Alleged Ulta Thieves Used a Stroller to Steal More Than $1,000 in Beauty Products

Two women and a baby carriage walked into an Ulta in Arlington, Texas, and reportedly walked out with $1,000 worth of stolen beauty products. Steven Soderbergh, we found your Ocean's 8 sequel; please cast Cate Blanchett and Sandra Bullock.

The beauty bandits allegedly pulled off this scam not once but twice, on both May 19 and June 2. It's unclear exactly how the women pulled off this low-key heist without anyone noticing, but the Arlington Police Department is in their feelings about it. "A baby stroller is for kids, not shoplifting. These [two] females went into a business in the 4000 [block] of Retail Connection Way and used the stroller to conceal cosmetics and items before slipping away. They came back [two] weeks later and shoplifted again," they tweeted. They also shared a tip-line number.

Serious shoplifting — not the "angsty teenager pockets a lipstick" kind — is a concern for makeup stores with both expensive products and highly resellable goods. Earlier this year, a woman allegedly stole $200 worth of mascara from an Ulta in Rhode Island; another Texas duo assaulted a Walmart manager with pepper spray when he tried to stop them from stealing $400 of makeup; there are even "cosmetics theft rings" that steal and resell beauty products.

This reported theft is another reminder to avoid the Kylie Cosmetics palettes you may see on street corners or any beauty product on Amazon at a price that seems too good to be true. The goods may be stolen, which means the product formula may have been tampered with. In the best case scenario, you get a cheaper product and finance a small-scale criminal. But in the worst case, you may be sending money to a darker place than beauty thieves; crime rings may have connections to trafficking, child labor, and terrorism.

A representative for Ulta told Insider that they're doing all they can to work with the local police over the latest incident. "We are fully cooperating with local authorities and will defer to them for any additional information at this time."

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