We had a post go live today, but I sat down this afternoon and wrote a whole entire ‘nother because this is NONSENSE. First, sunscreen. Now, there’s a multi-brand recall due to carcinogens in dry shampoo. It’s the same we’ve been seeing in sunscreen: benzene.
The amount of things being recalled for benzene in the last few years is too damn high. Carcinogens weren’t even really top-of-mind for me when I stopped buying dry shampoo a while back (which I JUST shared before this news hit), but there’s a hell of a good reason!
The Affected Brands
Per the release, which you can read on FDA.gov, this recall applies to products under Unilever’s sprawling umbrella. If you use any of these,
- Dove
- TRESemme
- Nexxus
- Suave
- Tigi
You need to check the UPC and lot codes, which you can do here, to see if you need to take further action. Please note that just because you bought it recently doesn’t necessarily mean it was manufactured super recently! CHECK.
If it isn’t one of these, you may be in the clear – but I’ll come back to this.
Reimbursement
If you happen to be the, “lucky,” owner of one of these, Unilever is offering a refund or reimbursement. Make sure to take a photo of the lot code(s) stamped on any products you may have, then head here to submit your claim to recapture what you spent on the opportunity to develop cancer that much more readily.
What’s Next
I strongly recommend looking into alternatives to, you know, , whether you were impacted or not. Whether you
- forego dry shampoo entirely
- go the same route I did and start using tapioca starch
- or buy a conventional product by a more reliable manufacturer
is up to you. But maybe skip Unilever aerosols, because they can’t seem to get their shit together.
It also wouldn’t shock me if, at some point down the road, we see a class action lawsuit related to this whole Unilever manufacturing resulting in carcinogens in dry shampoo business.
Not the First, Won’t be the Last
This year and last year, we saw multiple sunscreen brands recalled for the same reason. Johnson & Johnson’s Aveeno and Neutrogena aerosol sunscreens. Edgewell Personal Care, who owns Banana Boat, ended up doing the same thing in 2022.
The Bottom Line
I’m pretty tired of this shit, honestly. I’ve already had a run-in with Tresemme products causing hair loss. I neither want nor need stress or health risks from my cosmetic frivolity, and neither do you. Vote with your dollars for now, and advocate for legislation that REQUIRES these companies to do better because they’ve shown us again and again that they won’t unless they’re forced.