Consumers are sensitive about what they put on their skin, and, with so many cosmetics to choose from, the ingredients a product contains play a major role in purchasing decisions.
The ingredients cosmetics contain have also led to a number of class action lawsuits, and, according to them and the consumers behind them, make these the worst makeup brands in America.
In fact, one woman contracted uterine cancer after using chemical hair straightening products sold by L’Oreal USA Inc. and L’Oreal USA Products Inc., Starch Nature Global LLC, Soft Sheen Carson (WI) Inc., Dabur International Ltd., and Dabur USA Inc. and Namaste Laboratories sued the companies on Friday, Oct. 21.
Jenny Mitchell said in the civil lawsuit that she had used the products for more than two decades, then was struck with uterine cancer that forced her to undergo a full hysterectomy.
More details of this report from DailyWire:
Ben Crump, civil rights and personal injury attorney, and Diandra “Fu” Debrosse Zimmermann, mass tort attorney of DiCello Levitt, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court for Northern Illinois, on behalf of Jenny Mitchell, 32, of St. Louis, Missouri against L’Oreal USA Inc. and L’Oreal USA Products Inc., Strength of Nature Global LLC, Soft Sheen Carson (W.I.) Inc., Dabur International Ltd. and Dabur USA Inc., and Namaste Laboratories.
Attorneys for Mitchell claim that her uterine cancer was “directly and proximately caused by her regular and prolonged exposure to phthalates and other endocrine disrupting chemicals found in Defendants’ hair care products,” CNN reports. Mitchell was diagnosed with uterine cancer and underwent a full hysterectomy in 2018.
“My dreams of becoming a mother were gone,” she said, according to CNN. “As most young African-American girls, chemical relaxers, chemical straighteners were introduced to us at a young age. Society has made it a norm to look a certain way, in order to feel a certain way — and I am the first voice of many voices to come that will stand, stand up to these companies, and say, ‘No more.’”
According to Cleveland Clinic, uterine cancer includes endometrial cancer (more common) and uterine sarcoma, which cause bleeding between periods or after menopause and often leads to a hysterectomy treatment to remove the uterus.
Zimmermann told CNN that the lawsuit could be a “watershed moment” for women who have used such products.
“Millions of little girls have this put on their head at 7, 8, 9 years old, sometimes twice a month or every other month,” Zimmerman said, according to KTLA.
The suit comes just days after the publication of a study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute establishing a link between the usage of chemical hair straightening products and uterine cancer.
The study found that women who used the products more than four times a year were more than twice as likely to develop uterine cancer than those who didn’t use the products.
Cancer of the uterus is relatively rare, but its incidence is rising in the United States, especially among black women.
“Black women have long been the victims of dangerous products specifically marketed to them,” Ben Crump, a personal injury attorney for Mitchell, said in a statement.
Friday’s civil lawsuit seeks damages from the US branch of L’Oreal, the French cosmetics giant, among other companies.
“We will likely discover that Ms. Mitchell’s tragic case is one of the countless cases in which companies aggressively misled Black women to increase their profits,” Crump said.
