People Are Being Burned By These iPhone Cases Filled With Glitter

One company is even recalling the cases after at least 24 people suffered skin irritation or chemical burns.

By
Stephanie McNeal
by Stephanie McNeal

BuzzFeed News Reporter

A company that manufactures trendy, glitter-filled iPhone cases sold by Amazon and other retailers is recalling the accessories after reports that the liquid inside could cause chemical burns.

cpsc.gov

The company, MixBin, recalled the "liquid glitter iPhone cases" on Tuesday, according to a US Consumer Product Safety Commission release.

cpsc.gov

The recall includes all of the cases for iPhone 6, 6s, and 7 and cases sold from October 2015 to June.

In addition to Amazon, the cases were sold at Henri Bendel, MixBin, Nordstrom Rack, Tory Burch, and Victoria’s Secret, and ranged in price from $15 to $65.

"There have been 24 reports worldwide of skin irritation or chemical burns, including 19 in the U.S," the company said in a statement. "One consumer reported permanent scarring from a chemical burn and another consumer reported chemical burns and swelling to her leg, face, neck, chest, upper body and hands."

Although the recall was just announced on Tuesday, people on social media have been talking about burns from liquid-filled cases since at least 2016. In fact, many girls have tweeted about their injuries from similar cases.

justin timberlaugh @femmettarius

tfw the liquid from your iphone glitter case gives u a chemical burn

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Take what happened to Stephanie: She told BuzzFeed News she got this burn on her leg from having her phone in her pocket while she was at work.

Twitter: @___queensteph

"Throughout the day, I felt a burning sensation on my leg but I thought they were just razor burns or something because thats usually what it is," she said. "When i got home my leg was a really bright red."

It took her leg more than a month to heal, and she said she will probably always have a scar. She bought her case, pictured, at a retailer called Charming Charlie.

Twitter: @___queensteph

BuzzFeed News has contacted Charming Charlie for comment.

Another woman, named Melissa, told BuzzFeed News she got her star-filled case on Amazon. She said she noticed cracks on her case, and then her thumb started hurting.

"I checked out my phone case and sure enough, there was liquid coming out of those cracks," she said. "And they got on my thumb and whatever that substance was burned me."

Another victim, Cassy, told BuzzFeed News that she had her rumors the cases could burn you, but ignored them.

Cassy 🌵 @cassandracdiaz

Don't buy a phone case with glitter that floats around because it will break and burn you

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She had the case for a year without incident, until one day she woke up from a nap and her "arm was burning."

Twitter: @cassandracdiaz

"A few hours later I noticed that the burn was a straight line and a little puffy," she said. "I put my phone against my arm and it resembled the same shape as the burn."

She then pressed down on the case, and it started to leak.

"So I came to the realization that I fell asleep on my phone, which caused the liquid to leak on my arm," she said.

She added she bought her case at Forever 21.

It is unclear from some of the tweets if the cases mentioned were covered by the recall, or were produced by a different company with a similar design. Another victim, Courtney, told BuzzFeed News she got her case at Wet Seal.

court @courtneywhit_

lol s/o to my phone case for breaking and giving me chemical burn rad

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She said the liquid spilled on her when she had her phone between her legs during her lunch break at school.

"By my last class I had to call my mom to sign me out so I could go home because it was hurting so bad," she said.

Customers who can verify they bought their case from MixBin can get a full refund from the company, as long as they can provide a photo of their accessory.

mumof3inthecountry @dianebowen13

WARNING Liquid Glitter phone cases. Saw patient with 10cm diameter chemical burn on thigh due to leaky case in her… https://t.co/NdlvRWmmuu

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"Once your claim is approved you will receive instructions for disposal of your case," the company said.

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