A makeup session turned into a lifelong medical nightmare for Pennsylvania mom Tammeka Hill, who claims she contracted ocular herpes from contaminated tester products at a M.A.C cosmetics counter.
The 42-year-old Black mother of two from Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, is suing M.A.C Cosmetics after she says a makeup artist at one of their counters used non-disposable brushes and passed her an infection that’s changed her life forever. Hill claims the encounter, which happened at a M.A.C counter inside Macy’s in Willow Grove on June 20, 2019, led to her contracting ocular herpes, a painful and recurring eye infection that now controls her life, health, and confidence.
“I went to M.A.C so they could make me feel beautiful and good about myself,” she told The New York Post. “That one incident has caused a lifetime of devastation.”
Hill says she was preparing for a party in NYC and wanted a professional beat. But during her appointment, she noticed that the artist wasn’t using disposable brushes.
“She was doing the eyeliner in my left eye, and I noticed that she dipped the brush into the gel eyeliner container directly,” Hill recalled. When she questioned it, the artist allegedly told her that disposable brushes “don’t do as good of a job.”
Even though alarm bells were ringing, Hill said she allowed the artist to finish her makeup.
Two days later, Hill’s eyes became irritated. She removed her contacts, hoping things would settle. They didn’t. Nine days later, she was in the emergency room. Her right eye was in agonizing pain, and she could barely see.
“I woke up in agonizing pain, and I couldn’t see out of my eye,” she said.
After being seen by multiple specialists, Hill was diagnosed with ocular herpes, a strain of the herpes simplex virus that affects the eye. Unlike the better-known form of herpes, ocular herpes is not sexually transmitted, but it is just as life-altering.
Even more shocking, Hill says she had never had a cold sore or herpes outbreak before and is extremely cautious due to her autoimmune disease, Lupus.
When she told her doctor about the M.A.C makeover, he allegedly responded, “Okay, that is probably where the contamination came from.”
Hill says the infection left her with dark, scaly skin around her eye and triggered severe emotional distress. “I started getting lesions on my face, bursting and oozing,” she said. “Can you imagine, as a woman, looking in the mirror and seeing lesions?”
Each outbreak lasts two weeks. She gets them nearly every month. On top of that, she says her Lupus, once under control, has flared dramatically due to stress. And because her infected right eye weakens during outbreaks, her left eye has to overwork, leading to intense migraines.
“This thing destroyed my health, my career, and my confidence,” she said.
Hill stopped working in August 2020, having previously worked in the medical sales industry. She says the financial and emotional toll has been crushing.
Her lawyer, Mark Webb, told The Post: “She has gone through savings, and she is struggling.”
Worse still, the ordeal ended her last relationship, and she now fears dating because she has to disclose her diagnosis. “It’s embarrassing. It’s humiliating,” she said. “I’m afraid to spread it to my children.”
Tammeka Hill is suing M.A.C for damages and accountability. But more than money, she says she wants to make sure no other woman suffers the same fate.
