There I was, going through all my makeups . Cleaning everything up. Sorting everything out. It was a grand ol' time. Until I met up with something that I honestly never ever in all of ever expected to see. A
Geek Chic lipstick. Not just any lipstick, oh no, this one was special. This one... was alive.
Okay! It may be stretching it to say "alive" but when you look at it... squint a little...do you see that... the little face and eyes and TEETH?!? No? Well then, maybe it's just an over reaction due to the fur I found on it. Yes, fur. Like that on a peach. A uniformly flocked tube of lipstick. *shudder*
Alrighty, we need a little information don't we, we do. I picked this up From
Geek Chic In the first or second time I ever shopped with them. I can't find the info (I'm still looking) on exactly when I picked it up- but it was during the sale a few months ago when they were changing the tubes or some such thing, and had discounted a few colors to get rid of them and make room for the new stuffs. This color is Toxic Unicorn. No pun intended.
I took this out. Love it. It's green. LOVE. I tried it on and didn't really care for the formula. It was fine. The formula had some little pigment bits in it but I thought it was fine. It just didn't work for what I wanted it for. After I tried it, I put it away in a drawer and forgot all about ever having owned it... like you do.
SO! Yesterday morning I came across it. I love to look at my makeup, it's a weird little thing I think most of us do. Sit and look at sparkly pigments and smell all the smells... try on all the lipsticks. It was like Christmas! I had forgotten all about it. I was so excited! I opened it and ... saw the fur. There are no words for how completely freaked out I was... how freaked out I am. What in the actual fuck could have done this?
I do not know what the brown part is. But when I scratched out that little cross section, I started from the bottom and scraped up so it wouldn't get any of the brown bits in it.... but it already had the brown bits in there- so there's that.
I'm leaving these pictures here for you to see. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. Has anyone had anything like this ever happen in all of ever? I have quite a few things from Geek Chic that are great.... but this really scares me. If I had been putting this on my lips, more than the one time, whatever the fuck is making this fuzz would be ON MY LIPS. So I'm feeling a little over whelmed.
Okay, so I've contacted Geek Chick about this and will update this post when they get back to me. If you have any questions for me about my tube - or for them - please leave them in the comments. Maybe this is something that happens? Have you ever seen this? I'd love to know. Thanks.
Also, it might not be a bad idea to check your lipsticks just to see if they are growing.
MT.
EDIT:
Here is the email from Geek Chic cosmetics about the dreaded fuzz:
Hey Robin,
We've never seen anything like that before. Your order was 9 months ago so there has been some time for things to go awry. We use vitamin e and grapeseed oil for their preservative properties. In JoySticks, the wax that they are mostly made of is not generally conducive to bacteria or mold. The discoloration looks to be on the surface that made lip contact, so our guess is bacteria transfer and subsequent incubation in a sympathetic environment over the course of many months. We sanitize our mold between pours and wear gloves/masks throughout the process so it's highly unlikely the product was received already contaminated.
You also have the old style tube that we upgraded from about 6 months ago, which allowed much more air in and around the stick (and were just generally a nuisance!) I'd imagine the new tubes do a much better job of insulating the product from the elements. When the lipstick is exposed to oxygen (which happens everytime you pull the cap off), bacteria can feed and grow. That's what caused the discoloration. Once bacteria has begun to grow you can become sick from it. It is recomened that you keep JoySticks no longer than 6-8 months (and this is true of other brands' as well: (http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100213192110AAlGeJ4)
So, your JoyStick has naturally run its life cycle. We will consider adding a "best used by" indicator to our lip products if this continues to be an issue. Given this is the first time we've heard of this and never want anyone to walk away unhappy we'd be happy to refund or replace your tube. Please let us know which you'd prefer. If you have any future questions or concerns, please email us.
The GCC Team"
Click here for a screen cap of email- for better viewing if the green is completely blinding you.
In the interest of time I will sum up.
I put my dirty mouth all over their clean product and ruined all the makeups. I am responsible for knowing the shelf life of this product without their having to tell me. I should just go ahead and take full responsibility for my part in the fuzz, being that I purchased this lipstick and - the horror - put it on, of all places, my (apparently dirty whore) mouth. This fuzz is clearly what having ALL THE COOTIES does to lipstick. The fact is, Vitamin E and Grapeseed oil get old. We can't be bothered to educate you about how to use our products, and for how long. I'm annoyed having to even let you know that this lipstick fuzz is your fault, here's a yahoo link to let you know that you must be the only one in all of ever to keep a lipstick for over six months. You stupid dirty idiot. Seeing as you are so dumb we would like to give you your money back, better yet why don't you let us send you another one in our new and improved packaging... maybe you wont be so disgusting with the new one now that I have taken you to lipstick school. If I, and random people on yahoo, have not explained why this is your fault and not ours feel free to send me the questions you think of with your small brain. Don't hurt yourself.
xoxo Team Blameshift
Now let me go ahead and tell you what I think. I am a makeup artist. I bought this originally for my kit. I was going to USE THIS SHIT ON MY CLIENTS. If/When one of my clients became ill after using your fucking product whose fault would that have been? That a company would attempt to shift the blame onto a customer for not knowing what they CLEARLY DON'T FEEL OBLIGATED to put on the site and LABEL is INSANE.
"We will consider adding a "best used by" indicator to our lip products if this continues to be an issue." What do you mean "if"? If you run into any other morons like me? Anyone whose precognitive skills are as primitive and undisciplined as mine?
Zero mention of the fact that the ENTIRE LIPSTICK had mold on it in ADDITION TO THE BROWN MOLD at the apparent lip contact point. For those of you who are counting, that's TWO new and exciting things to add to your nightmare bank! ALSO, in the scraped picture you can CLEARLY see that the brown mold is also evident INSIDE the shaft of the lipstick- not the tube mind you- the LIPSTICK.
At this point I am considering sending this out to a lab to see what exactly this fuzz is. It's the only way I can see of getting any real information about why this has happened... because clearly, this is disturbing.
This goes on your mouth. Think about that. Now read that email again. Let them know what you think. Email them here: pwnage@geekchiccosmetic.com
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EDIT AGAIN:
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I see your "info" link and raise you this one.
http://beauty.about.com/od/makeuptrickstips/a/shelflife.htm
"Some experts say 1-2 years. Others say up to 4 years. What everyone agrees on is that if it smells rancid, throw it out, it's spoiled. Extra tip: If you store lipstick in the refrigerator, it will last longer. Bonus tip: Want your lipstick to last longer..."
