A consumer has filed a putative class action claiming that Rise-N-Shine LL C falsely advertises its Go Away Gray product line of natural supplements, shampoo and conditioner by claiming that it can restore natural hair color. Wiggins v. Rise-N-Shine LLC, No. 14-2733 (U.S. Dist. Ct., N.D. Cal., filed June 12, 2014).
The complaint alleges that defendants Rise-N-Shine and its self-proclaimed holistic-healer president Cathy Beggan advertise Go Away Gray as a scientifically proven method of restoring a person’s original hair color by taking supplements and using the line’s shampoo and conditioner, while the “scientific studies” they cite amount to a single study. The supplement purports to supply to the hair the natural enzyme “catalase,” which Beggan and Rise-NShine allegedly advertise will result in the prevention of new gray hair growth within about six to eight weeks
According to the complaint, Rise-N-Shine and Beggan regularly cite a 2009 study linking low levels of catalase to the occurrence of gray hair, but it does not support their argument that oral or topical catalase application will stop the production of gray hair and rather is “biologically impossible” because of “[b]asic laws of biochemistry.” In addition to class certification, plaintiff seeks damages and an injunction preventing Beggan and Rise-N-Shine from marketing the product as a gray-hair-reversal product..
