Tati Westbrook is celebrating the launch of her beauty brand Halo Beauty, and its first product — a hair, skin, and nails vitamin booster ($39.95, Halo Beauty).
Unfortunately, her launch has been met with severe backlash, thanks to one controversial ingredient with potentially dramatic side effects.
The "controversial" ingredient that's generating all this backlash? Saw palmetto.
Saw palmetto comes from the berry of a palm tree, and has been used to fight prostate cancer, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center.
The ingredient is also used for hair growth, but Web MD confirms it can affect birth control negatively. The site explains,
"Some birth control pills contain estrogen. Saw palmetto might decrease the effects of estrogen in the body. Taking saw palmetto along with birth control pills might decrease the effectiveness of birth control pills. If you take birth control pills along with saw palmetto, use an additional form of birth control such as a condom."
Web MD also explains that saw palmetto may lower estrogen levels, and can slow blood clotting. Additionally, the NY Daily News reports saw palmetto "should be used cautiously by people with high blood pressure, stomach disorders and liver disorders."
Those reports do not reveal what doses of saw palmetto are required to cause those side effects. It's still possible that the dosage in Tati's vitamins falls below the amount required to cause the birth control, estrogen, and blood pressure issues.
Revelist has reached out to a physician for more clarity on this ingredient.
Because of these potential side-effects, people are furious that Tati included saw palmetto in a beauty vitamin without specifically addressing the potential side-effects of this ingredient.
"Hi don't purchase Tati's vitamins unless you want to get cystic acne, have your birth control fail, and be $40 + outrageous shipping fees poorer every month," one Twitter user wrote.
They are questioning her overall integrity and calling her a "con."
"Bruh it's suchhh a con," another user wrote.
"Half of it is standard stuff you get form multivitamins and biotin which costs like a tenner. There's an ingredient in them that cna interfere with birth control/ hrt as well. I always liked Tati but this is fishyyyyyyyy."
Some are even encouraging other people not to buy the Halo Beauty Booster.
"Please do NOT buy these pills," a follower urged.
"There's an ingredient in here that can mess with your birth control and this brand has not disclosed that. I'm disappointed but not surprised by Tati."
Other fans want Westbrook to offer more proof to back up her claims about how well the Halo Beauty Booster works.
"Please don't just answer the easy questions," a fan wrote to Westbrook.
"Talk about why there are no clinical trials, before/after pictures, etc. Also can you explain why your pils are $40 with only 40 mg of ceramide while Amazon has $9 pills with 100 mg ceramidepcd."
In a Snapchat rant, Westbrook slammed the unsafe vitamin rumors, and defended her use of the saw palmetto ingredient.
"I feel very misunderstood," she expressed in the video. "I hate that my character is being thrashed."
"Saw Palmetto is not going to get you pregnant. It’s not going to make your birth control not work. It’s actually included in a leading hair, skin, and nails vitamin that I took for a long time myself — Nutrafol ($88, Nutrafol)."
"I am working with the best physicians, the best scientists, the best nutritionists. I have a team," she confirmed. "I have advisors. We have talked about this formula through and through to get to this point.”
"If this isn't for you, that’s totally OK but please do not discredit me with misinformation," she said. "I am not putting anything out there that is harmful. I am not doing anything to put anyone at risk."
Westbrook is also blocking people who share what she considers to be "misinformation" about Halo Beauty. She has blocked about "25 people" on social media so far, according to her Snapchat statement.
"These statements that a lot of people are making are assumptions and they aren’t based on actual fact," she shared.
She did not address the sources those "misinformed" fans are citing — which is largely Web MD.
Westbrook stressed that the lab she uses to make the Halo Beauty vitamins follows FDA guidelines, even though the vitamins themselves are not FDA regulated. She's also promising another video on her Youtube channel that will clear things up even more.
"There's a lot of false information circulating that I want to address. Working on an in depth video, answering all questions & accusations regarding @halobeauty for this week. Stay Tuned," she wrote on Twitter.
Tati launching her own beauty brand is such a sweet story, and it's unfortunate that so much controversy has spilled out of her ambitions.
Nevertheless, Westbrook agrees that fans' concerns for what they put in their body is valid and is encouraging everyone to talk to their doctor before taking the Halo Beauty Booster.
Fans deserve answers and full details. Let's hope they get them, and that Westbrook is able to clear up all of the controversy soon. Revelist has reached out to Tati for a statement, and will update this story when we hear back.
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