A former Ulta Beauty employee turned to social media on January 9 to accuse the company of reselling used and repackaged products to customers as if they were new. The Twitter user @fatinamxo created a thread in which she gave insight into the unsanitary actions that took place behind the closed doors of the store where she worked. “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,” she wrote via Twitter.
According to @fatinamxo, they resold everything, ranging from makeup and skin care products to hair tools. She went on to describe the various methods managers and employees used to clean the returned items. Q-tips were used to give foundation the appearance of being new. Returned and swatched lipsticks were cleaned with alcohol. Managers taught staff how to clean eyeshadow pallets so they could be repackaged rather than be placed in the damage bin. Pictures of the supposedly used and resold products, such as foundation and lipstick, were posted by @fatinamxo to coincide with some of her claims.
Courtesy: @fatinamxo
When the former employee contacted corporate about the actions that were happening in the store, @fatinamxo was left shocked. “I contacted corporate and I was surprised to hear her say “well when it comes to mascaras we definitely want to be hygienic” I immediately cut her off and said what about lipsticks? And foundation? They are selling everything they can clean up and make “new” again,” she posted. According to @fatinamxo, corporate said they would look into it.
Courtesy: @fatinamxo
The thread has gone viral, and to the dismay of makeup fans, former employees that worked in different locations of the Ulta Beauty chain, such as Texas, California and Florida, came forward with their own accounts of this ill behavior. “For the girls saying it might just be my store, I can’t speak for every store but that’s why I posted screenshots of other girls sharing their experiences as well. Girls I don’t even know, in completely different states, have told me their stores are doing the same thing,” @fatinamxo added in a follow-up post.
Some consumers are outraged, going so far as to say that their days of shopping at Ulta Beauty are over, while some believe the accusations are false claims from disgruntled ex-employees. Others don’t know what to believe because of the counter comments of employees from various stores insisting this is not common practice. On Twitter, Ulta responded to the comments of users with, “The health and safety of our guests is a top priority for Ulta Beauty. We are looking into these claims as these actions described are inconsistent with our practices and values.” Ulta has also encouraged employees that have witnessed these actions to contact them.
News sources such as People and Today reached out to Ulta Beauty and received responses that stressed that the company does not condone reselling used products. The policy is to dispose of them. Ulta made a statement to Teen Vogue about the accusations, which stated, “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 described are inconsistent with our practices and while we continue to investigate, we want to emphasize that we do not allow the resale of any opened or used items in our stores.”
While it is relieving to know that reselling used products is not store policy, the question of if this practice is actually occurring remains. The accusation against Ulta Beauty, whether it turns out to be true or false, is a reminder for consumers to be observant about what they are buying, no matter what store they are shopping at. “I have nothing against Ulta as I mentioned earlier,” @fatinamxo tweeted, “as I mentioned this should be a warning to all beauty lovers! Check your makeup before purchasing it.”