The lip balm maker EOS said in January that a class-action lawsuit alleging its product causes skin to crack, bleed and blister has been resolved. 
 
 According to the suit, filed in California, the plaintiff Rachael Cronin said her lips felt like “sandpaper” several hours after using the product. After she reapplied it to soothe her skin, her lips began to crack, flake and bleed. The next day, she had blisters and rashes on and around her mouth. Her symptoms lasted 10 days. 
 
 Cronin’s lawyer Mark Geragos wrote that the affected customers could comprise tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of shoppers, and he sought damages and asked the company to address the potential health concerns. 
 
 In late January, EOS announced the lawsuit had been resolved. While the company maintained that its products were safe, and will not change the lip balm’s formula, it has agreed to include details about the ingredients and instructions for correct use on the packaging. 
 
 Geragos said in a statement: “This is a testament to [EOS] being responsive to the concerns of their consumers. [EOS] has demonstrated through data that their lip balms are hypoallergenic, and has provided a mechanism for individual instances to be resolved … We will be applying to the courts to close this case.” ||||| - 2 - 
 
 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 
 
 COMPLAINT 
 
 1. 
 
 Plaintiff Rachael Cronin brings this putative class action, on behalf of herself and the putative class comprised of potentially hundreds of thousands of similarly situated consumer 
 
 s, against eos Products, LLC‟s (“EOS”). 
 
 2. 
 
 EOS develops, markets, advertises, brands, promotes, distributes, and sells 
 
 – 
 
 through retail and online 
 
 – 
 
 one of the highest-grossing lip-balm products on the market t oday called EO S Visibly So ft Lip Balm. The 
 
 lip-balms come in a variety 
 
 of colors and “flavors,” with over 
 
 -the-top and misleading names like 
 
 Barbados Heat-Wildber ry 
 
 , 
 
 Medicated Tangerin e 
 
 , and 
 
 Honeysuckle Honeydew 
 
 , just to name a few. 
 
 3. 
 
 The lip-balms come in attractive bright circular pods that stand out from the other oblique-shaped lip-balms in the marketplace. 
 
 4. 
 
 “EOS” is as an acronym for “evolution of smooth.” The company has 
 
 achieved meteoric growth through print and online marketing campaigns that link smooth lips and the use of EOS lip-balm with beauty, health, celebrity, and success. 5. 
 
 EOS uses and pays celebrity “brand ambassadors” such as Kim 
 
 Kardashian, Brittney Spears, Miley Cyrus, Hillary Duff, and others, to post pictures on Instagram and social media, creating a viral marketing frenzy around the product, targeted at c onsumers. In fac t, the EOS website, 
 
 evolutionofsmooth.com 
 
 has an entire paged called 
 
 “EOS BUZZ 
 
 - 
 
 CELEBRITY FANS” 
 
 advertising hundreds of celebrity endorsements and sponsored content on social media with hashtags including 
 
 “#YUMMY” 
 
 and 
 
 “EOSOBSESSED” 
 
 along with posts treating EOS lip- balm as a travel companion, a cure for health and hygiene problems, and a product that co nsumers ca nnot li ve with out. The m essage EOS is tryin g to mislead consumers about is clear: EOS lip-balm is a daily necessity requiring constant use regardless of the actual condition of your lips to improve your health, diet, and appearance. 6. 
 
 The advertisements and marketing by EOS emphasizes that the product
– When Rachael Cronin's lips became dry and coarse, she began to apply even more of her gluten-free EOS lip balm "to achieve the results of becoming 'sensationally smooth'" as the packaging promised, only to discover that her lips "began severely cracking on the edges, causing flaking and bleeding from the cracks." The rashes and blistering became so bad she sought medical care a few days later, according to the class-action lawsuit she has subsequently filed against the brand, an acronym for "evolution of smooth." EOS brought the ubiquitous balm to market in 2009 and claims more than 1.3 million followers on Instagram, reports BuzzFeed. According to the suit, which can be read in its entirety on Scribd, Cronin's symptoms lasted 10 days and caused her "severe shock and panic." Cronin attorney Mark Geragos writes that there could be hundreds of thousands of users affected similarly, and he's not only seeking damages but also asking that the company address his client's concerns. EOS, which is linked to some of the biggest names in the business, including Miley Cyrus and Kim Kardashian, writes in a statement to Time that "this lawsuit is without merit" and adds: "The health and well-being of our customers is our top priority and millions of satisfied customers use our products every day, many of whom take the time to share their experiences with us." Comments on BuzzFeed are largely unsympathetic toward Cronin, questioning why someone with an allergic reaction thinks it's OK to sue because of it. (This woman won a disability payout for WiFi sensitivity.)