Rihanna's RiRi Woo lipstick for MAC made headlines earlier this May after selling out in just three hours. But despite the cult following of the vivid red hue, there's one woman who's not so thrilled.
Starkeema Greenridge, a 28-year-old from Harlem, claims she got herpes from a used tube of RiRi Woo that a MAC representative applied to her at a concert. And she's filed a suit against MAC in the Manhattan Supreme Court.
Greenridge told the
NY Daily News that the lipstick-induced herpes resulted in "mental anguish and emotional distress." Greenridge says she wants the company to shift its sanitary practices by using disposable tubes and application tools. But let's be real, she probably wants that giant sum of money more than she wants disposable lipstick tubes.
While herpes is no laughing matter, I think Greenridge was crazy to allow anyone at a makeup counter to directly apply lipstick to her face -- whether it's been sanitized or not. Come on, doesn't everyone know by now that studies have shown staph, strep, and E. coli live on samples at drugstores, specialty stores and even high-end department stores. You might as well be kissing a toilet seat the next time you swipe on a communal lipstick tester.
Then there's the whole "wait, you can get herpes from lipstick?!" conundrum. Unfortunately, yes, you can. Since oral herpes is spread through contact with secretions, if anyone who tried the lipstick had an open cold sore or even got saliva on the lipstick (ew), then the virus could have been transmitted.
We'll see how MAC responds to the lawsuit (and keep you posted). But in the meantime, puh-lease stop using the testers at the makeup counter directly on your face, and safely compare lipstick streaks on your hand instead. Thank you.
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