#NoMoreLyes Campaign

The #NoMoreLyes campaign is a feminist campaign led by Level Up challenging beauty brands to remove toxic chemicals from hair products used by Black women.

Research has linked chemical hair relaxers to increased risks of breast cancer, uterine cancer, fibroids and other serious health conditions. Yet major beauty corporations continue to deny responsibility.

Level Up’s No More Lyes campaign demands accountability, transparency and an end to products that put Black women’s health at risk.

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Aim

Force big beauty brands to remove cancerous chemicals from Black women’s hair products

Why?

Millions of Black women around the world use hair relaxers, chemical hair straightening creams, for several reasons: some find it makes their hair easier to manage; some do it to avoid hair discrimination at school or work; some of us just prefer it that way. However, recent studies have shown that use of hair relaxers is linked to increased risk in breast cancer, fibroids, uterine cancer and other serious illnesses.

How the #NoMoreLyes Campaign began

In July 2021, Oxford University published research which found that long-term use of lye-based relaxers is linked to a 30% increased breast cancer risk for Black women. Lye (sodium hydroxide) is the chemical used to unblock drains. Many Black women understand the risk of scalp burns but most have no idea that hair relaxers could be detrimental to our health.

L’Oréal is one of the biggest manufacturers of hair relaxers in the world through its ownership of Dark & Lovely and SoftSheen Carson. Level Up found that lye is present even in their products labelled “no lye” – including those designed for children. So even when Black women think they are making a healthier, more conscious decision, they’re being lied to.

We don’t accept this. Big beauty brands like L’Oréal must take responsibility for the harm caused by their products, and remove toxic chemicals from hair relaxers.

The journey so far

2021

In response to a growing body of research linking the use of hair relaxers to a higher risk of serious illnesses, Level Up launched the #NoMoreLyes campaign demanding that beauty brands like L’Oréal commit to removing lye (sodium hydroxide) and other dangerous ingredients from Black women and children’s hair relaxers. Sodium hydroxide is the stuff used to unblock drains. The UK Health Security Agency categorises sodium hydroxide as a “highly corrosive alkali. Toxic and corrosive by ingestion, inhalation, dermal and ocular exposure”, and the Health and Safety Executive classifies sodium hydroxide as a category 1A skin corrosive.

Within a week, the petition had 4,000 signatures and received news coverage in The Independent, gal-dem, Loose Women and cosmetic beauty news.

In August, more than 3,000 Level Up supporters sent emails directly to the Managing Director of L’Oréal urging him to make hair relaxers safe to use or remove them from the shelves.

2022

In March 2022, 700 #NoMoreLyes supporters sent L’Oréal a request for the chemical data safety sheets of two hair relaxers manufactured by Dark & Lovely, a subsidiary of L’Oréal. Chemical data safety sheets are documents that show a manufacturer has done the required testing on the product and under UK regulations, consumers have a right to access the product safety information for anything they purchase. Also, both of the hair relaxers we purchased were “No-Lye” on the packaging while listing sodium hydroxide in the small print. So even when Black women think they’re making a safer choice, that’s not what they’re buying.

So, we wanted to know if L’Oréal was aware that lye-based hair relaxers were linked to fibroids and increased risk of breast cancer. In response, they told us that they do not import hair relaxers into the UK. While L’Oréal may not directly import hair relaxers into the UK, it does manufacture them in countries like South Africa, where there is little to no regulation, and makes them available to UK consumers via third-party resellers, including Amazon and independent high-street shops like Pak’s.

In May, we commissioned landmark research on Black British Women’s experiences with hair relaxers. The research, carried out by Treasure Tress and published by The Independent, found that:

Photo credit: Yvonne E. Maxwell

The findings from this piece of research received press coverage in The Guardian, Metro and Stylist Magazine.

In October, a lawsuit against L’Oréal USA and several other companies on behalf of Jenny Mitchell – linking her uterine cancer and subsequent hysterectomy to the long-term use of hair relaxers. This case appears to be the first of its kind, as previous legal claims regarding hair relaxers have focussed on hair loss/damage and chemical burns. This quickly grew into a class action case.

At the end of the year, Level Up wrote to the Office for Product Safety and Standards to notify them that we did not believe the hair relaxers we purchased met UK regulations. In their response, the OPSS told us that this wasn’t their responsibility.

2023

In April, Level Up published an open letter to L’Oréal calling on the beauty company to:

Make hair relaxers safe to use or take them off the shelves. You have a duty of care to provide safe products to your paying customers. If you are not able to do that, the products should be removed from the shelves. No one should risk losing their life, their fertility or have their quality of life negatively impacted from using hair products. People will straighten their hair – make it a safe choice.
Make the nature of the ingredients and possible harms clear on the product label/packaging. The correlation with cancer does not come from the misuse of the product, it’s a risk consumers are exposed to from using the products as intended. If products are to remain on the shelves, with the current ingredients, they should clearly state that chemical hair straighteners have been linked to an increased risk of cancer and fibroids. This should be clearly visible, easy-to-read labelling – you shouldn’t have to be a chemist to be able to make a transparent choice.
Invest in research about the long-term impact of these ingredients and products on Black women. While “all of [y]our ingredients and products undergo rigorous safety evaluations before they are placed on the market”, they may not be showing the impact of long-term use.”

The letter was signed by more than 700 campaign supporters and a coalition of MPs, campaigners, and professionals, including Dawn Butler MP; Baroness Lola Young; Andrea Simon, the director of EVAW; author Reni Eddo-Lodge; actor Lolly Adefope; Project Embrace and Black Women Rising.

The open letter received global press coverage which helped to raise awareness of the harms linked to hair relaxers.

2024

In July we launched the #NoMoreLyes campaign with a petition in response to the research released by Oxford University, demanding that beauty brands like L’Oréal commit to removing lye and other dangerous ingredients from hair relaxers. Within a week, the petition had 4,000 signatures and received news coverage in The Independent, gal-dem, Loose Women and cosmetic beauty news.

In August, more than 3000 Level Up supporters sent emails directly to the Managing Director of L’Oréal urging him to take action.

2022

On 14th March 2022, we sent L’Oréal a request for the safety sheets of two hair relaxer products. Under EU regulations, consumers have a right to access the product safety information for anything they purchase.

We wanted to know: was L’Oréal aware that lye-based hair relaxers were linked to fibroids and increased risk of breast cancer? If so, how can we make a true choice about our hair products if we don’t have the full information about what’s in them? L’Oréal was required to share this information with us within 30 days.

In May, we commissioned landmark research on Black British Women’s experiences with hair relaxers. The research, carried out by Treasure Tress and published by The Independent, found that:

Photo credit: Yvonne E. Maxwell

We have not received the chemical safety sheets, or a response from L’Oréal. Almost 1000 campaign supporters emailed L’Oréal demanding that they #ShowUsTheSheets – and they still have not responded. What are they hiding?

2023

In May 2023 we secured global press coverage when we sent an open letter to L’Oréal demanding that they:

Make their products safe or take them off the shelves
Make the nature of the ingredients and possible harms clear on the product label/packaging
Invest in research about the long-term impact of these ingredients and products on Black women

The letter was signed by a coalition of MPs, campaigners, and professionals, including Labour MP Dawn Butler; Mandu Reid, the leader of the Women’s Equality party; Baroness Lola Young; Andrea Simon, the director of EVAW; author Reni Eddo-Lodge; actor Lolly Adefopy; and organiser Professor Marai Larasi.

Once again, we’re yet to receive a response from L’Oréal.

We’re still working on this campaign and will continue until L’Oréal take action.