November 12, 2019

Tarte Offers To Pay 1.7 Million To Settle Class Action Lawsuit

Last year, a consumer alleged Tarte’s claims about their line being natural were false.

Jeannie Patora filed a complaint in 2018 with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against Tarte over alleged violation of the New York General Business Law by claiming they used natural ingredients when in fact their products contains contain synthetic ingredients like glycerin, kaolin and sodium benzoate.

Up until now no word has been heard about the lawsuit but this morning word broke that Tarte agreed to pay $1.7 million in a settlement with customers who claimed they falsely advertised their products. No word yet if the settlement will be accepted as of yet. Tarte has not admitted they have done anything wrong and likely never will considering how things turned out all sunshine and roses for Sunday Riley.

Those Class Members who can provide proof or purchase can receive a full refund for their Tarte products. If you do not have a receipt you can claim $5 per product (limited to ten items) however, in doing so you waive your right to pursue independent litigation against the Tarte. The expiration for this deal is January 21st, 2020. This deal is available for purchases made between 11/13/2013 through 01/21/2020.

I’m curious if the 1.7 million settlement will be accepted or if they will pressure for further compensation.

What do you think of this lawsuit?

I’m actually glad someone finally stood up to a major brand and called them out on false claims. There are TOO many brands getting away with TOO many things lately and it’s about time someone finally said something.

45 Comments

About the Muse

Isabella MuseIsabella is just an average everyday geeky girl who doesn’t blend her eyeshadow correctly, wears too much blush, and hopes she never finds her holy grail products because she likes the thrill of the chase so much. Her mission is to bring you super honest reviews on makeup, skincare, fragrance and all things beauty. She’s in no way an expert on the topic and she sure as hell isn’t a super model. But she’s passionate about makeup and is seeking like-minded individuals that like pina coladas, getting caught in the rain, and ones that enjoy spending hundreds of dollars at Sephora without feeling buyer’s remorse. If you’re that person feel free to reach out and leave a comment or follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Bloglovin‘.

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Comments

  • Kash Qureshi

    I am so thankful to you for the follow-up. I agree too many companies get away with false claims about their products. Please keep us posted of all the developments.

    Thank you again,

  • Jeanine

    Any idea how you sign up for lawsuit?? I’ve bought hundreds of tarte product’s. I habe since switched brands as now i know how to read ingredients more so than before.

    • Isabella Muse

      I haven’t a clue. I only know how to retrieve money back for products purchased with proof of purchase. If you go that route though it waives your ability to sue them in the future!

  • Alyssa

    Girl, have you been watching Shane and Jeffree? This is like shit they would uncover!

    • Isabella Muse

      Mmmm nope I’m horrible with youTube stuff! Just don’t have the patience to watch! But I’ve always covered lawsuits back from the days Victoria’s Secret and Urban Decay were suing each other and bickering about naked logos.

  • kjh

    BIG LOVE for your industry watch posts. Isn’t kaolin just clay? Personally, I doubt the Amazonian sourcing. We all know these guys lie like Persian carpets. The markup is obscene, whereas groceries’ markup is only 1-2%. Color cosmetics is getting the best of 2 worlds, being a volume business, like supermarkets, with a high markup. I say hold their feet to the fire. But better to take on the skincare cos. They’re all better than 20 years ago, as some actually do something. But the claims remain outrageous. I believe no one but Cosdna, EWG. And to some extent Paula’s ingredients dictionary, though the ‘expert’ reviews, though true to the research on the ingredients, always manages to tout PC products and give big negs to things that might not bother a specific person at all.

  • kimkats

    Muse, I think you can make claims for 5 products without a reciept, and 10 if you have reciepts for them. At least that’s how I’m reading the terms and conditions…. And I have a bunch of Tarte that I’ve bought in that time frame, so I’ll have to scout around for my reciepts. I know I got a bunch from QVC a couple years back when they had all those great Tarte TSVs… so I’m sure I still have those and I just bought the tarte moisturizer, and I’ll have to see what else I have.

    I too am glad that someone is finally trying to hold a company’s feet to the fire on this “natural ingredients” claim – Let’s hope more follow!

    • Isabella Muse

      thanks Kim! Sorry about that! I thought they said five total ;-D I just wish that companies would learn from this but they never do!

  • Jen R.

    Wow, thanks for this info, Muse! I just scoured my email and could definitively find receipts for three separate Tarte purchases I made between 2013 and 2019. I actually used to use a lot more Tarte products in the mid-2000s, too bad those aren’t eligible too! Now to submit and see what happens…

  • kamikity

    looking through my email receipts and realized I’ve had the same amazonian clay blush for more than 4 years…… and I still didn’t hit pan (I just used it this morning…)

  • Kish

    I love Tarte, idk, I guess I never really believed the all natural advertising so I’m not worried about it. Their blushes are the best I’ve ever used. I love their brushes, most eye shadows, their mascaras are amazing. Tinted moisturizer an HG. I don’t even want to think how much I’ve spent on them since they first launched. But I’ll keep buying from them. I guess I’m a cynic, I don’t believe any advertising. I try stuff that sounds interesting and catches my eye. If I like it, I buy more lol.

  • Sarah

    I take anyone who says their stuff is all natural with a grain of salt. Natural can mean a lot of things to different people, like I would consider kaolin as a natural product. But I went to art school and kaolin as I understand it is the purest of clays that can be dug out of the earth. it’s the basis of porcelain clay bodies as it is virtually white, where other clay types usually have other naturally occurring contaminants that turn it grey, brown or even red. But apparently in the context of makeup it’s not a natural substance?

    IDK maybe I’m just jaded but I feel like if you buy a cosmetic product and expect it to be completely natural that your being a bit unrealistic and naive (considering those products would have an extremely short shelf life). plus the more natural products seem to have higher incidents of negative human reactions. I switched to a more natural soap twice and each time I ended up with reoccurring yeast infections and UTI’s. So I’ve actually stopped using a lot of the “Natural” brands because of my experiences.

  • Shil

    They blocked my account and accused me of reselling. They were my favorite brand but that made me angry. So this is payback. I bought so many things from them.

  • Amy Allen

    I am a chemist in the cosmetics industry. There is too much chemophobia out there. People think that if it’s not “Natural” then it’s toxic. That is not true. In fact natural things can cause contact dermatitis too. FYI, I’d rather all my beauty products were preserved with parabens than any other preservative.

  • Randi Macdonald

    Heads up, its only for certain Tarte products, not all of them. The Frixxition stick, Brazillian self tanning pads and a few others.

      • Cristina

        I’m commenting here several years later but that information is false. It was for all products.

        I never purchase the tanning pads or friction sticks, and I got a check for $150 from TARTE. It was any product purchased during a certain time frame. I just grabbed receipts for my 10 most expensive items and that’s how I wound up with $150.

        I was googling around and I read that TARTE paid out like ~$400 in settlement claims. So I’m laughing because it looks like I made up about 1/4 of the payouts.

        I’d love to hear from someone else who got a payout.

    • Linda

      I was wondering which products as well! Can you show me where you found the list of eligible products, please?

      • Jennifer F

        Yes, can someone pls share the list? The instructions say “any products marketed by Tarte as “high performance naturals”. I thought that was the tagline for their ENTIRE brand so I didn’t think any items were exempt. I have spent a LOT at Tarte so I’d like to know if I can claim the items. Thanks in advance!
        ps. Thanks Muse for posting this! You’re the best!

  • Joline

    Does anyone have a link or a list of the products that are included in this class act?

  • e.ws

    Honestly, I am thinking about sending my proof of purchase to benefit from the class action. In 2014 I went vegan and I thought only Tarte and Too Faced at Sephora were vegan friendly. Tarte claimed to be natural so I made a ton of purchase from their website, time after time until I decided to slap myself in the face, ‘this foundation isn’t working on me’. I’ve purchased Amazonian Clay foundation perhaps about 5 times at least because I have oily skin but it made it worse. I genuinely believed that it had to work. Well, I was being dumb but you know their marketing also targets ignorant people like me. Now I do my research deeper into the ingredients lists and don’t continue to use anything if it does not work on me. But that came with a cost. So I think I want a refund if I can. I would not purchase anything from Tarte at this point, they don’t perform well and usually they are just gimmicky.

  • LC

    I’m a bit confused – I looked at the legal document and started going through the supposed “unnatural chemicals” and each and every one has a natural variant that is quite possible Tarte uses. Some of the statements on the class action suit are flat out wrong – claiming certain chemicals are not natural with zero evidence to back up the claim. Ie: Limonene is stated as synthetic, but it is a natural component of citrus fruit peels and found in many plants, including cannabis. Did anyone actually vet this information before it was put through? I’m guessing not. Hopefully this comes out in a trial.

    • Isabella Muse

      they have actually settled but I haven’t followed up on the news as of yet! You bring up some interesting points!!!!!!

      • Ashley

        I got my check today and it was significantly less than what I submitted anyone else ?

          • Jennifer F

            Hi Muse, mine was $38.35 and I sent a document with 14 items. ☹️

          • Ashley

            It was 200 and I submitted receipts for over 500

        • Jennifer F

          Hi Ashley, I was prepared about the amount after seeing your post. Yes, it was a LOT less considering how much I purchased but I assume it’s based on Number claims and after attorney fees.