A 2011 action alleging that L’Oreal USA Inc. and L’Oreal USA Products Inc, both are subsidies of L’Oreal SA, has been granted certification for two subclasses claiming that L’Oreal failed to warn purchasers of flammability in its Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine Anti-Frizz Serum (Product). Federal Court in the Central District of California certified the action. <Read more>

According to WWD, United States Customs and Border Protection officials have seized a shipment of counterfeit perfume bearing labels under the Estée Lauder Cos. Inc. trademark. Authorities claim that the counterfeit perfume shipment included approximately 5,000 bottles valued at more than $344,000. According to officials, the counterfeit shipment was intercepted on January 24th at the Port of Houston and included thousands of perfume bottles bearing the Flirt and Sensuous labels owned by Estée Lauder.

<Read more>

According to WWD, Fusion Brands America Inc. has filed suit against its former chief executive officer Caroline Pieper-Vogt alleging she violated her employment contract by using company funds for personal use and disclosing confidential financial information. The complaint which was filed in New York Supreme Court accuses Pieper-Vogt with “mismanaging” the cosmetic company’s assets and “misusing” corporate funds for her own personal benefit and use. It further alleges that Pieper-Vogt has “performed services” for companies not affiliated with Fusion, all in violation of her employment contract. Fusion seeks a minimum of at least $10 million in punitive damages, as well as compensatory damages and attorneys’ fees. Fusion is also seeking an injunction barring Pieper-Vogt from violating the non-solicitation clause in her contract, from disclosing the company’s financial information and from trying to interfere with Fusion’s interactions and contracts with its customers.

<Read more>

Talk about products liability!  A quick post too good to pass up on this slow snowy Wednesday.  Racked NY has reported that American Apparel is suing Forsythe Cosmetic Group of Freeport, NY for more than $5 million in federal court for using defective bottles for the clothing store’s nail polish line.  According to American Apparel, the nail polish bottles began exploding shortly after hitting shelves.

The NY Post adds that American Apparel spokesman Ryan Holiday said: “We wish no ill will toward this fellow American manufacturer, but need to seek a fair and accountable solution to this incident.”

Notorious supermodel Naomi Campbell is no stranger to the courthouse (over the years, there have been numerous incidents of assault on assistants, housekeepers and even police officers).  Her most recent legal issues, thankfully, don’t involve assault or battery and everyone is safe…for now.  Instead, Campbell is faced with a breach of contract claim.  Maybe not as dramatic or exciting as beating her housekeeper with a Blackberry (that one was back in 2006), but worth reporting here on CaseClothesed.  We examine the legal issues behind the business of fashion, and this serves as a great, classic example. <Read more>

Back in October, I posted on the news of Brazilian Blowout’s formaldehyde controversy.  On Saturday, California’s Sacramento Bee reported that California’s Attorney General Jerry Brown has filed suit against the brand in Alameda Superior Court for improper labeling practices.

The Bee article notes that this marks the first time that the state of California has actively enforced the 2005 Safe Cosmetics Act, which requires full disclosure of harmful ingredients in product labels.  The AG’s suit seeks a ban on the sale of Brazilian Blowout until the brand makes full disclosure of the product’s ingredients on its packaging and potential fines of up to $2,500 for each violation.

Just wanted to post this link to a past Bella Sugar article that provides some useful instructions on how to spot fake cosmetics being sold online.  Hopefully, none of you have fallen victim to any of these traps.  Can you believe there are even fake brushes out there?  Shop safely.

Brazilian Blowout, a very effective hair straightening system, is facing some serious trouble.  Last week, WWD reported that the system’s product is currently being investigated for containing formaldehyde.

After stylists from salons in the Portland, OR, area reported formaldehyde-related symptoms (eye irritation and nose burning), Oregon Health and Science University’s Center for Research on Occupational and Environmental Toxicology analyzed samples of the product and found levels between 4.85% and 10.6% of formaldehyde (safe products contain no more than .2%).

Brazilian Blowout LLC and manufacturer Cadiveu Brasil are pointing fingers at each other.

<Read more>

…if you’re Sean “Puff Daddy”/”P. Diddy”/”Diddy” (which is it these days, anyway?) Combs, that is.  As part of an effort to expand his empire and create a Bad Boy lifestyle, Combs’s Sean John line has released two fragrances: I Am King for men (narcissistic, much?) and Unforgivable for men and women.  Unforgivable. Oh, the irony…

A Massachusetts artist named Tom Patti has filed a copyright infringement suit against Combs alleging that the Unforgivable packaging is too similar to some of his works to be coincidental.  Patti’s glass sculptures, entitled “Compacted Gray With Clear and Ribs” and “Modulated Solar Air Frame” feature defined ridges and the same gray coloring as the Unforgivable packing.

<Read more>

This past July, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), along with Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) as co-sponsors, introduced the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010 into Congress.  In short, the aim of the legislation is to afford more safety protection to cosmetics consumers against potentially harmful ingredients used in their every day products.

The current law, the Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act of 1938, does not require certain safety tests before products hit the market and is powerless to compel a recall from the market.   <Read more>