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The self-proclaimed “natural” cosmetic company Kiss My Face was hit with a class action lawsuit alleging it misleads consumers by marketing products as “natural,” when they actually contain synthetic chemicals.
Lead plaintiff Andrew Gasser says he paid extra to purchase Kiss My Face products because the company advertises their lotions, skin care, and other cosmetic items as natural by using the phrases “nourish naturally” and “naturally effective” on packaging.
According to the Kiss My Face class action lawsuit, the Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint against the company in 2016 because their products contained chemicals like phenoxyethanol and/or ethylhexylglycerin.
The lawsuit claims that Kiss My Face and two other cosmetic companies that marketed their products as natural agreed to stop in response to the FTC complaints. However, consumers had already paid a premium for products that they thought were natural and did not contain synthetic ingredients.
“On its website, Defendant touts that ‘[f]or 35 years, Kiss My Face has been striving to give you naturally effective skin care and body products, using natural ingredients while maintaining a healthy respect for our planet. And to this day, we are obsessively passionate about staying true to our values,’” notes the complaint.
The plaintiff alleges that he decided to buy Kiss My Face lotion from various stores in California because the packaging indicated that the lotion would “nourish naturally.” The plaintiff further claims that by using the word “natural” he, and other putative Class Members, understood that to mean that the product would not contain any synthetic chemicals.
According to the class action, Kiss My Face body lotion comes in six varieties, all of which include synthetic ingredients. These products are Kiss My Face Olive & Aloe®, Vitamin A & ETM, Honey & Calendula™, Tropical Coconut™, Peaches & Créme®, and Lavender Shea™.
Kiss My Face also sells eight varieties of body wash, says the class action. All products, alleges the plaintiff, have been labeled with the phrase “naturally nourish” or “nourish naturally” on the packaging over the last four years.
“Consumers have become increasingly concerned about the effects of synthetics and chemical ingredients in cosmetic products,” the Kiss My Face lawsuit states. “As a result, consumers are willing to pay, and have paid, a premium for products labeled ‘natural’ over ordinary products that contain synthetic ingredients.”
The class action points out further that both the FTC and the Food and Drug Administration have warned marketers that using the term “natural” may be deceptive to consumers.
The plaintiff says Kiss My Face deceives consumers with its natural marketing campaign and also violates California consumer and business law. The plaintiff also alleges that Kiss My Face committed fraud, breached express and implied warranties, and was unjustly enriched by the false marketing campaign.
Gasser seeks to represent a nationwide Class of Kiss My Face purchasers along with a California subclass. The plaintiff is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, an injunction against Kiss My Face, and attorneys’ fees.
The plaintiff is represented by L. Timothy Fisher, Joel D. Smith, Yeremey O. Krivoshey of Bursor & Fisher PA.
The Kiss My Face “Natural” Skin Care Class Action Lawsuit is Andrew Gasser v. Kiss My Face LLC, Case No. 3:17-cv-01675-JSC, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
UPDATE: The Kiss My Face Skin Care Class Action Lawsuit was dismissed on June 24, 2019.
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104 thoughts onKiss My Face Class Action Challenges ‘Natural’ Skin Care Products
I love the peaceful patchouli body wash. Have used it for years. Makes my skin soft and fragrant. Very upset i can no longer get it in stores. I have not found a soap yet that compares to it
Kiss my face has recently changed their lotion “recipe” & it is clearly NOT natural. The latest purchase of Honey Calendula (one of many I have used since the 80s). The new formula has the worst strong perfumy odor that takes several scrubbings to wash off. Also, it is very greasy. how can I get in on this class action suit & get my money back? Why change the formula – it worked so well for 30 years!! Too bad!
The current KMF products are from the new owners. The lawsuit you mention is what made KMF have to basically go out of business. I happened to have liked their Whenever Shampoo and Conditioner as well as the Olive and Aloe bars of soap. Unfortunately, the shampoo and conditioner have been reformulated . Not sure abut the soap which I use but I still have 3 bars to go…I am not happy about this lawsuit which ruined the company. The new KMF products are not as good from what I read.
If you’re intelligent enough to identify synthetic compounds in a product ingredient list…then your intelligent enough to to not purchase it in the first place since it offends your sensitivities. KMF has been a skin care staple for me for many years. Truly a wonderful product. There’s no mention if Mr Gasser was damaged by the product … shame on you!
Like some of you, I used KMF products for years, and wondered why it suddenly became scarce. At that time, my own life was going through some upheavals, so not being able to get, say, my fave face lotion was the least of my problems. But now…gone. I used KMF’s lotions with AHAs, and the only AHA-containing products at my grocery co-op cost way more $$$ than the old KMF products. Mad Hippy stuff is a bit less $$, but still hard on my budget.
And…here’s the catch: There are no regulations concerning the use of the word ‘natural’ on product packaging! You could put sewer sludge in a bottle, gussy it up with labels about this or that ‘natural’, and so long as it didn’t kill people, its not misleading or mislabeled. You could also label bottles of hemlock or oleander extracts as ‘natural’, and should people drink it? (Ask Socrates!) You can go into any Whole Foods and buy cartloads of products made with refined flours and sugars, which can be more damaging to your health than, say, tiny amounts of chemicals that are applied topically, etc. Yet Whole Foods promote themselves as a purveyor of ‘natural’ goods–where are the lawyers?!
But…people are stupid and greedy, what can I say?
Would love to do a counter-suit against this, not just because my pores need lubricating, but because this case has vexed so many of us, and stupidity always needs to get a take-down whenever possible. I am a lawyer’s daughter, and all the little ‘lawyer genes’ I inherited are riled up about this. In the meantime, what do I put on my face every day from now on?
I love the kiss my face soap bars . I have difficulty with fragrances. They give me headaches and make my skin tender. I was very happy when we found the Kiss My Face pure olive oil soap fragrance-free. My wife found another soap by Papoutsanis. It looks like kiss my face soap, feels like Kiss My Face soap, and is fragrant free and I do not get a reaction from it. My wife found it online.
Some of the best products ever. Kiss My Face set a standard that went way beyond most producers. I have looked everywhere for replacements of their skin care products, and I can’t find any near the quality of KMF. You can find all kinds of products that use words like “natural” and “naturally” that contain other ingredients. Kiss my Face products really did have a large percentage of natural products that did work “naturally.” They also often had the usual and often necessary preservatives that are perfectly benign but don’t grow on trees–just like almost every other producer. So now a great company is destroyed? This sounds like a lawsuit aimed to destroy, perhaps to set up a hostile acquisition–I don’t know. I haven’t been able to track down what has happened to the company “assets.” It really points to something corrupt and destructive, though.
I think I will file a lawsuit against Andrew Gasser! I am highly allergic to alot of cosmetic ingredients. This was the only soap that didn’t cause acne all over my skin! Thank you so very much for taking away the best soap I have ever used, Andrew Gasser!
How can I file a lawsuit against a frivolous lawsuit? The plain olive oil soap was the best product I have used for my skin. I have faithfully purchased my soap for 13 years intol I ran out last summer. The clerk st Whole Foods was baffled as to why their most popular soap had supply issues. Last Fall I discovered this dumb ass lawsuit that doesn’t even claim an injury. So many cosmetics say “natural” and “pure” but have crap ingredients and no one has filed a claim against those companies. This sounds like a sneaky way to orchestrate a corporate takeover.
Kiss my face is the only soap I can use on my face and body without having some reaction.their deodorant is the only one I use also (lavender roll on) I’ve been a loyal customer since 1990’s! Their product must be natural that the second reason I use and share my experience.Hope every thing turns out because I can’t find their product anymore