Can You Sue for Cosmetic Product Injuries? What to Do About Defective Beauty Products

You can sue for injuries caused by defective beauty and cosmetic products. See who’s liable for your injuries and how to pursue compensation.

cosmetic is a product (excluding pure soap) intended to be applied to the human body for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering appearance.

Americans spend more than $56 billion on beauty products each year. Half of that is spent on hair and skin care, followed by cosmetics, fragrances, and more.

Men and women can suffer cosmetic product injuries ranging from mild rashes, to scarring, disfigurement, and even death.

If a defective cosmetic product harms you or a loved one, you have the right to expect compensation. Compensation amounts depend on the scope and severity of the victim’s injuries, ranging from a few hundred to millions of dollars.

7 Steps When Injured by a Defective Cosmetic Product

If a beauty or personal care product injured you, you’ll need as much evidence as you can gather. The better your evidence, the stronger your injury claim will be. Here’s what you can do to protect your injury claim or lawsuit:

1. Get Medical Attention

Injuries from personal care products should be evaluated and confirmed by a doctor as soon as possible. You must establish a link between your use of the product and your injuries.

Request copies of all related medical records and bills. Save receipts for out-of-pocket expenses for medical items and related costs. If you had to buy a wig because your hair fell out after a product was applied, that’s a related expense.

2. Save the Product and Packaging

Save any remaining product, or at least the empty container and any packaging. Put the container in a zip bag or plastic box and don’t let anyone handle it until you’ve talked to an attorney.

If a product used at a salon hurt you, ask the salon owner for the empty container. If you can’t get the container, ask for the name and brand of the product, and the contact information for the salon’s supplier.

Also, save purchase receipts for the product, or the service that involved the product.

3. Take Photographs

Take photographs and video of your injuries when they appeared, and continue to take pictures throughout your recovery.

4. Talk to Potential Witnesses

Witness statements can be very important to your case. Family and friends can provide a written statement of your condition before and after your use of the harmful product. They can also verify you used the product as instructed per the item’s packaging.

5. Prove Your Lost Wages

If you missed time from work because of your injuries, ask your employer to verify your lost wages. Include any vacation, sick leave, or paid time off you had to use during your recovery.

6. Watch Out for State Deadlines

You have the right to seek compensation for injuries caused by defective cosmetic products, but you can lose that right if you miss your state’s statute of limitations.

A statute of limitations is the legal deadline to either settle an injury claim or file a lawsuit against the product manufacturer, the retailer, or the salon. If the statute runs out before you’ve filed a lawsuit, you forfeit your right to compensation, no matter how seriously you’re injured.

7. Consider Talking to an Attorney

If you’ve recovered from minor injuries and have little or no medical bills, you probably won’t get very far with a product liability claim. You can always talk with an attorney to help you decide if you should file a claim or lawsuit.

Cosmetics manufacturers are huge, multimillion-dollar corporations with powerful legal teams. You may have a very strong claim, with excellent proof of a bad product, but you’ll need your own expert legal support to win a fair amount of compensation.

Manufacturers won’t hesitate to argue that your injury was not caused by their product, but was instead caused by product misuse or your own negligence.

How Product Liability Claims and Lawsuits Work

If a beauty care product has injured you, you may have the basis of a product liability claim.

Your injury claim may be against:

  • The manufacturer of the product
  • The retail store or website where you purchased the product
  • The beauty salon that applied the product
  • A combination of the above

Companies that make and sell cosmetic products have a legal duty of care to do everything reasonably possible to prevent harm to consumers. When they fail in their duty, and people are injured, the companies are negligent.

Remember that manufacturers have to do everything reasonably possible to avoid causing harm to customers. However, manufacturers are not automatically responsible for every harm that occurs while using their products.

Consumers who suffer burns, scarring, or cancer from a personal care product are unquestionably harmed. Other types of “harm” might be more difficult to prove.

If you used a night cream and didn’t wake up with “more youthful, radiant skin” it might be hard to prove you’ve suffered any damages that justify financial compensation.

On the other hand, manufacturers are often sued for making false claims about their personal care products.

Case Example: $1.7 Million Settlement for Defective Marketing of Cosmetics

A lawsuit against Tarte, Inc. filed in December 2018 by Jeannie Patora and “those similarly situated” alleges “false, deceptive, and misleading” advertising of cosmetics as “natural” when the beauty products contain synthetic ingredients.

In October of 2019, the court granted preliminary approval of the class action settlement. In January 2020, the court granted final approval to the settlement amount of $1,700,000.

Injured consumers, who can prove the manufacturer or retailer was negligent, have the right to seek damages. Damages include medical bills, out-of-pocket medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

A jury may award punitive damages, to punish particularly egregious corporate negligence.

When it comes to serious injuries caused by personal care products, most courts rely on the legal standard of strict product liability.

To win a strict liability claim, you must prove:

  1. The product was sold in an unreasonably dangerous condition.
  2. You used the product according to the directions provided.
  3. The product was the direct and proximate cause of your injury.
  4. You have measurable and verifiable damages.

Secondary Parties: Retailers and Beauty Salons

The primary party in a product liability claim is usually the manufacturer. However, the retailer, whether a physical store, website, or beauty salon, may also be liable for selling the dangerous product.

In claims against retail stores, you’ll also have to prove the retailer was negligent in the sale or application of the product. If a beauty salon purchased a product and used it on customers without knowing it was dangerous, they probably won’t be liable for your damages.

However, if the salon continued using the product after being notified it was dangerous, they can likely be held responsible for any injuries the product causes.

Negligent beauty salons and other retailers who put their customers in danger may be held liable for any resulting damages. You may be able to sue the manufacturer, retailer, and beauty salon separately, and recover damages from each of them.

Cosmetic Product Class Actions

Sometimes, beauty and skin care products remain on the market while slowly causing injuries to thousands of consumers. Your injury may not be serious enough to warrant a stand-alone case.

When cosmetic manufacturers sell a product that causes harm to hundreds or even thousands of people, you might be eligible for compensation from a class action settlement.

Only well-established personal injury attorneys who handle class actions have the skills and financial ability to take on big corporations.

With class actions, there’s strength in numbers. If the lawsuit is settled out of court or won at trial, you will be entitled to a share of the settlement or court award.

Case Summary: Talc Injury Class Action Verdict 

A class-action lawsuit was filed on behalf of 22 women who developed ovarian cancer linked to prolonged use of talcum powder products manufactured by Johnson & Johnson companies.

The plaintiffs allege that Johnson’s Baby Powder and Shower to Shower powder contained asbestos, and the manufacturer failed to warn consumers of the health risk of using the products.

The jury awarded each individual Plaintiff $25 million in compensatory damages, totaling $550 million, with judgment entered jointly and severally against Defendants. The jury awarded $4.14 billion in punitive damages, with J&J responsible for $3.15 billion and JJCI responsible for $990 million.

An attorney can help you decide if you have a good claim against the product manufacturer, the store where the product was sold, or the salon where the product was applied.

Most product liability attorneys offer a free consultation to injury victims. If you have a strong case, your attorney will represent you on a contingency fee basis, meaning the attorney’s fees won’t be paid unless your case settles or you win a court verdict.

Sharing Some Blame for Your Injuries

A personal care product can be dangerous, but if you didn’t follow the product directions to the letter, the manufacturer’s attorneys will jump at the chance to use that against you.

Most states use modified comparative fault rules, meaning your claim can be barred if you are more to blame for causing your injuries. Otherwise, the amount you could win is reduced in proportion to your share of fault.

Your attorney can make sure you aren’t cheated out of a settlement, even when you might have shared some of the fault for your injuries.

Cosmetics Regulations and Product Laws

Most beauty and personal care products are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under a broad category of “cosmetics.” The rules for cosmetics are different than for drug products, although consumer safety is the top priority for any substance regulated by the FDA.

People of all ages and gender use personal care products. There are thousands of “cosmetic” products on the market today, including nail polish, hair dye, shampoos, creams, lotions, make-up, toothpaste, deodorant, and more.

Most are safe to use. Unfortunately, some of these products can be dangerous, causing allergic reactions, infections, irreversible skin damage, and more.

FDA Recalls and Announcements

The FDA does not have the legal authority to recall personal care products. However, the FDA does monitor safety standards for cosmetics.

When a problem is discovered with a personal care product, the manufacturer or distributor is urged to alert the public. If the cosmetic company drags its feet or refuses to issue a recall, the FDA will alert the public about the dangerous product.

The FDA publishes recalls and alerts on potentially harmful cosmetic and personal care products.

Personal Care Product Laws

The United States has laws on the books going back to 1938 that include regulatory oversight of beauty and personal care products. Today there are pending bills to expand the role of the FDA in governing the safe manufacture and distribution of cosmetics in the U.S.

Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act

The Federal Food, Drugs, and Cosmetics Act is a set of laws passed by Congress allowing the FDA to regulate, among other things, beauty products and personal care products.

The FFDCA defines cosmetics as “articles intended to be rubbed, poured, sprinkled, or sprayed on, introduced into, or otherwise applied to the human body…for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering the appearance.”

Technically, the FDA doesn’t approve personal care products, but because the FFDCA prohibits the marketing of adulterated or misbranded cosmetics in the U.S., it can remove cosmetics from the market that are improperly labeled or contain unsafe ingredients.

The FDA does have the right to inspect personal care product manufacturing facilities to make sure products are not contaminated.

Personal Care Product Safety Act

Introduced to the Senate in May 2017, this Act would amend the FFDCA to require cosmetic companies to register with the FDA and to submit to the FDA detailed lists of personal care product ingredients.

The Act gives the FDA the authority to suspend distribution of products with unsafe ingredients and to issue recalls of hazardous products.

The Act has been referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

State Regulations of Personal Care Products

In addition to federal laws, some states are beginning to pass legislation authorizing stricter regulations for personal care products, especially products intended for use by children.

  • California got the ball rolling in 2005 with the California State Cosmetics Act. The Act requires cosmetic companies to disclose product ingredients that are found on California or federal lists of substances known to cause cancer or birth defects.
  • Similarly, Washington state passed the Children’s Safe Products Act that prohibits the sale of personal care products containing lead, cadmium, phthalates, or other chemicals that could harm children.
  • In 2013, Minnesota passed a bill banning the use of formaldehyde in children’s products.

Cosmetic Product Injury Questions