Staff at factory producing Kylie Jenner makeup ‘were banned from looking at her’, workers claim

Staff at the factory where Kylie Jenner‘s makeup is made felt ‘degraded’ after they were forced to work in ‘horrific’ conditions and even banned from looking at the reality star when she visited, former workers have claimed.

The reality star, 23, launched KYLIE Lip Kits by Kylie Jenner six years ago before it was renamed Kylie Cosmetics a year later.

Spatz Laboratories in Oxnard, California, has manufactured the cosmetic products since the start of the brand and former employee Irene Lopez says she was hired to work on the assembly line in 2016 by a temp agency.

Kylie occasionally visited the factory, which she does not own or control, with her mother Kris Jenner to check in on the manufacturing of her products.

But Irene, 32, told The Sun: ‘Before they would come in our supervisors would tell us, ‘You are not allowed to talk with them, you guys are supposed to keep on working, you guys are not allowed to take any pictures or ask any questions.”

The former employee added that Kylie would never talk to staff and would watch on silently as her glossy range was made in front of her eyes.

Factory staff at Kylie Jenner’s makeup company say they felt ‘degraded’ after they claim they were forced to work in ‘horrific’ conditions. Pictured: Kylie teases the launch of a new vegan range

Kylie occasionally visited the factory, which she does not own or control, with her mother Kris Jenner to check in on the manufacturing of her products (pictured)

Kylie occasionally visited the factory, which she does not own or control, with her mother Kris Jenner to check in on the manufacturing of her products (pictured)

Another former Spatz Laboratories employee Martha Molasco, who worked there from 2015 to 2017 after being hired by a temp agency, said there were rules for staff when Kylie visited the factory.

The 31-year-old said: ‘Supervisors would say, ‘Don’t talk to them, don’t even look at them.”

There is no indication that Kylie or Kris gave any instructions to staff or knew about the rules. 

Irene said she felt ‘degraded’ during her time at the company and said staff were expected to complete quotes of up to 1,200 products every day.

The 23-year-pld launched KYLIE Lip Kits by Kylie Jenner six years ago before it was renamed Kylie Cosmetics a year later (pictured at the factory)

The 23-year-pld launched KYLIE Lip Kits by Kylie Jenner six years ago before it was renamed Kylie Cosmetics a year later (pictured at the factory)

She said: ‘The supervisors I had there had been very degrading towards everybody. Everything had to be perfectly made and if it wasn’t they would throw it away in your face like it was trash. If you didn’t go fast enough, you were going to get fired.’

The former employee said she was often left in tears after being scolded for not being fast enough on the production line.

One time, she claims her supervisor threw all of her completed products in the trash, forcing her to start all over again.

Irene claims she was expected to produce the popular makeup items after she was trained for only ‘five minutes’ and was ‘verbally threatened’ and ‘degraded’ if she asked questions to her superiors.

Staff were told they could be laid off from the minimum wage job and replaced by someone else from the temp agency, she said. 

Spatz Laboratories (pictured) in Oxnard, California, has manufactured the cosmetic products since the start of the brand

Spatz Laboratories (pictured) in Oxnard, California, has manufactured the cosmetic products since the start of the brand

Martha said the physical labor left her with medical issues with pain shooting from her hand to her elbow after working 12-hour shifts from 4pm to 4am while standing in the factory. 

Irene claimed she worked eight-hour shifts but was often pressured to come in on weekends in fear of being fired.

The single mother-of-two said she struggled to find childcare on the weekends but was still made to come in or was threatened with losing her job.

Irene also claimed she had to endure ‘horrific’ factory conditions where she says workers were crammed in with staff unable to move for each other.

Meanwhile Martha said she had to endure cold conditions in the winter and sweltering heat in the summer months.

Kylie's retooled makeup goes on sale July 15 in an exciting new launch for the popular brand

Kylie’s retooled makeup goes on sale July 15 in an exciting new launch for the popular brand

Irene no longer works at the factory but said she has been told by current employees that conditions are the same. 

Online reviews from fellow disgruntled employees paint a similar picture of Spatz factories. 

One read: ‘People have to go through an employment agency to get a job at this place so the company doesn’t have a problem firing you if you can’t pull 10 to 12 hour shifts, HR don’t care if you’re a hard worker or not, if you’re not part of the company they don’t care about your opinion or concerns, if you’re a stranger they put up this huge front like everything is good.

‘The people that I talked to didn’t like the job, I mean this place is a mess. I’m surprised it hasn’t shut down. I would give this place 0 stars but that option isn’t there.’ 

Another scathing review on Indeed from 2019 said: ‘If you are looking to get minimum, be worked like a dog, 50 hours a week on the holiday season just so you can get laid off after or get four hours a day when it’s not seasonal, then go for it. Management only want numbers.’

Former employees have also filed complaints with the California Labor Commissioner’s Office according to The Sun.

New face: Jenner in a new photo with pink-framed glasses for her reworked Lip Kit line

New face: Jenner in a new photo with pink-framed glasses for her reworked Lip Kit line

MailOnline has contacted representatives for Kylie, parent company Coty, Spatz Labs and the makeup brand. 

Last week, Kylie opened up about her beauty brand which is now valued at $1.2billion. 

The ‘origin story’ video was made as the star relaunched her lip kits with vegan ingredients today.

‘I was 17 when I launched Kylie Cosmetics,’ she began. ‘It feels weird that this is my life now, looking back at it though, makeup has just been a part of my DNA.’ 

‘When I was younger I had an insecurity with my lips,’ she said. She became obsessed with makeup and how to make her lips bigger. She also said that is when she started ‘overlining’ her lips.

‘I have temporary lip fillers and it was an insecurity of mine and it’s what I wanted to do,’ she said.