Artfire Privacy Breach

**Not GlitterSniffer Cosmetics related.**
If you have shopped on Artfire you may want to read this.

On Friday night there was a glitch on Artfire that prepopulated the wrong information at checkout. The information that populated was name, address and email address, but the information was not for the customer chacking out. Instead it was for an entirely different customer. The blog linked above tells of one Artfire users experience and Artfire and Artfire Artisans reactions to the breach.

Artfire has stated that no financial information was released, that the issue appears to be resolved, and that they will be contacting affected customers via email in the coming days. The rough estimate of affected customers sits at 100 at this time. Artfire may be contacted via email.

I am working on a follow up post regarding the situation, including other affected customers/shops, complaints filed with the FTC,  and further information regarding privacy, which I hope to have vetted and posted on Monday.

GlitterSniffer Cosmetics Artfire: Back to Basics

I posted last week about GlitterSniffer Bath and its status being changed from Pro to Basic on Artfire.

 

Per Artfire FAQ the billing for Pro accounts is handled via direct debit:

How am I billed for my Pro membership?

Pro members on ArtFire pay a low monthly subscription via credit card. When you sign up for a Pro account or upgrade a Basic account to Pro you’ll begin a monthly subscription that bills on the same day of the month that you signed up. So, if you signed up on the 4th of the month, your account will be debited on the 4th of every month. If your card expires or is declined, we will contact you to assist you in setting up another card or updating your credit card information. You can request to cancel your Pro membership at any time; requests are processed on a members next scheduled billing date.

As of today GlitterSniffer Cosmetics no longer maintains a Pro Artfire account.

There has been no formal closure announcement from GlitterSniffer Cosmetics, and Lela Warren's Facebook profile still lists her as Owner and President of GlitterSniffer Cosmetics.

This despite the current lack of a payment processor, the ongoing FDA investigation, the closure of both the GlitterSniffer Cosmetics Facebook Fan Page and Private Group, the failure to renew the GlitterSnifferCosmetics.com domain, and the Artfire shop being all but abandoned for at least two months.

I think at this point it is safe to say that GlitterSniffer Cosmetics is at the very least on an indefinite hiatus, and quite possibly closed forever. What this means for the customers still awaiting refunds or the ongoing FDA investigation remains to be seen.

I have a few more posts to publish in the next couple of days before moving to a posting schedule of FDA investigation information and random followup only. At that point posts will be sporadic and only should the need arise. The blog and the Facebook page will continue to remain so as to serve as a chronicle of the past business practices of GlitterSniffer Cosmetics and to ensure that people have all available information to make a safe, informed decision.

GlitterSniffer Bath Basics

As we come to what looks to be the end of the GlitterSniffer Cosmetics story there is a portion that has yet to be addressed, that of GlitterSniffer Bath.

GS Bath started off as an apprenticeship with Lela Warren for Brandy Cameron. In an effort to grow Brandy's skill in Bath and Body the free program was offered to GlitterSniffer Cosmetics customers for a varying cash donation for supplies. All labor was to be donated by Lela and Brandy. And just what was Brandy learning from Lela? Given the documented history and the reports of the conditions of formulation at GlitterSniffer Cosmetics it is a valid question.

So what did finally arrive for those in the bath pool?

An experimental product

Relatively intact, save for the dust shaped Bath Bombs. It appears to be well packaged, though the product has issues with irregularity. GS was always very upfront about their Bath Bombs being hand molded, so no surprises there. What about the labeling?

Depending on the actual ingredients in the bath products at the bare minimum the labels affixed to the packaging require:

1. Wording on the package that identifies the product as "Soap"
2. Net weight of product
3. Name and address of business

Again, depending on ingredients, the products sold by GlitterSniffer Bath would either fall under the purview of The Consumer Product Safety Commission ('true' soap) or FDA (soap that is detergent and/or makes cosmetic/health claims). As there has been no disclosure about what, exactly, was in these products by the company it is unclear at this point as to just what labeling is required. However, slapping on a label that says "Soap" does not appear to meet even the minimum requirements.

For illustrative purposes only, here are some Indie bath and body shops and their labels/product handling.

One Hand Washes The Other:

Simply Sweet Skin:

GlitterSniffer Bath began selling via Artfire in short order. Things started off well, with several sales. It was verified through the sale of one of the Unicorn Birthday Scented Soaps that GS Bath was indeed under the reigns of Brandy Cameron, as seen in this Paypal receipt:

From a customer service standpoint the transaction went off without a hitch. The soap arrived in a timely manner, was well packaged, a Delivery Confirmation number (which updated regularly) was sent to the customer, and the package included a receipt and a coupon for 10% off the next order. Here is the soap itself:

It seems that GS Bath may have learned all too well at least one past business practice from GlitterSniffer Cosmetics.

There was absolutely no labeling on this product. Not even a sticker identifying it as soap.

GS Bath then hit a road bump. 

I was unable to verify conclusively if the Google Checkout account being used was a separate one for GS Bath or the GS Cosmetics account. All receipts I saw were remitted to GlitterSniffer Cosmetics via Google Checkout, but they were all for combined purchases from both GS and GS Bath.

As it stands now the GlitterSniffer Bath Artfire is empty, and no one has checked in for a month. There was an interesting development this week for GS Bath. The shop has moved from a paid 'Pro' account to a 'Basic' account. Per Artfire the 'Pro' fees are automatically debited from a credit card on file every month on the same date as the inception of the shops' 'Pro' status. One could surmise from this that either the card was declined or the 'Pro' account was canceled.

Pro

Basic

At this point it appears that just short of 25 sales GS Bath has ceased operations, at least for the time being.

Another interesting thing to note, despite no communication from the company, removal of the Fan Page and private Facebook Group, no checkins on their Artfire for a month, and the ongoing FDA investigation, GlitterSniffer Cosmetics maintains their 'Pro' status.

 

*Note: All pictures and links to products/shops other than GlitterSniffer Bath/GlitterSniffer Cosmetics are used for illustrative purposes only and should not be construed as an endorsement or recommendation. Thank you.

5/31/11 ETA: Corrected Beauty in the second paragraph to read Body. B&B stands for Bath& Body.

Artfire- Possible New Development

I was emailed today by Jenny N. They were looking at Artfire and discovered that there was an issue when attempting to access GlitterSniffer Cosmetics listings.

They found that when you searched GlitterSniffer Cosmetics in All Items that the company's listings came up. Attempting to access any of the listings, however, simply brought the page back to the main screen.The same happens when you search GlitterSniffer Cosmetics in Handmade.

I did a bit of research myself. I searched for GlitterSniffer Cosmetics as a Seller Search. Here was the result:

ArtFire Seller Not Found.

The company has not announced on the Facebook Fan Page that it is placing the shop on vacation as is their usual practice. They have even recently gone back to their stated 3-5 business day turnaround time, so it does not appear to be an issue of orders being backed up.

It should be noted that even if the shop were on vacation, it would still be searchable as a shop and not return the result Seller Not Found. Depending on the Vacation Mode chosen by the seller the shop would either appear empty with a vacation message, or full, with a vacation message. 

Artfire Shop Open Vacation Message

Artfire Shop Closed Vacation Message

It is too soon to tell the exact implications of these searches. It could be that there is a functionality issue with Artfire at this time. I have emailed Artfire at service@artfire.com for further information.

Thank you to Jenny N. for the information, and I will update should I hear back from Artfire.

3/5/11 ETA: Add the name of the emailer who provided the information.

Artfire Followup

I apologize for the lack of posts. I had a situation arise that required my attention. I have much to share over the next few days, but will start with this.

I emailed Artfire a few days ago at service@artfire.com. I was not the only one. There were several replies today, all with the same information.

In my email I outlined the various Artfire TOS violations that may be occurring in GlitterSniffer Cosmetics shop.

The email contained a confidentiality disclaimer. The disclaimer is very binding so I will not reiterate it here, but I will say it differed from the reply to my previous email about GlitterSniffer Cosmetics in one very significant way, and I am satisfied with their response.

Those looking for the GlitterSniffer Cosmetics Artfire will find it empty. To curb speculation it should be noted that the company announced it would be closing to catch up on orders.

They were unable to meet their stated turnaround time of 5 business days:

The turnaround time is now 8-10 days. This was announced via the company's Facebook Fan Page.

According to the FTC Mail and Order Telephone Merchandise Rule, which also covers internet sales:

If, after taking the customer’s order, you learn that you cannot ship within the time you stated or within 30 days, you must seek the customer’s consent to the delayed shipment. If you cannot obtain the customer’s consent to the delay -- either because it is not a situation in which you are permitted to treat the customer’s silence as consent and the customer has not expressly consented to the delay, or because the customer has expressly refused to consent -- you must, without being asked, promptly refund all the money the customer paid you for the unshipped merchandise.

 It is not clear if GlitterSniffer Cosmetics has contacted its customers to gain this consent, but at least one consumer was not satisfied:

2/18/11 ETA: Added Label "Complaints I Filed"

GlitterSniffer Cosmetics and Artfire

GlitterSniffer Cosmetics is currently selling their products via Artfire. I wanted to take a closer look at what exactly the company is offering.

First of all, all their pigments are listed as 100% Pure Pigment. A quick look at their ingredients list shows that this is simply not the case.

Magnesium Stearate is a base additive used to aid in slip and adhesion. Its inclusion means these are not 100% Pure Pigment. It should be noted that per Artfire TOS any of these products can be flagged and removed for "Misleading Pic/Title".

According to GlitterSniffer Cosmetics own Artfire Policies all shipments include delivery confirmation.

 

However, in the individual listings it states they do not provide tracking information and if you wish to have this information you must email and specifically request it.

There is also the issue of when exactly the company was founded. According to the Artfire Bio it was 2008, but the recall information is for products from 2006 and on. A full examination of this phenomena may be found here.

Then there is this listing, the Infamous Grab Bag Preorder. Besides the fact that it also violates Artfire TOS as it includes items which are not handmade (Nyx Bases and brushes) it is a preorder. It also violates Artfire TOS to sell items you do not currently have in hand. This item could also be flagged and removed.

Additionally, the Grab Bags have no stated turnaround time. Rather, customers are asked to be patient in waiting for delivery.

 

This, despite their own stated policy that all orders would be shipped within 5 business days.

Just a quick glance at Artfire shows a multitude of contradictions and possible TOS violations, in addition to the labeling issues and sales of products that are not what they claim to be. One would think that given the company history they would be more apt to follow every rule to the letter and ensure that what they are advertising is what they are indeed selling but that would not appear to be the case.

Terms of Service

I contacted Ebay yesterday about GlitterSniffer Cosmetics sale of this listing. Ebay has strict terms about what may or may not be sold on the site. Per their Terms of Service recalled items may not be sold on the site.

Products that are currently subject to a recall but the sale of the product is not prohibited by law or regulation, as long as the listing includes the recall information.

The items sold in this lot contained ingredients for GlitterSniffer Cosmetics recalled items (from the listing: We are offering them in a bulk listing because we are currently not shipping orders while we play catch up and put some new company rules in place, along with colors we will no longer be selling.) in addition to others. No where in the listing is the recall listed. In fact the listing specifically states that it can be added to mascara or brow gel, and that the lot will perform as an eye shadow "in the sense that you may put them on your eyes".

Here is a screenshot of GlitterSniffer Cosmetics offsite linking in an Etsy feedback from late last year:

Per the Do's and Don'ts of Etsy:

You may not use Etsy to direct shoppers to another online selling venue to purchase the same items as listed in your Etsy shop, as this may constitute fee avoidance. This includes posting links/URLs or providing information sufficient to locate the other online venue(s).

Per Artfire Terms of Service an Artisan may not sell:

Any item that which in whole or in part is subject to a recall.

Glittersniffer Cosmetics unlabeled "Randoms" may fall into this catagory as they do not meet FDA regulations for labeling, could be called misbranded, and as such be subject to recall. The "Random" listing was flagged today and removed from Artfire. This is in addition to a listing flagged and earlier this week which was removed as it included brushes and NYX bases which are not Handmade and therefore violate Artfore TOS. The other listings on Artfire are also questionable because it does not appear as yet that GlitterSniffer Cosmetics is complying with FDA labeling guidelines.

Just to review, it appears that GlitterSniffer Cosmetics has violated Ebay Terms of Service with this listing. We also know that GlitterSniffer Cosmetics is no longer using Paypal due to a Terms of Service violation. GlitterSniffer Cosmetics clearly violated Etsy's offsite link policy. Two listings on Artfire, since flagged and removed, violated TOS.

Every site that GlitterSniffer Cosmetics utilizes has clear guidelines which must be followed. It would seem that in addition to FDA ingredients and labeling guidelines GlitterSniffer Cosmetics simply disregards this information, though it is readily available to them.

Artfire, Again-Followup

After this posting the Artfire listings were edited to add ingredients. It should be noted, however, that the ingredients listing for Suess Gold, which was originally (and still is) described as 100% cosmetic glitter now has the same exact ingredients listed as the Carnival Collection, and has the "may contain" statement. In addition to the fact that the listing description and the ingredients listed are diametrically opposed to one another, the fullsize pigment must meet FDA requirements for ingredients listing:

The ingredients must be listed in descending order of predominance.

 "May contain" does not appear to meet these guidelines.

Screenshot of Seuss' ingredients:

 Screenshot of Carnival Collection ingredients:

 

 Screenshot of the Unicorn Collection ingredients, now available at GlitterSniffer Cosmetics website:

All are exactly the same.

It was understood that GS committed going forward to write down the exact ingredients in all pigments and posting them so that consumers would be aware of what they were purchasing. One catch all listing of ingredients that might have been used does not meet that commitment.

Artfire, Again

Despite the commitment that GlitterSniffer Cosmetics made in their statement in late December to only sell their products through their official website the company once again is selling on Artfire.

 

Additionally, despite what they state in their official FAQ about the recall on their site there are no specific  ingredients listed for either The Carnival Collection or Seuss Gold.

While Seuss Gold is listed as 100% glitter it is standard to add a base to help with adhesion. As there are no definitive ingredients listed there is no way of knowing what, exactly, is in the pigment.

It should also be noted that Artfie does provide a place to list ingredients, in a section titled "Materials Used", shown here in an unrelated listing (posted for demonstration purposes only).

This shows that the commitments to change that GlitterSniffer Cosmetics pledged to turn the company around are only selectively being met, if at all.

The Big Cartel site posted about earlier for GlitterSniffer Cosmetics is also still up and stocked with recalled pigments.