How many CVS and Walgreens locations do you have to steal lipstick, eyeshadow, concealer, and other beauty products from in order to get to $69,000? According to the Miami Dade Police Department the answer is 32. [More]
cosmetics
There Are Six FDA Inspectors For 3,000,000 Shipments Of Imported Cosmetics Per Year
By 8.2.17
Every year, there are three million shipments of cosmetic products that pass through U.S. ports and onto our store shelves. The problem is that there are only six inspectors for all of those shipments, which means that .3% of them are ever inspected. Products like tattoo ink that goes under the skin and lipstick that could be ingested fall under “cosmetics,” and products could be dangerous. [More]
Is The FDA Doing Enough To Keep Problematic Personal Care Products Off Shelves?
By 6.26.17
When you slather that trendy beauty lip balm on or try a new shampoo for the first time, perhaps you’re under the impression that the federal government has a process in place that ensures that cosmetic or personal care product is safe before it touches your body. But the reality is that cosmetics manufacturers don’t have to obtain premarket approval before selling most new products — and whether or not they report adverse events related to those items is pretty much up to them. Some in the industry think it’s time for this to change. [More]
L’Oreal Looking To Sell Off The Body Shop
By 2.9.17
Another day, another company looking to pull out of a retail entanglement: This time it’s L’Oreal, which has confirmed reports that it’s looking into selling off The Body Shop chain of stores. In other news, today we learned that L’Oreal owns The Body Shop. [More]
FDA Recommends Limiting Lead In Lipstick & Other Cosmetic Products
By 12.21.16
Though no one really wants to hear they are putting lead into or on their bodies, the fact is that many cosmetics contain low levels of lead. While the amount of lead in your lipstick might be too low to do any harm, the Food and Drug Administration is still taking steps to further limit the amount of the chemical found in such products. [More]
Aloe Vera Gel Bought At Walmart, Target, CVS Might Not Actually Contain Aloe Vera
By 11.22.16
There’s nothing quite like slathering aloe vera all over a burning, uncomfortable sunburn. But does that aloe vera gel on the drugstore shelf actually contain any aloe vera? [More]
This Woman’s Job: Smearing Makeup Globs Just Right For Photos
By 10.25.16
When you see a photo in an ad or on a website of a cosmetics product that’s been artfully smashed, smeared, or scattered on a surface, that’s a special kind of advertising art that requires special tools. What’s it like to smear lipstick around for a living, smash eyeshadows, and build towers of perfume bottles with a hot glue gun? [More]
Beauty Box Julep Must Donate Toiletries To Settle Lawsuit Over Shady Negative-Option Marketing
By 9.6.16
Negative-option subscriptions aren’t anything new: just ask any former member of Columbia House. Subscribers sign up for a service, and then receive something every month unless they specifically opt out. It’s become a popular model in fashion recently, and that includes the cosmetics subscription box from Julep, a company probably best known for its nail polishes. Today, the state of Washington announced that the company settled charges that its negative-option marketing for cosmetics boxes was deceptive. [More]
The FDA Doesn’t Actually Have The Power To Recall Cosmetics That Harm People
By 8.15.16
Last month, the Food and Drug Administration announced that it would be investigating claims from consumers that the “cleansing conditioner” Wen, purportedly developed by celebrity hairstylist Chaz Dean, had caused scalp irritation and even made some users’ hair fall out. The FDA looked into the situation after receiving 127 complaints about the product, but didn’t know that the marketer, Proactiv maker Guthy-Renker, had received more than 21,000 complaints about the product that it wasn’t obligated to report to the FDA. [More]
Probably Avoid These Skin Care Products If You Don’t Want Mercury Poisoning
By 8.5.16
Mercury poisoning doesn’t sound fun, but it also doesn’t necessarily sound like something the average consumer runs into a lot in modern cosmetic aisles, what with federal regulations banning dangerous levels of the stuff. However, there are a slew of illegal skin care products for sale out there that contain mercury, and the Food and Drug Administration doesn’t want folks slathering them on their bodies. [More]
Why Is The Beauty Chain Ulta Growing While The Rest Of Retail Shrinks?
By 6.21.16
In the last few years, Ulta stores have sprouted in strip malls across the country. The chain plans to open 100 new stores this year. How are they expanding when brick-and-mortar retail in general seems doomed? The company credits its variety of price points, ability to quietly upsell customers to prestige brands, and its salon. [More]
Revlon Decides To Change Up Its Beauty Routine, Buys Elizabeth Arden For $870M
By 6.20.16
What’s a global beauty brand to do when it’s time to get a new look? Revlon decided to go shopping for something to change up its routine, picking up fellow cosmetics company Elizabeth Arden in a deal worth $870 million. [More]
Women Uninterested In New Clothes Or Gadgets, Buying Lots Of High-End Makeup
By 3.30.16
America’s female shoppers just aren’t as interested as they used to be in most of the stuff available in malls: spending on almost everything is down. There’s one area of retail that’s growing that you might not have expected, though: sales of high-end cosmetics are climbing, which include makeup and skin care. Why is that? Blame YouTube. [More]
Users Complain That This Night Cream Is Giving Them Weird Dreams
By 3.11.16
A night cream is exactly what it sounds like: a cream that you apply to your face overnight to moisturize while you sleep. Yet some users of a night cream from skin care brand Dr. Brandt report that more than wrinkle-softening is happening when they use it: they report incredibly vivid dreams, some of which are scary. [More]
Makeup Companies Are Developing Products With Your Selfie Camera In Mind
By 9.22.15
For most people, our social media lives haven’t overtaken our real lives yet, but there is one industry where selfie reality is as important as actual reality. That’s the cosmetics industry, where a popular Instagram post can make a new product, and where snapping a selfie of a new product on your face or arm is a review. That’s why new cosmetic products are now selfie-optimized. [More]
Sephora Launching A Beauty Sample Subscription Box Service
By 8.7.15
If you’re a makeup fan whose favorite part of ordering online from Sephora is the product samples, here’s some good news: the retailer is finally joining the beauty subscription box trend popularized by Birchbox and followed by many other companies. The cosmetics-loving public’s thirst for sample boxes is apparently unquenchable. [More]
Procter & Gamble Settles With California Over Allegedly Misleading Moisturizer Boxes
By 7.8.15
When an item is costly by the ounce and comes in very small containers, how can you make the product seem more substantial while also making it harder to steal? Many companies that make expensive things to smear on your face solve this problem by adding a false bottom to jars. Procter & Gamble’s Olay brand was accused of doing this by four California counties, and has agreed to settle the lawsuit by changing the product’s packaging and paying a civil penalty. [More]
Walgreens Wants To Lure Shoppers With A Makeover For The Makeup Aisle
By 6.11.15
For some, when it comes to buying makeup or beauty products the destination is always the department store, not the drug store. At department stores there are sales associates to help you find the right colors to complement your skin or offer high-end beauty brands. But Walgreens wants to change that, with a revamp of its beauty and cosmetics area. [More]
