The U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulates both cosmetics and drugs, but they’re not the same thing. The distinction is that drugs affect the structure of your body or the way it works, and cosmetics just make you look nicer. It’s the difference between a tube of mascara and a prescription of Latisse. Try telling that to Lancôme, though. The FDA happened to stop by the company’s website one day, and noticed that the company makes some claims that make their products sound less like cosmetics, and more like drugs. [More]
makeup
Elizabeth Arden Sends Out Cheaper Item, Hopes No One Notices
By 2.2.12
Lauren doesn’t normally spend a lot of money on makeup, and was excited to spot a seemingly-great promotion in our Morning Deals last month. Spend $65 on Elizabeth Arden cosmetics, and get a fabulous case stuffed full of eyeshadows, lipsticks, and brushes, with a stated total value of $350. (Makeup deal connoisseurs know that this isn’t quite true since the items in the kit were never for retail sale in the first place, but it’s still some fine face paint.) She placed the order, but when it arrived learned that the deal had been so popular that Elizabeth Arden had run out of the original gift cases. Did they contact her, cancel the order, or substitute something else of equal value? Nope. They subbed in a lower-value gift case, apparently hoping that customers wouldn’t notice. [More]
How To Use Makeup Testers Without Giving Yourself A Disease
By 4.20.10
Elizabeth Brooks, a professor at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, has some advice for people trying out makeup when they’re out shopping. As most people know, makeup can harbor bacteria and viruses, and shared testers are the worst offenders: Brooks tested hundreds of makeup counter samples for a study and found 100% of it was contaminated with things like staph, strep, and E. coli. [More]
Sorry, Sally Hansen Representatives Can't Tell You Anything About Sally Hansen
By 2.10.10
The origins of the extremely popular nail care brand Sally Hansen are shrouded in mystery. The most that Beautypedia researcher Daynah Burnett says she has been able to figure out is that there was never a person named Sally Hansen. More than that is apparently on a need-to-know basis: the company doesn’t put any information on its web site, and even its customer service representatives don’t seem to know. [More]
Lorac Replaces Entire Makeup Kit After Two Eyeshadows Smashed In Transit
By 12.27.09
Lizbeth ordered an eye makeup kit from Lorac Cosmetics, but two of the eyeshadows in the case were smashed when the kit arrived. She contacted their customer service about replacements for those few colors, and got a lovely surprise in return. [More]
Ulta District Manager Apologizes For "No Writing Anything Down" Policy
By 11.16.09
Last week, Daynah wrote about how she was forced to stop writing anything down during a recent shopping trip to the cosmetics store Ulta. At the time, Daynah grudgingly gave in because she really wanted to make a purchase (she tests products for consumers). But once she left the store, she took the fight back to Ulta.
Ulta Manager: "Take Your Pen To Your Car, You're Not Allowed To Write Anything Down"
By 11.9.09
In a world where smartphones can shoot video, snap photos, record audio, scan barcodes, and let you make price comparisons via text message, it’s almost funny to run into a paranoid manager like the one at an Ulta makeup store in Seattle. Well, funny except for that petty tyrant part where she tells you that you’ll have to take your old-school pen and papers out to the car and come back empty handed before she’ll sell you any makeup.
Brooke Shields Has Hypotrichosis
By 10.27.09
Oh no! Brooke Shields used to have stringy, stick-figure eyelashes! I figured this out after watching Consumer Reports’ video dissection of a new commercial for Latisse, the glaucoma medication that has been rebranded as an expensive, temporary eyelash enhancer with side effects.
Grin, Then Wear It: Benefit Cosmetics Responds To Consumerist
By 7.6.09
Last week, reader Brianna contacted Consumerist about her issues with the defective packaging of a Benefit Cosmetics products, as well as the treatment she received from their e-mail customer service rep. Benefit saw our post, and their PR department responded to Brianna’s story.
A Big, Red, Shiny Kiss Goodbye To Max Factor
By 6.5.09
Max Factor, the venerable cosmetics brand marketed to American women using the faces of familiar film actresses, will disappear from U.S. store shelves forever next year. It will still be available abroad, including in the UK, where it’s a top seller for some reason.
By 3.9.09
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Worried about toxic makeup? The Environmental Working Group has a database with safety ratings on more than 25,000 personal-care products. [Skin Deep]
Mark Your Calendars: Massive Cosmetics Giveaway Set For Inauguration Day
By 1.17.09
Americans face a tough choice Tuesday morning: watch Barack Obama’s historic inauguration, or storm department stores to take advantage of a first-come, first-serve cosmetics giveaway worth $175 million.
Class Action Settlement Sets Up Massive Cosmetics Giveaway
By 8.18.08
Do you like free makeup? How about free cologne? Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, Filene’s, Lord & Taylor, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, and Saks Fifth Avenue have all settled a class action by agreeing to give away $175 million worth of cosmetics starting early next year. No proof of purchase is necessary, but the freebies will be handed out on a first-come-first-served circus basis. Details inside…
How To Fix A Broken Eyeshadow
By 11.17.07
If you are like me the first thing you do after you buy expensive eyeshadow is drop it on your bathroom floor, shattering it completely. I can not tell you how many times I have done this, so when I found the above tutorial on YouTube I was overwhelmed with joy.
Smell Your Makeup!
By 8.12.07
Consumer Affairs says bad makeup can harbor nasty bacteria, and can lead to such unpleasant face decorations as conjuctivitis or peri-oral dermatitis (little red bumps that look like acne). They suggest you tattoo permanent eyeliner and lipstick so you don’t have to worry about makeup. No, wait, that’s what we suggest. They actually suggest throwing out your eye makeup and liquid foundations after three months, powders after a year, and application sponges after a week. Oh, and smell your makeup: “An unusual odor usually means that it contains bacteria.”
