Friday, January 7, 2011
Email 2-GlitterSniffer Complaints
Posted below is the full and complete communication I had today via email with GlitterSniffer Cosmetics, specifically, Lela Warren. I am posting it in full, unedited. I have obtained permission from GS to do so.
Hello! :)
We're all for free speech, no debate here, but we figured any good journalist would be interested in both sides of the story, so feel free to come to us with any questions you may have as a medium of information for your readers.
Also, we took down the recall list as I spoke with the FDA today for the 2nd time in two weeks and they informed me that they were closing the file on GS. I'm sure they are still willing to take any complaints sent their way, but that is why the recall list was removed.
We ask our customers not to post any sales of pigment simply because we are trying to continue profiting so that people can be paid back in a timely fashion, therefore we are asking that sales be taken off the page.
XOXOGS Cosmetics
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XO- Lela <3President of Glittersniffer Cosmetics
Lela,
I appreciate your taking the time to address these matters. It is very important that information be available to everyone so they can make an informed decision.
I do have a few questions I would like ask, posed by both myself and others.
1) What changes, specifically, are you making to the labeling of products and ingredients used going forward to comply with FDA regulations?
2) What pigments, specifically, are not vegan? Why are they considered not vegan (ingredients, etc)?
3) What is your specific timeline for remitting funds previously raised for charity? What is your plan to obtain the money in question?
4) What processes do you have in place to ensure that every customer who may have purchased an adulterated product from GS is informed?
5) What ingredients were used (including chemical name), specific per pigment, in all products distributed from 2006-present?
6) What measures are being put into place to ensure that all ingredients are 100% safe and vegan?
7) What steps are being implemented to ensure that all safety measures for formulation and packaging of products are followed every time?
8) What is the contact information for your legal counsel?
9) What is the timeline, specifically, when all claims will be paid?
10) Where are the ingredients for the new products you are readying for sale from?
11) You state that the FDA has closed their investigation and you have removed the recall list because of that. Does this means that although you admit to using unsafe dyes and ingredients that you are now not going to honor that recall?
I appreciate your time in answering these questions. I am sure I will have more as time goes on and will contact you again. Any response you could provide would be most appreciated.
Sincerely,
GlitterSniffer Complaints
Okay, Lets get to this :)
1. As I mix pigments I will be writing down the Retail Name of each ingredient I am using, my staff and I will then be going in and looking at each bag of pigment and writing down the chemical names of each ingredient in that specific pigment/mica and posting it with the collection. We have already done this with the next 3 collections that will be coming out. We are not able to fit the labeling on each individual pigment, but we are in discussion with each other and our Graphic Designer about the best way to make that information available. We are considering doing a separate page on the official website for more detailed information on the ingredients, but it will be available in full for consumers to view.
2. It is really difficult for me to say exactly what pigments are not vegan, simply because I have made so many over the years. I know that is not the answer many people want to hear, but I am being 100% forthcoming with these answers, therefore they won't necessarily be what some hope them to be. I do keep recipes for things that I know I will be remaking, such as the website colors, but colors that I don't ever plan on making again, I, in the past, did not always write down what I had in each pigment. I can say, however, that the website colors and the colors that I sold on Etsy were of the majority, vegan. Only a few of the reds, which I always did make public at some point in time, were not vegan. Most of those reds would have been colors in collections, such as Ariel in the Twisted Princess Collection. I started with the intention of being 100% vegan, and then people starting wanting reds and I wanted to give people what they wanted, so compromised that, and I take full responsibility for that. If anyone is concerned about if a specific red is or is not vegan, they are welcome to e-mail me.
3. We have contacted TWLOHA, who we had contact with about the donation previously, and they are aware of the delay in the donation. We did, however, want them to know that it was still in the plan. We did not contact the other 2 charities, as we had not notified them about our plans to raise money for them in the first place, but we are still going to donate to them as we promised. The funds were left in our PayPal account, as we planned on doing a donation directly through PayPal on Christmas Eve. When we asked people to file for refunds, we had no idea the response we would get. The influx of disputes locked our account so we could not transfer the Charity Money out, and then every dispute filed began coming out of the charity money. We cannot give a definite time frame on when it will be donated, we can only say that we hope to donate it within the next 6 months. We have no idea how our sales are going to be when we re-open, and our first priority is taking care of our negative PayPal account balance so that people who have filed disputes can be paid, then to pay all of the invoices we have, and then we will begin putting money toward Charity again. It was never our intention to NOT donate to Charity. Our plan to obtain the money, as I mentioned, will be sales.
4. Unfortunately, it is not within our means to contact every single customer who has ever ordered from GS Cosmetics. We did provide the recall list to the FDA as requested, and it is our understanding that they have opted not to publish this recall list like they do for major companies who need to reach a large consumer base. We will gladly, and happily, refund anyone who contacts us about the recall. We are in discussion with each other, our legal counsel, the FDA, and our graphic designer as to if we will be posting the recall on the website. We will comply with any request made by a federal agency. We will be speaking with the FDA one more time tomorrow where we plan to find out if we are legally required to post the recall. If we are not, we will then be in discussion with our legal counsel as to the next steps.
5. Again, in relation to question number 2, I will not be able to give you a list of every ingredient in every pigment ever mixed by GS. It is up to the consumer if they choose to use or product that has not been recalled or not pursuant to that information. We believe we have thought of every pigment ever made by GS, and believe that our list of recalled pigments is as true to our knowledge as we have. Any other pigment has been made with
6. As stated in question number 1, we will be following all those guidelines. We have also implemented new procedures to ensure the sanitary conditions of all the pigments, including but not limited to wearing gloves, sanitizing all work environments, and instructing on proper hand washing.
7. We currently only have 1 other employee who packs any pots and orders. I am personally supervising this process and as new employees are added again, they will be personally trained by me and briefed on this exact situation as to why their compliance is necessary.
8. Due to the overwhelming amount of discussion about my legal counsel, I am not publicly posting that information. My address is available for anyone who is concerned with any legal matter. They may send their correspondence to the address listed and I will then forward that on to my attorney if need be. Should there need to be any legal correspondence, my counsel will then take over. However, general questions and concerns need to be directed to Glittersniffer Cosmetics, as it is our sincere hope that we can settle any issues amicably.
9. Again, I'm sorry for the inability to give you definite answers. We are truly hoping to do it within the month, but subject to our sales and what happens with our profits we aren't able to give a definite time line. All of the money that comes in for proceeds are going back toward refunds.
10. We ordered new pigments from our supplier for the new collection coming out. There is concern that the money used for new pigments should have went to refunds, but we felt we had to have a means to produce more income to ensure everyone gets their refunds, rather than refunding 1/2 of the people and being at a standstill with no way to produce the money to pay the other 1/2 back.
11. We are still honoring the recall
I hope that answered all of your questions. Please let me know if you have any more.
XOXOGS Cosmetics
I appreciate your response. I would be happy to update the blog with the information you have provided. I generally do a summary post, but if you would feel more comfortable that I posted your exact words I would be happy to do so, with your express permission, of course. I do have some followup questions, but it is late and you have been accomodating enough for tonight. I will say, though, that it seems question 5 is not a finished answer.
Again, thank you for taking the time to answer questions. It is actions like this that show your commitment to reinforcing your company values, and I appreciate it.
Here is a screenshot of the ingredients from the site.Oh, sorry about number 5! I was just going to type all the ingredients that were listed on the website.
I would prefer you update the blog with my exact responses, except for number 5, you may fill that in with the ingredients I just made mention of.
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