It's a Hollyweird. Most of the stuff in the series never even happened or were highly exaggerated.
Her formula was devised by a pharmacist named Edmund L. Scholtz. The "stolen" formula was no different from any of the other formulas in use at the time except for the perfume that she used that was better at covering up the sulfur smell. It's called putting a twist on an already existing product. Look at the haircare products in your own house, read the ingredients and you'll see, in a lot of cases, the same shyt in different brands with tweaks in the form of color, consistency and/or smell.
It's no different than buying a box of Fruit Loops or a bag of the Millville brand Fruit Rounds. It's the same shyt.