Hair products aimed at professional cosmetologists are being sold to consumers who misuse them.

And hair stylists are encountering women in their studios who have severe scalp burns and damaged skin, broken hair and hair loss as a consequence.

"I had one girl in here yesterday whose hair was dropping off,'' said one hairdresser who spoke to The Royal Gazette anonymously.

"I've seen others whose scalps have no visible signs of open pores in some areas. It's as smooth as a baby's bottom. Others have permanent hair loss and damage.

"I had to cut another woman's hair down extremely low because her hair had broken off. I had to cut it to its lowest point.

"A lot of people won't tell me what they used in their hair but many of those smooth spots are caused through the improper use of hair colour.'' At least one other hairdressing studio has reported seeing similar things from patrons.

A stylist at Lady Dana's Beauty Land on King Street said that it was not a new phenomenon because it appeared whenever a new product hit the shelves.

"It seems to be an ongoing problem from time to time,'' the stylist explained. "I wouldn't say that it is more of a problem now than before.

Whenever you see a new product that purports to do a lot, people rush and buy it and mix it with other products.

"One such product is Super Grow by African Pride. It has the word African on it and a lot of people rush out and buy it because it sounds good and it has the word African in it.'' The Royal Gazette purchased several products from Hamilton Pharmacy, People's Pharmacy and the Phoenix Store on Reid Street.

At Hamilton Pharmacy the Creme of Nature products had the disclaimer which said the product was only to be sold to professionals and was not for retail sale covered over by a sticky label.

When peeled back the disclaimer read: "For professional use only. Not for retail sale. No warranty express or implied is made to any user other than licensed or professional hairdressers.'' Other products such as Get Smooth conditioning creme relaxer carries a similar warning as does the Dark and Lovely DL 2000 Advanced Formula.

Similar products can also be purchased at Matthews Sales Agency on Queen Street.

Community Affairs officer Karen Marshall said that the real problem lay at the feet of legislators.

"The law is the problem,'' she said. "We have an open consumer beware market which means there are no consumer protection laws or very few.

"However, I know of no existing trade laws that prevent any pharmacy or store from selling these products.

"We have different laws here than in the United States. That's why the Consumer Task Force was formed. We need to start having legislation to protect the consumer.'' Ms Marshall said that anyone who has been hurt as a result of using these products should write to the Consumer Task Force immediately.

"This is definitely a concern,'' she added. "Just because it is labelled for professional use only or not for retail sale doesn't mean it can't be sold to consumers.

"What it may mean is that in the United States where the laws are different, a store may be liable for selling those products over the counter.

"But our local agencies who import these products can sell them to the hairdressers as well as the pharmacies.

"As you know people like to sue in the United States so they place disclaimers on everything.'' Attorney General Elliott Mottley said he was unable to comment on the issue until he has had a chance to research the present legislation.

HAIR TODAY, GONE TOMORROW -- Professional hair products are being sold to local consumers.

HEALTH HTH