A former makeup consultant says a beauty store she used to work at would reseal returned items and then resell them. She posted her claims on social media.
So I was a former employee at ULTA and whenever a customer would return a product, we were told by managers to repackage / reseal the item and put it back on the shelf.
— fatinamxo (@fatinamxo) January 10, 2018
The woman's social media posts went viral. Shoppers concerned when they heard about her claims.
"I pretty much buy my whole face here, so that's gross to know," said Jamielee Karvcov, before she went inside a local store. "I was always under the impression that they threw things away when you returned it," she added.
They would resell EVERYTHING. ( makeup , hair care , skincare, fragrance ,hair tools, etc. )
— fatinamxo (@fatinamxo) January 10, 2018
The former Ulta employee worked up in a store in the Midwest. She said on social media her manager would make the employees clean out foundation with q-tips. She also tweeted about wiping down lip palettes with alcohol.
For example this foundation ( even sticks) they would clean it with a q-tip to make it look new. I’ll attach a photo of a NEW foundation vs. the one they repackaged and put back on the shelf. ( NOT SANITIZED ) pic.twitter.com/opCq6Uovj1
— fatinamxo (@fatinamxo) January 10, 2018
They even put back a USED liquid lipstick, the manager said she would “clean it with alcohol” ( that was the last straw for me ) here is a photo of a lip palette ( exclusive online only ) that was returned and mangers put it back on the shelf to resell ( CLEARLY NOT SANITIZED ) pic.twitter.com/V6TRPOKAHk
— fatinamxo (@fatinamxo) January 10, 2018
"It definitely leaves a bad taste in your mouth," said Monica Evenson, after she saw the conversation on social media. "I'm going to be more cautious when I buy stuff," she added.
Other Ulta employees across the country shared their stories on social media. One posted about used makeup being sold in an Orlando store.
4 In Your Corner reached out to Ulta Beauty to see if they received complaints about Southwest Florida locations.
A spokeswoman sent out this statement, "Every day, we aim to offer the best guest experience. This includes efforts to safeguard the integrity of products we sell. We take seriously our responsibility to provide safe, high quality products. The actions are inconsistent with our practices and while we investigate, we want to emphasize that we do not allow the resale of any opened or used items in our stores."
Ulta customers in Cape Coral hope that's the case.
"Think we kind of take companies at their world when things are getting thrown away," said Karvcov. "Hope that's true," she added.
