Beauty YouTuber Jaclyn Hill addresses complaints over ‘mouldy’ and ‘hairy’ lipsticks

‘This is my first launch and it’s very embarrassing’

Beauty influencer Jaclyn Hill has shared a video addressing claims lipsticks sold by her cosmetics brand have been delivered to customers "mouldy", "expired" and "hairy".

On 30 May, Hill launched her first collection of nude lipsticks with her brand Jaclyn Cosmetics.

The YouTuber, who boasts almost 6m followers on the video sharing platform, promptly received criticism from customers who asserted that their lipsticks had arrived in an unacceptable state.

Fans of the makeup influencer shared photographs of their newly bought lipsticks on social media, some of which showed small, white hairs and what appeared to be tiny, black holes on the products.

"Jaclyn Hill's mouldy lipsticks are making me feel sick," one person tweeted.

Following the complaints received with regards to her first lipstick launch, on Thursday Hill shared a video on YouTube addressing the issue.

Titled "My Lipsticks", in the video Hill refutes claims that her lipsticks are out of date or hazardous to use.

"My lipsticks are not mouldy. They are not hazardous. They are not contaminated. They are not unsafe for you in any way shape or form. Every single ingredient in my lipstick is new and it is FDA approved," the 28-year-old says.

According to the YouTuber, mass production of her lipsticks began "until right before" the launch, because her company wanted the products to be "fresh".

"We made a lot of product in a very short amount of time and although we all thought it was gonna be perfect and fresh that's not the case," Hill states.

In the video, the beauty vlogger explains the black dots spotted on some customers' lipsticks are oxygen bubbles that have been lifted to the surface when the products have gone from a warm environment to a cooler environment.

Jaclyn Hill (YouTube)

Meanwhile, the reason why some lipsticks were found to have small, white hairs on them was due to the gloves used by laboratory employees.

“Because my lipstick component is a silver, shiny, almost metal-like material, my lab – instead of using a standard glove that they would use in the lab – they decided to use white cotton gloves," Hill says in the video.

The beauty vlogger explains that standard gloves were not used so as to avoid putting any smears or prints on the lipstick casing.

Furthermore, the material used to clean the vats making the lipstick batches in the laboratory was made from a white, fibre material, Hill states.

Some customers also reported their lipsticks "melting", and leaning to one side when trialling swatches of the product.

In the video, the YouTuber states that transporting the products to hot climates affected their states when the lipsticks weren't given enough time to cool off before use.

"This is my first launch and it's very embarrassing," Hill says in the video, adding that the issues customers have had with their lipsticks have been "beyond unacceptable".

Hill's video has received a mixed reaction, garnering more than 1.6m views, 75,000 likes and 36,000 dislikes on YouTube.

Several YouTube users expressed their disappointment in the recently launched lipstick collection in the comment section below the video.

"Bottom line... your products should NOT have been sold with these issues!! The trust is gone," one person wrote.

"Your products will forever be under scrutiny. This is the messiest launch ever," another remarked.

Hill implores any customers experiencing issues with their Jaclyn Cosmetics products to contact help@jaclyncosmetics.com and send them proof in the form of a photograph or a video.

Those who do so will receive a full refund and brand new product.