Sephora removes items from site after beauty YouTuber claims they were “expired”

19 July 2019, 15:56

By Nicky Idika

Beauty YouTuber Lauren Mae Beauty made a video questioning whether sale items on Sephora's site were "very old" and "expired".

Beauty YouTuber Lauren Mae Beauty recently questioned whether Sephora–one of the largest beauty retailers in the world–had sold "old" makeup through the clearance section of their site. In a video titled "Sephora STOP Selling This Makeup", Laura Mae Beauty (Lauren Updegrove) gave examples of products she says have appeared in the sale section of Sephora's site for "years and years".

In the 13 minute video, Laura called out the massive brand for allegedly trying to "offload" products that had launch dates as far back as 2016. She also pointed out that some of these products were creme and oil based–not powder. She specifically highlighted the Sephora x Mara Hoffman collection which launched back in summer 2016.

Lauren also referenced the Sephora x Pantone Universe Color Correct + Conceal Palette (which similarly launched in 2016) that was 50% off on Sephora's site, according to screenshots she shared in her video.

At no point did Lauren allege that the products had been opened or tampered with. She merely pointed out that that they were being sold on site after new rounds of production on them appeared to have ceased.

"These items are on the sale site. These are not being recreated and continuing to be produced. They're trying to get rid of the stock that they do have of them," she said in the video.

"They're trying to offload product that they cannot sell and obviously it's not frickin' selling cuz it's been on the frickin site for forever. Like, years and years it's been on clearance."

Sephora STOP Selling This Makeup! | Lauren Mae Beauty

“It’s old product. This is old. This is very old."

"What happens to all that dead stock? [...] It’s going to be a lot of expired makeup going on."

Sephora confirmed in a statement to BuzzFeed that the products were "not expired." However, BuzzFeed reports that by Wednesday (July 17) of this week, the products were removed rom the site following their inquiry.

Lauren went on to say in the video that she would not feel "comfortable" having the products in her kit, mentioning that some of them would be at "the three year mark" at this point in time.

Questions of stock and makeup expiry dates are clearly an important issue for consumers. Lauren said in her video that she would love to see expiration dates on cosmetics so consumers could have the "knowledge" of what they're purchasing.

H/T: Buzzfeed News