Expert issues warning against Mielle Organics and its viral rosemary and mint oil

Photo by@laura_beautycoach/TikTok Mielle Organics

A beauty expert has gone viral after sharing the purported dangers of Mielle rosemary and mint hair oil. The product initially went viral in 2022, with Black beauty influencers crediting the $10 oil for helping to stimulate hair growth. But two years on, something seems to have changed.

The video, which quickly gained 3.8 million views, begins with a TikToker alleging that Mielle rosemary and mint oil led to her hair loss, as she demonstrated a clump of her hair to the viewers.

In response, licensed cosmetologist Laura (@laura_beautycoach_) stitched the video to share her thoughts. In the clip, she called out the product’s founder Monique Rodriguez, for “selling out” for purportedly letting Proctor and Gamble, a white-owned business, take over Mielle Organics.

“The amount of people who have reached out to me personally, either in DMs or in the comment sections that said that they use Mielle products, and […] experience scalp irritations, or massive hair loss, or hair breakage, it’s insane,” she said. “There is no other reason for this, except that when she sold out to Procter and Gamble, they changed the formula.”

The comments section was full of users with similar experiences.

“I thought it was just me,” one wrote, adding that the oil purportedly made her hair brittle.

“I’m telling you my hair started falling out,” another claimed.

In a statement via Instagram direct message, Laura added, “For me, it’s about accountability. If you have a brand where people are suffering from the same condition from your products, speak to the consumers because we were supporting you. Show empathy by releasing a statement or addressing the allegations. But to see this is an issue and to just sit back and say nothing? Oh yeah, we are going to expose you now!”

Mielle has been the subject of discourse before

Issues began to surface following the popularity of a TikTok video by Caucasian beauty guru Alix Earle, which showcased the product. This was due to The Cut reporting that an increasing number of white women began buying the product. The product's website notes that it is specifically designed for hair types of Black individuals.

Linguistics professor Uju Anya highlighted why this was a problem in a post on X. “When brands [Black women] single-handedly kept afloat start chasing white money, they raise prices, change formulas, and erase BW from their image,” she wrote.

Furthermore, other TikTokers have slammed Mielle for being part of the “Black hair tax,” which is when products designed for caucasian hair are less expensive than others.

By all accounts, this latest controversy might be the final nail in the coffin. Has the viral product fallen from its already precarious pedestal?