yikes

Your Claire’s Makeup May Have Asbestos in It

Claire's.
Claire’s. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Almost exactly a year after filing for bankruptcy, Claire’s, which still exists, has yet another problem on its hands: the possibility that some of its products might contain a cancer-causing toxin. (Again.)

On March 5, the Food and Drug Administration issued a warning that three of the company’s cosmetic products “may be contaminated with asbestos fibers.” Therefore, if you happen to be the unfortunate owner of specific batches of Claire’s Eye Shadows, Claire’s Compact Powder, or Claire’s Contour Palette, the FDA suggests that you stop using them … immediately.

Apparently, it’s not all that difficult for asbestos to end up in beauty products. (Comforting!) Per the FDA warning, the toxin is “often found near talc, an ingredient in many cosmetic products,” meaning that the talc can easily become contaminated with asbestos if “talc mining sites are not selected carefully and steps are taken to purify the talc ore sufficiently.”

But what’s especially wild about this case is that this isn’t isolated: In December of 2017, the company issued a recall on a number of its products after a concerned mother had her daughter’s glitter makeup kit tested, and it came back positive for tremolite asbestos — the same kind identified in the current FDA warning.

This time around, though, Claire’s isn’t issuing a recall. In a statement posted to Twitter, the company assured its customers that it was removing the three offending products from its stores “out of an abundance of caution.” However, the company denied that any of their products are “unsafe,” and argued that the FDA “mischaracterized” fibers as asbestos in their testing.

“There is no evidence that any products sold by Claire’s are unsafe,” the statement reads. “In early 2018, the three items identified by the FDA were extensively tested by multiple independent accredited laboratories, and all products were found to be compliant with all relevant cosmetic safety regulations.”

Given that we’re dealing with a cancer-causing toxin, we’ll be following the FDA on this one.

Your Claire’s Makeup May Have Asbestos in It