorter, thinner, weaker, and more brittle and dry.”

Last November, Alabaster shared a series of before and after photos on Facebook, where she told her own story. After she used Monat products, she described her hair as extremely dry and thinning, and that she also had an irritated scalp.

While some hair care products have been blamed for hair and scalp damage, the damage can have other causes as well, including nutritional deficiencies, stress, hormonal changes, autoimmune disorders, and overstyling or treating your hair.

After contacting Monat and asking about these claims, Brittany Pillars, a spokeswoman for Monat and a Market Partner in Stillwater, Oklahoma, sent us this statement denying that the products caused the damage.

“I know from my own experience that MONAT products are safe and that there is no scientific or other factual basis for the claims that have been made," the statement explained. "MONAT’s products have undergone independent, clinical testing, and hundreds of thousands of consumers safely use the products every day.”

The statement continued, “I also know that as with any consumer product, some people may develop adverse reactions. When that is the case, they should stop using the product and report their reaction to the company."

In an earlier statement to KTNV, Monat spokesperson Gene Grabowski also denied the women’s claims. “To have this happen in such a short period of time, statistically is impossible,” he stated. “It’s been a real challenge because we have seen the pictures online and we’ve heard the complaints but we haven’t seen any documentation of accuracy of a single one.”