Cosmetics Settlement Distribution Has Begun: Get Your Free Product!

Tuesday, January 20th, 2009 | Beauty and the Law, Free Stuff, Hot Happenings, Makeup, Skincare

How Meilily got a free cosmetics product courtesy of In re Cosmetics Cases

Now that the In re Cosmetics Cases settlement distribution date is upon us, here is what it was like getting a free settlement product this morning…

I stopped by my local Nordstrom when it opened today at 10 am to pick up the free product owed to me under the cosmetics settlement (ok, maybe”owed” is not the right word). What can I say, I was very excited to see how the settlement products would actually be distributed, and I wanted to be there early!

When I arrived, Nordstrom already had tables set up at the mall entrance near the cosmetics department, and a small line had already started forming along a roped path. If I didn’t know better I would have thought there was a fancy special event happening there. (Luckily the line seemed to die down quickly after the initial 10 am crowd.)

Several Nordstrom sales assistants were on hand with clipboards, asking for a name and signature on a sheet of paper (basically to swear that you are indeed a member of the settlement class and that you’re getting one product). Nordstrom even had a display set up with all the available settlement products, and handed out lists summarizing the settlement products.

Next, after signing and sort-of deciding which product I wanted, I stepped up to a long table stacked full of settlement products and blurted out the name of the product I wanted. After wavering between the Lancome Primordiale Cell Defense, the Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair, and either the Lancome Courbe Virtuose or Cils Design Pro Mascara, I chose the Advanced Night Repair, as did a few others in line with me, and it was quickly placed in a bag for me.

It was that easy! I highly recommend going to one of the participating department stores and picking up your settlement product if you are a member of the settlement class. When I went, it looked like Nordstrom had a bunch of each product to distribute, and Macy’s down the way apparently had the same set up. However, the Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair and Lancome mascaras seemed to be more popular picks, so don’t delay too long in getting those!

Meilily says: It’s the honor system- you know what to do

Apparently many stores have had very long lines, even running out of product. The lines supposedly moved rather quickly, as store managers were told not to check ID or police consumers. Unfortunately, I’ve starting hearing rumblings on the beauty boards that certain consumers are bragging about getting multiple settlement products, going from store to store, signing their name (or a child’s name), and stockpiling multiple free products. Apparently with an honor system in place everyone tends to go nuts. I wouldn’t be surprised if eBay is soon flooded with everyone hawking their ill-gotten gains.