Tuesday, April 19, 2011
GlitterSniffer Cosmetics Mineral Makeup Class
Recently GlitterSniffer Cosmetics announced it would be holding a Mineral Makeup formulating class.
GlitterSniffer Cosmetics has been less than forthcoming regarding the details of the rescheduled class. After a bit of research and a phone call I was able to determine that the rescheduled class will now be held on Saturday, May 7 at 3 PM at Redford Karate. The cost has been lowered to $15.00 and attendees will be able to keep whatever they make. It is speculation at this point as to whether Redford Karate knows of the past recall and formulation concerns as well as the business practices of GS, but a person no longer publicly identified as being an employee of GS appears to have had some hand, at least tacitly, in the booking and hopefully would have disclosed this information so that RK could make an informed decision.
4/19/11 ETA: I have received an email stating that the class has been canceled. According to the email Redford Karate was informed of GlitterSniffer Cosmetics past and current business practices by a former customer and opted not to have the class.
The class was to be held at the Redford, MI YWCA on April 23 with a cost of $35.00.
I was made aware that several people had contacted the YWCA with their concerns regarding the class and the possibility of liability for the YWCA. It should be noted that GS stance is that all of their current products are eye approved and their formulating techniques are sanitary.
The class had ostensibly been canceled, with no clear explanation given, though the event invite was still on Facebook. I contacted the Redfield YWCA to confirm the cancellation on 4/15/11. After several phone calls I was informed that it was indeed canceled, that the event invite was still up in error, and was given an apology for the misinformation. The direct quote from the person I spoke with at the YWCA was "We are not affiliated with her". The event invite for the class has since been removed.
The event has now been rescheduled and GlitterSniffer Cosmetics is encouraging attendees to bring their friends and older children.
4/19/11 ETA: I have received an email stating that the class has been canceled. According to the email Redford Karate was informed of GlitterSniffer Cosmetics past and current business practices by a former customer and opted not to have the class.
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So in other words, they're going to teach people how to go read the TKB Trading / Mixupyourmakeup.com mineral makeup primer book / forum posts, and they're going to charge them for this service?
ReplyDeleteWell, some folks just prefer in-person hands-on tutoring. Or haven't yet learned about mixupyourmakeup.com.
I thankfully never purchased any GlitterSniffer products. These issues are absolutely terrifying, that one person could be so lax as to not care for the safety of her consumers. Especially as I'm hoping to start dabbling in creating mineral make up, these issues really reinforce how cautious I have to be.
ReplyDeleteWhat I'm curious about it how this lady has literally gotten away with so much over the last 4 years? Why hasn't she been stopped? How come authorities haven't done anything?
Sorry for my wall of text but I'm literally gobsmacked that this lady is still in business. And it's even more scary that there's people out there who are still buying her products!
LiAnn- I hadn't heard of mixupyourmakeup.com. I'll have to check it out, though it will just be from the standpoint of an interested observer. I prefer to leave it to the experts because I have no craft skills. Thanks for the link!
ReplyDeleteSophie- Thanks for your comment. From my observation the reason this went on for as long as it did is that from a marketing standpoint GS is amazing at building a brand, a community, and loyalty. GS wasn't just makeup for diehard fans, it was friends. From that perspective it's easy to see why late shipments, missing packages, etc were overlooked. Even when the soap dyes first came to light the facts were dismissed since GS claimed they had disclosed this at the time of sale, a stance they maintain to this day which is demonstrably false (screenshots here show this Neon Collection has no such disclaimer: http://nikhedonia.wordpress.com/2010/08/04/behind-the-glitter/). It wasn't until December when it all came to a head.
To be honest when I started this blog I had no clue how pervasive the issues were. I really was just a one time customer wanting a refund. I don't think anyone really knew as the culture that surrounded GS was not conducive to people speaking up. Better to leave quietly than risk others wrath.
As for why GS continues to operate there are a variety of reasons. The FDA can monitor a recall but has no authority to really do anything about it. A class action does no good because there is no money to be had so lawyers are not interested. The Michigan Attorney General only mediates consumer complaints and will only pursue issues if they are pervasive. As of last month only 4 complaints had been filed. That's less than 1% of the members of the GS Complaints page. No reason to pursue an issue that appears to only have affected 4 people. The Postal Service is forwarding on the information, but again, that's based on about 3 complaints filed. No word back yet from the FTC. So really, it's a combination of factors. Regulatory resources are overwhelmed, partial consumer reticence to take action on their own behalf, and the sheer tenacity of Lela Warren. It's like a perfect storm when you think about it.
But I hold out hope, as always. When you google 'GlitterSniffer' or 'GlitterSniffer Cosmetics' the autocomplete suggests this blog. My hope is that its existence will provide information enough so that people can make a safe, informed decision, whether GS continues to sell MMU or not.
I'd like to thank you for creating and maintaining this blog. While I've never {thankfully} been a Glittersniffer customer, I've gone back and read every single post on your blog from the beginning (as well as things posted on the FB page), because this entire situation simply fascinates me - though not in a good way. I never had any intention of buying from them {the name "Glittersniffer" was kind of a turn-off from the beginning, IMO}, but after reading all of these stories and posts about GS, I've become much more aware of what I'm buying when I shop for mineral makeup. I started buying mineral makeup on a whim, when I first discovered Etsy. I heard about Orglamix, and placed orders with them {when their prices were lower}. I didn't think to check things like the ingredients, making sure they matched up with what I was actually receiving, and didn't really buy the products BECAUSE they were mineral-based - I just liked the colors and the prices. However, now that I've educated myself in regards to mineral makeup/vegan makeup, I've narrowed down my places to shop significantly. Unfortunately Orglamix is going through a similar situation with repackaging, non-eye-safe ingredients, etc...once that started, I found your blog and was introduced to a whole new side of mineral makeup {and, more importantly, the lack of business ethic some people have}. But I'm much more discriminating now in my shopping habits, and I'm not sure I would have known any better had it not been for your blog {and the Orglamix "Fraud" Facebook page}. Luckily there are some wonderful, helpful, quality mineral makeup businesses out there, with great prices and lovely colors, so it's easy to find a substitute. And that's the thing about all of this: with so many small mineral makeup companies out there, especially selling on etsy, it's so easy for a consumer to find a substitute for their mineral makeup - so why would companies jeopardize their sales and reputation, knowing that their customers WILL find other sources of mineral makeup? It just boggles my mind.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, sorry for the novel-length comment. :)