Wella Operations US LLC, the beauty group behind Wella Professionals, Clairol, OPI, and ghd, is currently defending a Wella Company lawsuit in Illinois federal court alleging its website captured shoppers’ facial scans without consent, and it has been named in product liability claims tying hair dye chemicals to bladder cancer. A separate class action over benzene in Sebastian-branded dry shampoo was voluntarily dismissed in 2023.
The Pending Biometric Privacy Class Action
In December 2022, Illinois consumer Jana Shores sued Wella in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The case, Shores v. Wella Operations US LLC, No. 1:22-cv-07152, alleges that Wella’s “Virtual Try-On” feature violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA).1Bloomberg Law. Wella Hair Dye Virtual Try-On Tech Sparks Biometric Privacy Suit
The tool lets shoppers upload a photo or turn on a webcam to preview hair dye shades. According to the complaint, it uses an application called YouCam Makeup, made by Perfect Corp., that captures and processes facial geometry to overlay product colors on the user’s image.2ClassAction.org. Wella Facing Biometric Privacy Lawsuit in Illinois Over Facial Scans Shores says she did not know the feature was collecting biometric data and would not have used it if she had been told.
The suit claims Wella fell short of BIPA in four specific ways:
- Users were not given written notice that their biometric identifiers were being collected.
- Wella did not obtain a written release before capturing facial scans.
- The company did not publish a retention schedule showing how long the data would be kept or when it would be destroyed.
- Users were not told whether their facial data might be shared with outside parties.
The complaint includes screenshots of a “Tap & Try!” button on Wella’s site that prompts users to submit a photo for facial analysis. The proposed class covers Illinois residents whose biometric identifiers were captured through the tool, and the combined claims are pleaded as exceeding $5 million.3AFS Law. Biometric Privacy Class Actions Take Aim at Virtual Try-On Retailers As of mid-2026 the case remains pending with no reported resolution.
Wella’s global privacy notice, updated in October 2024, acknowledges that the Virtual Try-On tool processes photos of a user’s face, hair, skin tone, or hands and nails, and states that consent is obtained “where required,” including for sensitive data categories. U.S. users are directed to a separate Virtual Try-On Privacy Notice on the Clairol website, and the notice says the tool is available “only in certain jurisdictions at this time.”4Wella Company. Privacy Notice Whether those disclosures satisfy BIPA is the central question in Shores.
What the Case Could Be Worth
A useful comparator is Charlotte Tilbury Beauty, which settled a similar BIPA class action (Halim v. Charlotte Tilbury Beauty Inc., No. 2022-CH-11832) in 2024 for $2.925 million over its virtual try-on tools. Individual class members were estimated to receive between $700 and $1,100, and the company admitted no wrongdoing.5PR Newswire. Charlotte Tilbury Beauty Inc. Class Action Settlement Notice A 2024 amendment to BIPA also capped statutory damages at one violation per person on notice-and-consent claims, regardless of how many scans occurred, which cuts the potential exposure for companies like Wella going forward.6ClassAction.org. Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act
Not every beauty-industry BIPA case survives. Estée Lauder had a comparable suit (Castelaz v. Estée Lauder, No. 1:22-cv-05713) dismissed after a federal judge ruled the plaintiffs had not shown the try-on tool collected information capable of identifying a person.7Top Class Actions. Estee Lauder, Bobbi Brown, Other Cosmetics Companies Illegally Collect Facial Data, Class Action Says
Hair Dye and Bladder Cancer Claims
In March 2025, former professional hairstylist Debra Matarazzo sued Wella together with L’Oreal, Henkel, and Clairol in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The case, Matarazzo v. Henkel AG & Co. KGaA et al., No. 2:25-cv-01995, alleged the companies’ hair dye products contained toxic chemicals including aromatic amines, that marketing was misleading, and that the companies failed to warn about an elevated bladder cancer risk. Matarazzo cited 13 years of professional exposure.8DiCello Levitt. DiCello Levitt Files Major Lawsuit Against Leading Hair Dye Manufacturers Over Bladder Cancer Risks
The case never reached the merits. Matarazzo filed a notice of voluntary dismissal on June 5, 2025, and the next day Judge Otis D. Wright II dismissed the action without prejudice and vacated all deadlines.9PACER Monitor. Debra Matarazzo v. Henkel AG & Co. KGaA et al Dismissal without prejudice leaves the claims open to be refiled.
Matarazzo is not the only stylist bringing this theory. In January 2025, hairstylist Hector Corvera filed a similar suit in Los Angeles naming Wella among 11 defendants and alleging that decades of hair dye exposure caused his bladder cancer.10NBC News. Hair Stylist Sues Beauty Brands Over Bladder Cancer Corvera’s attorney has said additional clients may be represented in related cases. As of mid-2026, these claims have not been consolidated into multi-district litigation, but plaintiffs’ firms continue to investigate and take on new cases.11Consumer Notice. New Lawsuits Emerge Claiming Hair Dye Products Cause Bladder Cancer
The Dismissed Benzene Dry Shampoo Case
In late 2022, Wella was sued in Scott v. Wella Operations US LLC, No. 1:22-cv-07070, in the Northern District of Illinois. The complaint alleged that “Sebastian Dry Clean Only” dry shampoo contained dangerously high levels of benzene, a known carcinogen, and cited independent testing by the laboratory Valisure that reportedly detected 7.76 parts per million of benzene in the product. The plaintiff argued the product was adulterated and defective under FDA standards.12ClassAction.org. Human Carcinogen Benzene Found in Sebastian Dry Shampoo, Class Action Says
The plaintiff voluntarily dismissed the case without prejudice on March 23, 2023. No reason was publicly stated.13Top Class Actions. OGX, Wella Sebastian Dry Shampoo Class Actions Allege Products Contain Dangerous Carcinogen
Why These Cases Matter Now
Wella was carved out of Coty Inc. in 2020 when KKR acquired a 60% stake in a $4.3 billion deal covering the Wella, Clairol, OPI, and ghd brands.14SEC. Coty Inc. Earnings Release In December 2025, KKR bought Coty’s remaining 25.8% stake for $750 million, making Wella wholly KKR-owned. As of early 2026, KKR is working with Bank of America and Goldman Sachs to prepare a U.S. initial public offering at a valuation expected to exceed the original acquisition price.15Reuters. KKR Prepares OPI Owner Wella Company for US IPO The pending BIPA case and the possibility that dismissed hair dye claims will be refiled are live legal risks Wella will have to disclose as it moves toward a public listing.