Dior Named in Potential Class Action Lawsuit for SPF Claims in Long-Wear Foundation

Luxury beauty brand Christian Dior, part of LVMH, has been named in proposed class action lawsuit. The plaintiff, Alexis Slaten, is seeking redress for “deceptive and unlawful practices in labeling and marketing” related to foundation products that make “24 HR” claims in conjunction with SPF claims. The class action complaint was filed on Jan 27, 2023 in the Northern District of California.

The 25-page filing names Dior Forever Foundation and Dior Forever Skin Glow Foundation. The filing states: “Intending to profit from consumers’ desire to protect their skin from the sun’s harmful rays, Defendant developed cosmetic foundation products with SPF protection, and labeled these products with 24 hour claims. The documentation also states “products do not and cannot provide 24 hours of SPF protection as claimed. The products’ labels are therefore false, deceptive and/or misleading.”

Furthermore, the defendant claims the product labels “violate federal and California regulations regarding labeling” since the products contain sunscreen ingredients—including octinoxate, octisalate, and titanium dioxide—and therefore are “required to comply with, inter alia, sunscreen labeling requirements that generally prohibit “claims that would be false and/or misleading on sunscreen products.”

As filed, the briefing argues that reasonable consumers  would believe the products provide 24-hour coverage, including the SPF protection, without the need to reapply.
According to the legal filing, the Dior products’ secondary packaging has a drug facts label that tells users to “reapply at least every 2 hours.” The plaintiffs note that the instructions are not on the bottles themselves, and as such, most consumers would not see the message before throwing away the packaging.

The plaintiff contends that she would not have shelled out as much money or bought the product at all if she knew it only provided two hours of protection from the sun.

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone in the United States who, since January 27, 2019, purchased a Dior product that makes an SPF claim and a claim that the item will last longer than two hours, including Dior Forever Foundation and Dior Forever Skin Glow Foundation.