TATI´S HALO BEAUTY BOOSTER- A SCAM?

One of my favorite things is, to uncover beauty scams for you, as you can clearly see here! And since many people seem outraged about Tati´s (in case you don´t know who she is: she is a famous YouTube Beauty Guru) new Halo Beauty Booster, I like to chime in and add my opinion on this. So, is this a scam or what?

Disclaimer: My writing here is an editorial news comment on the company´s business practices. All opinions stated here are my own. I do not speak for others in any way, shape, or form. 


Tati announced last week in this video (below) the launch of her Halo Beauty Booster- a dietary supplement with a lot of promises! She turned the comments off  "due to too much negativity that reached beyond questions & concerns as they turned into personal attacks."



So, why are people outraged? I read through the comments on her last Instagram image (more than 10k comments already!!)

It seems for a lot of reasons!

1. Halo Beauty contains Saw Palmetto

What´s the problem? According to WebMD: "Saw palmetto is LIKELY UNSAFE when taken by mouth during pregnancy or breast-feeding. It acts like a hormone, and this could be dangerous to the pregnancy. Don't use during pregnancy or breast-feeding."

My take on this: Well, this could´ve been easy resolved, if the product would simply include a warning like this: "Don't use during pregnancy or breast-feeding."

Instead the website of Halo Beauty states:

"There is no scientific or medical proof that Saw Palmetto will make birth control ineffective.  It is also a frequently used herb found in many other formulas specifically formulated and marketed for women.  Our 160mg dose is very low when compared to the 2,000 mg men take for enlarged prostates."

2. Halo Beauty is made according to strict FDA guidelines

What´s the problem? So, the Halo Beauty website states:

"It's made in the USA with the highest quality of ingredients in a state of the art facility that manufactures according to strict FDA guidelines and good manufacturing principles."

From the Halo Beauty website

However, this statement makes it sound as if the product was approved by the FDA, But here´s the deal: while all prescription and non-prescription drugs are regulated in the United States by the FDA, dietary supplements don´t fall into this category!

They aren’t put through the same strict safety and effectiveness requirements that drugs are. Dietary supplements don´t have to proof to be safe and effective before they hit the U.S. market!!!

Not only does the FDA not need proof that a dietary supplement is safe, no! The FDA is NOT EVEN authorized to review dietary supplements for safety and effectiveness before they are marketed (reference for this: the FDA as large as life/or should I rather say as small...)

What this means is: as long as consumers are not complaining about eventual problems that a dietery supplement is causing them, NOTHING WILL BE DONE! Crazy, right?

If - and only then- a serious problem associated with a dietary supplement occurs, manufacturers must report it to FDA as an adverse event. FDA can take dietary supplements off the market if they are found to be unsafe or if the claims on the products are false and misleading.

So, the FDA does not do ANYTHING before- but only AFTER something goes wrong...how crazy is that? So, who guarantees the safety of a dietary supplement? The manufacturers and distributors of dietary supplements are responsible for making sure their products are safe BEFORE they go to market. I can not even... lol. (reference for my information, again the FDA themselves!)

So, the whole claim that the Halo Beauty supplements are made according to strict FDA guidelines completely falls into the water, because there are NO STRICT GUIDELINES for dietary supplements.

And the "state of the art facility"- oh geez. Thank god these pills are not made in a facility that does not manufacture to "good manufacturing principles". It´s almost like saying: We don´t produce illegal, we adhere to our laws. Well great. That´s what you should do after all.

Ironically enough, the only rule that dietary supplements have to do is, to clarify that none of their product claims "have been evaluated by the FDA" and so Halo Beauty includes this statement as well on their website.

From the Halo Beauty website

3. "Revolutionary Formula" that works in 3 weeks!

From the Halo Beauty website

My personal biggest issue are the high claims: promotes thick and luxurious hair growth (hm, Tati obviously wears extensions! I wonder why she needs them if these pills work?), minimizes fine lines and wrinkles, supports collagen and keratin production, promotes strong and healthy nails (hm, Tati´s nails have never been really long?), with anti-gray fighting enzymes...

And this all in as little as 3 weeks? This just screams: SCAM to me! Ridiculous! I can not even believe, that so many fall for this! Are they really hoping something- anything will change from a supplement?

I wish Tati would not have made such big claims, honestly. Even the FDA states:

"If claims sound too good to be true, they probably are. Be mindful of product claims such as “works better than [a prescription drug],” “totally safe,” or has “no side effects.”

4. Clinical studies

People are complaining that Tati refers to Clinical studies - but is not showing any. The Halo Beauty website states:

"Our Ceramide-Rx has been proven in human clinical double blind trials to restore and rebuild the outer skin layer, increasing the skins ability to retain moisture while improving skin smoothness in as little as 3 weeks."

From the Halo Beauty Website

However, this (above) image is all information that we get for the "human clinical double blind trial" and it isn´t for the Halo Beauty supplement but for the ingredient Ceramide-Rx.

But, you know what? Honestly, I bought in my life many different brands of multivitamins and I have NEVER EVER checked, if there were any clinical trials or studies for them. I am taking currently multivitamins, that are so outrageous expensive, you die if you see it! Haha! And are there any clinical trials on that? I don´t know, I haven´t seen any! I didn´t even try! ;-)

So, I find that in this point we are maybe a little too strict on her, but it is maybe because she has so many ridiculous claims and because of the price point of her supplements, that we would love to see some kind of proof, right?

5. Private labeling

Some people have concerns that Tati is using a private label company. What´s really strange is, that I saw 4 videos by axrevolution in which he claimed, that she uses a private label- however these videos have all -as of today- disappeared from YouTube and after googling "axrevolution" I found this tweet.

So, it seems to me that either Tati used her YouTube power (almost 4 Mio Subs) to tell YouTube to disable the videos or maybe Tati went to her lawyer to write a "cease and desist letter" to axrevolution that scared him enough to take the videos off himself. According to the tweet axrevolution even posted an apology video- but that seems deleted now too.

My take on this: I actually don´t think it is that bad to use a private labeling company. Obviously she isn´t the only one doing that since private labeling companies are highly successful. We probably all have private label products at home and we aren´t even aware! Amazon made according to this site $2.5 billion in revenue from private labeling in 2016!

A private labeling company does not mean the product is bad quality! But the problem is of course that Tati´s claims, that she "worked on this with her team since years". While of course the people behind private labeling could be also her team. And yes, she could give her input and they could create a product together. Private labeling does not mean that you can´t have a unique formula!

So for some it just makes her look less trustworthy. She is not the first one being accused of using a private labeling company, but I totally understand her perspective. I remember how Marlena from the Makeup Geek had to deal with similar issues.

It wouldn´t exactly sound great, if Tati would declare she used a private labeling company for this, so I totally get why she claims to have a team behind her. But I have no problem with private label companies.

6. Who´s the "team" behind Halo Beauty?

Tati mentions it 23 times in her launch video (OK, I did not really count): she and her fabulous team are behind this, but neither does she want to say WHO it is nor does she want to show the address of the company. Well, if it is a private label, then she can´t say who it is. But not the address? What?

Here is what the FDA states:
"Dietary supplement labels must include name and location information for the manufacturer or distributor."

7. No sugar

I think it is funny how extensive she talks in her introduction video that her supplements don´t contain sugar because she finds it has nothing to do in a vitamin supplement. I mean, I couldn´t agree more, but I also have to say that I have NEVER SEEN A DIETERY SUPPLEMENT CONTAINING PLAIN SUGAR! LOL! Why would that be in a supplement? Makes absolutely no sense, but thank you for not including it. And I agree, Tati.

Update: I take that back. I completely forgot that Americans love to take their vitamins in the shape of gummies and those do contain sugar. Lol. I have never used "gummy-bear vitamins" in my life and I don´t intend to. We call that in Germany Haribos. Hahahaha. ;-)

8. Pink dye

Apparently Halo Beauty supplements are in a pink coated capsule. It would be interesting to hear, how they achieved the pink color- just to make sure it is nothing people are allergic to or if it contains certain dyes that we don´t want to swallow. 

No further data about the capsule, but we know from her website, that they

"even formulate with a veggie capsule and our beautiful pink color is achieved without Carmine (crushed beetles)." So now we know what is not inside, but what is inside?

But to keep it neutral: these aren´t the first supplements that don´t include what the capsule is made off.

9. The only vegan supplement

Tati thinks this is the only vegan supplement and "you would have to press hard to find one". Nope. Easy peasy to find! Here is one, here another, or here. ;-)

10. Clear labeling of ingredients

Tati is proud to label all her ingredients. Say what? SHE HAS TO!

FDA regulations require that certain information appear on dietary supplement labels. Information that must be on a dietary supplement label includes: a descriptive name of the product stating that it is a "supplement;" the name and place of business of the manufacturer, packer, or distributor; a complete list of ingredients; and the net contents of the product. In addition, each dietary supplement (except for some small volume products or those produced by eligible small businesses) must have nutrition labeling in the form of a"Supplement Facts" panel. This label must identify each dietary ingredient contained in the product.

11. Tati is just trying to make more money

People complain that she just want´s to make quick more money and feel like she is selling them out. 

My take on this: Tati is a smart business women. She creates a YouTube video from Monday to Friday since years- that involves so much work. If you have never created a YouTube video, you have absolutely no idea, how much time and effort this takes.

No. She is not lazy. And yes: she makes a ton of money! She probably thinks of her future, as she is getting older. Maybe in a couple of years she won´t be so succesful on YouTube anymore, so I think she is trying to get into another business, so she doesn´t have to worry when she gets old. I don´t think she has any education for something else- so this "her brand Tati" is all she has!

I think that is OK to do and smart. And nobody forces you to buy anything. Of course she wants to make money. If Victoria Beckham creates a makeup line she wants to make more money. If Jessica Simpson designs shoes, she wants to make more money. If Kylie Jenner creates liquid lipstick sets, she wants to make more money. If Kate Hudson creates her own yoga line, she wants to make more money...

And just like some people think that Tati has no saying in supplements- what did Kylie Jenner exactly achieve to make her a lipstick pro? Is she a MUA? And is Jessica Simpson a shoemaker or what? Is Kate Hudson a yoga teacher? Obviously other people are always involved. That is the beauty of "investing money" and having pro´s to help you.

And that is OK in my opinion. If you are not OK with this, don´t buy it.

My overall verdict: 

I have to say, I am a little torn on this.

I was a happy subscriber for a couple of years- back when Tati had "only" 500k subs. I personally unsubscribed from Tati, because I felt betrayed, when she was hyping the Beenigma cream on her channel: "the best life changing cream". Why did that bother me? Because I know that she was paid at least $1000 for saying that and she also gets 20% commission for each sale that she generates through her coupon code (read here why I know this).

No, I don´t believe that this is her favorite cream at all. She also does not mention this cream in later skin care routines. But about once a year she makes a video about it and cashes in. I felt literally betrayed and clicked the "Unsubscribe button". Oh and the tool she claimed to use, the Nurse Jamie Uplift Roller bothered me too. I DON´T BELIEVE THIS!!! But that is another story! ;-)

However, I find that people are really harsh on her with these beauty supplements. Like mentioned earlier: I have never researched a clinical study for a beauty supplement in my life. Usually I just go to Target and grab a random box of multivitamins in the hopes that they do something.

I mean, you see all these YouTubers talk about BS like that Detox tea (or the mentioned Beenigma for that matter) and such and nobody complains about that. Hey, that tea has got to be a scam too- but nobody says anything. So, while I am not a fan of the high claims of this product, I think people still have to calm down on this.

Either you buy it or not. Done. No need to be rude. I would never write a mean comment on her channel or Instagram. If you liked Tati before, I really don´t think that you have to unsubscribe from her channel because of these vitamins. But if you feel like you want to, OK, unsubscribe, and don´t buy it but stop writing mean comments. After all Tati is only human too and I bet this all gets her much more than you think. I truly belief this all bothers her a lot. Maybe she should have hired a PR company that helps her with the launch lol.

Also: I really don´t believe that there is much harm to using these supplements (except possibly for those that are breastfeeding or pregnant). Vitamin C, D3, B1, B2, B6 and Biotin are definitely all wonderful for us! But hey, I am no doctor. Ask your doctor if in question. And don´t expect Tati to know what a doctor knows. Yes, she is only trying to sell her product, but you know what? You don´t have to buy it!

To the price, you know $40 isn´t exactly cheap, but there are others out there that want even more! I have seen supplements for $400! And nobody seems outraged! $40 is not to uncommon for a special supplement!

Even though I am not a big fan of Tati anymore and she lost my trust a long time ago, I still don´t find these Halo Beauty supplements that big of an issue. I would take them in an instant- but I just don´t believe all the claims, you know? The Beenigma thing bothered me much more then this lol!!!

The only thing that really bothers me is, how much Tati is trying to sell us these supplements and telling us that these work in 3 weeks. I mean I think it is so funny that people are writing on Instagram that they are so excited to get them and that they want to make before and after pics. Really? You really think that you will actually SEE a difference? Wow, you are really trusting Tati a bit too much. And I personally feel that is nuts.

Wow, I am already seeing people doing before after pics on a new Instagram account by Tati called @halobeautyclients Are you kidding me? She (below)  is seeing a difference after 5 days? I just can´t.... this is called placebo effect...

Repost @yiddishgirl Still alive after a day of weddings and eating out. #halobeauty @halobeauty @glamlifeguru - have I said Thank you today? 💖✨💖 // WHAT DO YOU THINK??

A post shared by Halo Beauty (@halobeautyclients) on Mar 18, 2018 at 6:48pm PDT

LOL- gotta love this one from her boyfriend- or rather husband now I think. This screams "Botox" to me! ;-)

Before and after of James, what do you think ? #glamlifeguru #halobeauty #beforeandafter @halobeauty @glamlifeguru

A post shared by Halo Beauty (@halobeautyclients) on Mar 14, 2018 at 5:56am PDT

But I gotta say: I would wish people would do more often their research as well as they did in this case. So, while I am a little proud of this y'all, I am absolutely not agreeing on the way people treat Tati.

Buy it or don´t. Stay subscribed or unsubscribe. This is your decision- but stop the bullying. Yes, I said it. This is bullying.

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