A black shopper blasted Ulta Beauty after she was allegedly racially profiled while shopping at the store.
In a viral video that has amassed over 830,200 views as of Monday, TikTok user Elle Chardanaye (@ellecgardanaye) explained how she was accused of stealing for simply taking items off of the store’s shelves.
“I was discriminated against in Ulta Beauty,” text overlaid on the clip read.
Through tears, the woman recalled the traumatic event. She even expressed doubts that the worker would be reprimanded for mistreating her.
”I wanted to come on here and make this video ’cause I know that it’s possible that nothing is gonna happen, nothing is gonna come of this,” she said.
Elle then explained that she was perusing her neighborhood Ulta in Altamonte Springs, Florida (which she often frequents) when she was approached by the store’s worker.
“I go by the lashes and a young lady comes behind me like ‘Hey would you like a basket?’” she said.
The woman had a couple of items in her hand that she intended to purchase, so she was grateful to accept what seemed to be a helpful gesture.
“So what I have in my basket now is the Juvia’s Place lip liner, I have the NYX lip, I have a Tree Hut little body scrub and I have my lashes that I put in there,” she continued.
Despite putting all of the items into the basket, the store’s worker continued to follow her around the store, offering unnecessary and even intrusive shopping tips.
“‘Hey, make sure you don’t open the perfume, use the tester,’” Elle said the store’s worker suggested.
@ellechardanaye I wad just harrassed in Ulta Beauty! The police did NOTHING. I have never been so hurt 😢 #ultabeautyproducts #discrimination #ultabeauty #altamontespringsfl ♬ original sound – Elle Chardanaye
That’s when she began to feel like the worker was acting strange. While walking to the register to pay, the worker continued to ask the shopper and her best friend if they needed baskets or help finding anything. The Ulta Beauty worker asked a perplexing question.
“I was missing a few items from the shelf, a Juvia’s Place and an NYX, and I was just trying to see have you seen where it is?” the content creator reported the worker asked.
Elle showed the items in the basket to the worker and said that she planned to purchase them. However, the worker still refused to back off and claimed the items were “missing.” So the shopper and her friend began to record the worker, who claimed she felt “attacked” and asked for the police to be called.
“Just from my natural response, I literally start praying for this lady because I saw that there had to be some kind of hurt, there had to be some type of need for healing,” Elle said.
Eventually, she said the police arrived and told her she was “trespassing” because she had an altercation with the store’s worker. She was allegedly told to shop at another store up the street and never return to that location.
“What!?” the woman asked incredulously. “Like, oh my God, I was so hurt.”
The experience made her swear off shopping at Ulta altogether.
“I hope this reaches the CEO of Ulta,” she said. “I pray that you know the type of discrimination that’s going on at your store.”
Elle also named the worker in a message to the beauty store’s CEO.
“Denise will one-handedly bring your company to the ground,” she warned. “She is not giving an experience that customers, paying customers, deserve to experience.”
In the comments section, other TikTok users shared similar experiences of being mistreated in the beauty store.
“I had a very similar experience & they asked to search my bag!” user Elizabeth Fielder wrote. “I will not return to Ulta!!”
“I’m so sorry,” user K_Marie commented. “Similar happened to me at a Ulta Beauty I’ve spent thousands with. Left the store shaking hurt, got home called the manager and expressed my concerns.”
“Get a lawyer!” another user advised. “The same exact thing at the same place (not location) happened to my friend. She won!”
The Daily Dot reached out to Ulta Beauty via contact form and Elle by TikTok comment for more information.
