The Quickest Way to Catch or Avoid Herpes

Herpes is more tangible than you think, especially in makeup samples.

What would the world be like without makeup? An ugly world that I wouldn’t want to live in. As a fellow advocate of everything beauty, one of my greatest joys come from shopping for the latest makeup. If it were up to me I’d spend all of my money just to have options for different occasions. If you have a love for anything beauty, Sephora is hands down one of the best stores to visit. No matter what you’re looking for, Sephora has it at a reasonable price. But when it comes to the case of one Californian woman, she also got herpes for the price of free ninety-nine.

You can contract Herpes from inanimate objects.

That’s right. A woman has allegedly contracted oral herpes (HSV-1) after using a sample lipstick at a Sephora store in California. Elena Davoyan is also suing Sephora for $25,000 after filing a suit last Thursday. Davoyan believes she “never had herpes or any cold sores before” and contracted the virus in October 2015. Sephora is being held at fault for not having precautions to warn her about the dangers of “common use” lipsticks. She described Sephora’s stores full with “shelves and shelves of open lipstick tubes”, with only pads to wipe the lipstick off.

To help her cope with her “incurable lifelong affliction” she’s suing Sephora with a hefty list of claims. The claims include: emotional distress, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and liability. She describes Sephora as irresponsible in regards to their “common use” lipsticks, and other makeup samples. She believes that Sephora should offer individual samples like other companies, to prevent the spreading of harmful bacteria and illnesses. As if Sephora doesn’t already provide multiple hygiene stations within their stores to protect their patrons.

Don’t try makeup samples without sterilizing them first.

Even though common sense isn’t common, I believe most people know the dangers of sample makeup. Especially without: properly sterilizing, using an additional brush, or sometimes avoiding it all together. If a lipstick is on display as a tester, wouldn’t you wonder how many people have tried that specific tube? I know that’s the first thing I think of anytime I visit a Sephora, MAC, or Ulta. So what do I do? I clean the lipstick or ask an associate to. Then I use the lipstick on my hand for a swatch. It’s proven that bacteria like: staph, E.coli, and strep, can be found on the common tester sample.

Sephora has recently addressed the matter and they responded with a short statement. “The health and safety of our clients is our foremost priority. We take product hygiene very seriously. We are dedicated to following the best practices in our stores”. Of course this is an ongoing case, and more updates are sure to follow. In the meantime, know your status, and learn more info about HSV 1 & 2 at knowmystatus.org.

*This article was originally posted on kontrolmag and written by Emani Sunday.*