Step 1: Get a Celebrity

So Kate Hudson is releasing a line of hair care products (David Babaii for Wildaid).

Translation = someone much less famous that KH looking for some extra cash is cashing in.

I hate to sound so cynical but there are a few rules that I like to employ when choosing my beauty products. My rules are admittedly unfair, being that I am quite sure that there are many talented masterminds behind these celebrity endorsed...ahem "designed"...products. But I can't get past the idea that in a saturated market- one in which I think (or is it hope) people are starting to calm down the search for MORE MORE MORE and embrace the old "quality over quantity" adage- we are still so willing to throw money at products that have as much longevity as the elusive and transitory Hollywood careers that are behind them.

Maybe I'm old fashioned but what I look for in beauty products is a company that has either been around for a while, or specializes in that field. It's my own personal way of weeding through the masses.

I know those celebrities aren't donning lab coats and mixing up the concoctions that are hitting the shelves (at least not when photographers or videographers aren't around) and the people that are actually at the drawing board are seasoned professionals quite schooled in the field.
But personally, I would respect them more if they weren't courting a celebrity at the launch, naming the product after them, etc. Maybe the initial sales aren't going to boom but I have a sneaking suspicion that if the product works, we'll still see it on the shelves after said celebrity's latest movie gets panned and they exit the world into the abyss of Hollywood retirement.*

It's merely speculation on my end that even if KH's hairline worked wonders, it still has a shelf life of approximately 10 years (and that's pushing it people).

OK OK, to be fair here- there is something really wonderful about the mission behind the line: David Babaii for Wildaid (this is the product’s name- nary a reference to Kate in sight, although with the insane press coverage we may as well call it the Kate Hudson line). The line is all natural- no sulfates, no parabens, and not tested on animals. David Babaii actually was quoted on Fashion Week Daily saying Kate was his test “animal.” Ummm...(?) Anyway, 10 percent of the proceeds from the sales are sent to Wildaid, a global wildlife conservancy.

I am on the eco-friendly bandwagon everyone, don’t get me wrong, but I have trouble with the celebrity aspect. I’m sorry, but I do. All in all, it just feels like one ginormous press-ploy. I’m not knocking Kate (love her!) nor David Babaii (maybe could love him?) but these products are not going to be hitting my shelves because I’m just not that kind of a girl. Call me old fashioned.

~ Olivia Villanti

*Or they get a reality show and God knows no beauty aficionado is lining their shelves with reality star endorsed beauty products.