These cosmetic stores inside Ontario malls promise customers better skin. Instead, a growing number say they've been tricked into high-cost loans
The stores' management deny using deceitful sales tactics. But more and more disgruntled customers are demanding justice.
July 27, 2025
9 min read
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By Frédérik PlanteInvestigative Reporter
Ashell Campbell was returning shoes at the Scarborough Town Centre when, somewhere between Baskin-Robbins and Sephora, a saleswoman from a cosmetics store called the Soap Tree offered her a free skin cream sample.
The woman noted Campbell's acne scarring and suggested a product that could help. Campbell, a 29-year-old community mental health worker, tried the cream and liked the result. 'Why not? I'll treat myself,' she thought, and bought it.
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Frédérik Plante is a Toronto-based investigative reporter for the Star. You can reach him at fplante@thestar.ca, @fx_plante on X or @fxplante.bsky.social on Bluesky.
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