Class Action Lawsuit Argues e.l.f. Makeup Is Not Oil-Free

A new class action lawsuit claims e.l.f. makeup is falsely marketed as being oil-free.

Lead plaintiff Norah Flaherty alleges e.l.f. Cosmetics markets and sells its Flawless Finish Foundation products as being oil-free, when they actually contain dimethicone, isododecane and tridecyl trimellitate.

Flaherty says she most recently purchased e.l.f. makeup in September, trusting the product packaging’s claims that the makeup was oil-free. 

According to the class action lawsuit, the plaintiff would have needed an “advanced understanding of chemistry” in order to understand that the products did, in fact, contain oils.

As such, she says she and other consumers were deceived into paying for products they didn’t actually want because they were falsely labeled as oil-free.

Worse than that, though, the e.l.f. makeup class action lawsuit says, ”Plaintiff, the Class, and Sub-Class were deprived of their protected interest to choose the type and quality of products they use on their bodies.”

Flaherty argues it was the defendant, not the plaintiff nor other consumers, who should have known the products’ labeling stating it was oil-free was misleading or false and that consumers would not have known the products contained oil unless “expressly” told by the company.

The e.l.f. makeup class action lawsuit alleges the company should have known the products contain oil because it employs chemists who formulate its products.

Flaherty claims e.l.f. Cosmetics’ “acts and omissions” caused herself and potential Class Members to suffer “concrete and particularized injuries and harm,” including the waste of the plaintiff’s time; loss of money; and “stress, aggravation, frustration, loss of trust, loss of serenity, and loss of confidence in product labeling.”

Flaherty’s e.l.f. makeup class action lawsuit says all the products in question contain oils but are labeled and advertised as oil-free.

Because consumers such as Flaherty are interested in buying products not marketed through deceptive means, the plaintiff argues, the cosmetics company “impaired Plaintiff’s ability to choose the type and quality of the products she chose to buy.” 

“Therefore, Plaintiff has been deprived of her legally protected interest to obtain true and accurate information about her consumer products as required by law,” the class action lawsuit states.

Flaherty seeks to represent a Class of U.S. consumers who purchased the relevant e.l.f. makeup products in the four years before the complaint was filed through the date a Class is certified. 

She also seeks to represent an Illinois subclass of residents of that state who bought the products in the 10 years before the class action lawsuit was filed through the date a Class is certified. 

Flaherty recently filed another class action lawsuit leveling similar allegations at Maybelline.

As in her e.l.f. makeup complaint, Flaherty alleges certain Maybelline and L’Oréal cosmetic products are marketed as oil-free when they are not.

The e.l.f. makeup class action lawsuit asks the Court for injunctive relief prohibiting the defendant from its alleged wrongdoing in the future; for an award of attorneys’ fees and other costs of litigation; and for any other relief deemed just.

Flaherty also demands a jury trial.

Have you purchased e.l.f. makeup thinking it was oil-free? Tell us about it in the comment section below.

The plaintiff is represented by Todd M. Friedman, Steven G. Perry and David B. Levin of the Law Offices of Todd M. Friedman PC.

The e.l.f. Makeup Class Action Lawsuit is Norah Flaherty, et al. v. e.l.f. Cosmetics Inc., Case No. 1:20-cv-07251, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division.

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