That skincare you bought online? It could be counterfeit

Rose Maura Lorre, a senior staff writer at Wirecutter, hired a cosmetic chemist to test 12 beauty products she bought from third-party retailers online. To compare, she also bought the same products directly from the brands’ own websites.

Lorre spoke with “Marketplace” host Kristin Schwab about her experiment, starting with a lip treatment from the brand Rhode.

“This chemist noticed the one that I’d purchased third party was sort of puffier, bloatier,” Lorre said. “So she was like, this could be indicative of bacteria growing inside the package.”

Lorre said the product testing changed the way she’ll shop going forward, and that “I cannot tell anyone in good conscience, shop third party, certainly not for anything you’re putting in or on your body.”

Click the audio player above to hear the conversation.