16-year-old steals $50 of prescription beauty products from her sister-in-law, ends up with egregious skin irritations as a result: ‘She blamed me [but] I hadn’t expected her to dig through my drawers’

Author image for Jesse Kessenheimer
Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Jan 19, 2025 4:00 PM EST

Skincare gets expensive. And anyone over the age of 15 learns to recognize the difference between the cheapy knock-off brands and the real deal–so when they say money buys quality, in the case of beauty products, that's 100% true. This sister-in-law was more than reasonable with her husband's little sister and her random in-house visits, but after the 16-year-old girl rummaged through their bathroom drawers and stole a month's-worth of expensive beauty products, things got inflamed… Literally.

People of a certain age, usually women, start using pricey antiaging formulas every night to bring a youthful glow to their skin. Retinol, tretinoin, niacinamide, and plenty of other ridiculously named compounds can be found in a woman's nighttime arsenal, but if you start digging through what these compounds actually do, it's clear that you're playing with chemicals on your skin and it's a losing game if you don't know what you're doing. 

But for this teenager, who hijacked $50 worth of product at one of her impromptu sleepovers, learning a lesson the hard way–the burning, itching, stinging way–seemed to be the only course of action. 

Add as a preferred
source on Google
Advertisement
  • Cheezburger Image 10455996416
    via halfpoint

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • Perhaps I got on the anti-aging train a little late, but I only just recently started using night serums in my late 20s. Fighting the crow's feet by my eyes and the crinkles on my forehead, I unwittingly bought some high-intensity creams and potions in an attempt to fight the lines, and boy, was I disappointed when I didn't magically transform into a Disney princess overnight. Instead, I transformed into a Caribbean vacationer, skin burned and flaming red from the chemicals that my poor, wee baby skin couldn't take. 

    Night serums are no joke and they are certainly not to be trifled with–or stolen. So perhaps a little red-faced revenge was enough payback for this sister-in-law. 

  • "AITAH for accidentally letting my sister in law get chemical burns on her face"

    My husband (26M) and I (26F) bought our first home 7 months ago. His younger sister (16F), who just got her license, frequently shows up unannounced and has trouble taking 'no' for an answer.
    via Educational-Rest4256
  • Last Friday, she came over after dinner and asked to stay the night. We agreed since we had no plans. She asked to shower, so we let her use ours, as our guest bathroom isn't stocked yet. I splurge on salon-quality haircare products
    via Educational-Rest4256
  • because my hair is unruly, and my $27 shampoo bottle was brand new. Later, I found half the shampoo and nearly all the conditioner gone, along with my skincare scattered across the counter. She'd used almost $50 worth of hair products, and all of
    via Educational-Rest4256
  • my skin stuff including my prescription skincare stored in a pharmacy bag. I asked her to bring her own products next time, as I wasn't comfortable with how much she used. I was in no way r de I just
    via Educational-Rest4256
  • Cheezburger Image 10456025600
    via Danah Pascual
  • explained the I splurge on really expensive products and can't afford to have 50+ dollars of product gone everytime she showers here. She called me selfish in a passive aggressive way and ended up leaving.
    via Educational-Rest4256
  • By Tuesday, her skin was red, peeling, and breaking out terribly. At dinner with my in-laws Tuesday, she blamed me for not warning her about my skincare. I explained I hadn't expected her to dig through my drawers and use prescription products, which are expensive and
    via Educational-Rest4256
  • took my skin weeks to adjust to. My Father in Law said I should pay for a doctor visit, but my husband refused, arguing that at 16, she should know better and that it was inappropriate for her to look through my medicine bag to even find the prescription product that I was likely the culprit for the irritation.
    via Educational-Rest4256
  • Am I at fault for not warning her? I wouldn't go through someone's personal products, let alone use their stuff like it was my own. I would've been happy to share some skin products, not my prescription cream. She also brought up that I got mad she
    via Educational-Rest4256
  • used so much shampoo and conditioner and basically made me look really bad in front of my in laws. Admittedly I was upset about the shampoo and conditioner and the fact that she left a huge mess
    via Educational-Rest4256
  • on the counter, but I was very calm and just explained money is tight as we just bought our house and I didn't want her to use months of products in one shower. Anyways let me know what you all think?
    via Educational-Rest4256
  • Radiant Humor5110 It's dangerous to use someone's prescription medication. Why was she messing around with your medicine period. Keep repeating this to your in laws. I hope she's not messing with other people's medicine too.
    via Radiant_Humor5110
  • MEDICAL CENTER
    via stevecoleimages
  • Educational-Rest4256 Yep! I am assuming she's heard of the particular product I have and I am hoping that is why she used it. She was super into the skincare craze a while ago. I am upset but not surprised that she looked through all of our stuff. She would love to find something she could try to embarrass me with, but she should have learned over the years it hasn't worked on me lol.
    via Educational-Rest4256
  • compassrunner She is old enough to read a label and see cream is prescription. Definitely need to set boundaries here with her.
    via compassrunner
  • Educational-Rest4256 yep husband and I are both cutting out the sleepovers and unannounced visits after this. She not only could tell it was prescription but I keep the cream separate in the paper pharmacy bag in the drawer. So she also was looking through my prescriptions when she came across it.
    via Educational-Rest4256
  • NoSatisfaction 6 6 Yeah, she f ed around and found out like an idiot. Plus, she majorly wasted a lot of hair and skin products like a . I'm surprised OP didn't make her pay for the products SHE wasted.
    via NoSatisfaction6_6
  • I feel like there should be more consequences, but the 16 year old already sounds like her face is melting off.
    via NoSatisfaction6_6
  • forgetregret1day. You didn't accidentally let her do anything. She used your personal products without permission and didn't have the sense to see that some of them were by prescription.
    via forgetregret1day
  • This is 100% on her for stealing things she wasn't offered, acting like it was her right to do so then whining when, oh no, there were actual consequences to her selfishness. And where does
    via forgetregret1day
  • FIL get off trying to get you to pay for her doctor visit to sort out what she did to herself? This whole thing is nuts. From now on, lock up all your personal products when she's around and get better at saying no until she learns respect for other people's things and understands that she can't just take whatever she wants.
    via forgetregret1day
  • Ok Routine9099 She used prescription products and your in-laws want you to take responsibility. Nah. They need to teach her to read (not being mean, what she did is dangerous)
    via Ok_Routine9099

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

family drama dads stolen famiies drama stealing product kids brother siblings skin moms parenting shampoo skincare dad story family beauty sibling sister stories parent mom cousins parents thief
Scroll Down For The Next Article