This year, the world learned that not nearly enough people are testing the safety and cleanliness of the cosmetics we buy. No, seriously — the FDA says it only has the staff to inspect .3% of cosmetics.
That being said, its no wonder customers kept finding truly astonishing and nasty stuff in their makeup this year. Remember these notorious instances?
Mold in Jeffree Star Cosmetics lipsticks
In November, a multitude of photos surfaced on Instagram showing Jeffree Star Velour Liquid Lipsticks that allegedly arrived infested with mold. The lipsticks in questions were said to have all come from Beauty Bay, which issued a statement declaring "investigations are still ongoing with Jeffree Star."
Ants in Jeffree Star Cosmetics orders
A customer who made a purchase directly from Jeffree Star Cosmetics' website allegedly opened her order to find a swarm of ants back in May. Several other Twitter and Instagram users made similar complaints but did not recall any interactions with customer service. The brand never issued any statements regarding the claims.
Hair in Jeffree Star Cosmetics highlighter.
19-year-old Natalia Garcia allegedly found a MASSIVE hair in her JSC highlighter. "I was putting my highlighter on when I noticed what I thought was a brush hair from my highlighting brush," she told Seventeen.com. "I pulled it from the pan with tweezers only to find it was a long hair. I one hundred percent think it's a human hair."
Ants in Kylie Cosmetics orders
In September, an Instagram user posted videos of her Kylie Cosmetics order that also allegedly arrived full of ants. She said at the time that she'd been promised a replacement by customer service but failed to receive one more than 20 days after her initial package came. The brand never publicly responded to the claim.
Asbestos in highlighting powders from Justice
Over the summer, a group of journalists discovered via independent testing that highlighters sold by tween retailer Justice contained asbestos, a toxic mineral that's toxic when inhaled. Justice issued an apology and immediately pulled the product off shelves for further investigation.
Asbestos in glitter products from Claire's
In December, a Claire's customer sent one of the retailer's glitter makeup kits to an independent laboratory, where it tested positive for asbestos. Claire's immediately pulled its glitter makeup from shelves and stated it was launching an investigation.
Fingerprints on KKW Beauty products
Shortly after KKW Beauty released its contour sticks in the summer, a YouTuber known as JCMakeupMaster uploaded a video in which he opened his products to find cracks, fingerprints, and lint all over them.
Fingerprints on Kylie Cosmetics palettes
When Revelist editor Alle Connell purchased the Kylie Cosmetics summer collection this year, she received already opened lipsticks and an eye shadow palette with smudges across the mirror and what appeared to be contaminated shadow pans. Other customer complaints online detailed similar experiences.
