What They Actually Sold You

Skincare is not frivolous. For a lot of people, it is one of the few small things they do purely for themselves. You stand in front of a mirror, you read a label, you make a decision. You trust the label. That is the entire transaction. Not just the money, but the trust.

Adelina Pepenella of Queens went to a cosmetics store and picked up Algenist’s GENIUS Sleeping Collagen and GENIUS Liquid Collagen. She saw the word “collagen” on the front of the product, large and prominent, the way companies put things when they want you to notice them. She paid the premium. She went home.

Collagen is an animal protein. It is found in skin, bone, cartilage, tendons. It is what gives connective tissue its structure. It is not found in plants. There is no collagen in corn. There is no collagen in soy. There is no collagen in wheat. These are facts of basic biology, and Algenist, a company in the business of skin science, knows this better than anyone.

What Algenist put in the bottle was a blend of corn, soy, and wheat plant protein fibers engineered to perform some of the functions of collagen. Algenist knows this too, because they built a webpage to explain it. They call it “Active Vegan Collagen.” They describe it as providing “a functional and structural equivalent to animal-derived collagen.” Read that sentence again. They are telling you it is a replacement. They are telling you it is not the thing. But the front label of the product says “Collagen,” and most people never read the fine print, the website, or the ingredient science. They read the word on the front of the bottle at the store. That is how this works.

The betrayal here is specific. It is the moment you realize the word on the label was chosen to trigger your trust, your knowledge of the ingredient’s value, your memory of reading that collagen is good for your skin. All of that was the target. The company had superior knowledge of what was actually inside, and they chose to put a different word on the outside. Every person who bought one of these three products and believed they were getting collagen received, instead, a grain-protein substitute and a feeling they could not yet name.

The class action says millions of people may have experienced some version of what Adelina Pepenella experienced. Not a catastrophic harm. The kind of harm that is quiet and accumulates. The kind where you eventually find out you paid extra for something you did not get, and the company already has your money, and there is very little you can do about it alone.

The Words They Cannot Walk Back

These are verbatim statements from the complaint, filed November 15, 2024, drawing directly on Algenist’s own publicly available web content and the court record.

“Algenist markets its Products in a systematically misleading manner by conspicuously misrepresenting on the Products’ front labels that they contain ‘collagen’ — an animal-derived protein, often included in skincare products for its anti-aging effects and other skin benefits.”

Complaint, Para. 1  |  Case 1:24-cv-08688

“Despite Algenist’s conspicuous representations, however, the Products use a fake imitation of collagen ‘derived entirely from corn, soy and wheat plant protein fibers.’ As Algenist itself acknowledges, its plant-based compound is formulated ‘to provide a functional and structural equivalent to animal-derived collagen.'”

Complaint, Para. 2  |  Citing Algenist’s own website: algenist.com/pages/active-vegan-collagen

“The use of corn, soy, and wheat instead of collagen represents a significant cost-saving measure for Algenist. Manufacturing collagen, particularly marine collagen, is notably more expensive due to the complex processes involved in raw material procurement, extraction, and rigorous quality control measures. In contrast, corn, soy, and wheat fiber are generally less costly to produce and process.”

Complaint, Para. 17  |  Case 1:24-cv-08688

“Plaintiff Pepenella saw that the Products were labeled and marketed as containing ‘Collagen.’ Plaintiff Pepenella relied on Algenist’s representations when she decided to purchase the Products over comparable products that did not make those claims… she would not have purchased the Products on the same terms had she known that those representations were not true. Furthermore, in making her purchases, Plaintiff Pepenella paid a substantial price premium due to Algenist’s false and misleading representations.”

Complaint, Para. 9  |  Case 1:24-cv-08688

The Collagen Market Algenist Exploited

The complaint documents the explosive growth of the collagen market. The following chart maps that growth and what Algenist’s position in it means for consumers.

Market value figures sourced from Forbes and Verified Market Research, as cited in Complaint Para. 14 and Para. 17, Case 1:24-cv-08688.

Who Gets Hurt and How

Public Health

The complaint does not allege physical injury from the products, but the documented deception raises documented public health concerns for specific consumer populations.

• The products contain corn, soy, and wheat protein fibers. Soy and wheat are among the nine major food allergens recognized by the FDA. A consumer with a soy or wheat allergy who purchases a “Collagen” product without reason to check for grain derivatives faces an undisclosed allergen exposure risk. The complaint does not raise this claim, but the ingredient substitution makes it a real-world concern.
• Consumers seeking genuine collagen for documented skin health applications, including wound healing support and connective tissue maintenance, received an unverified plant-fiber substitute. The complaint notes that collagen sales surged on the basis of “purported anti-aging benefits in maintaining youthful skin, hair, and nails.” Consumers who purchased these products expecting those benefits received an ingredient with a different biochemical profile entirely.

Economic Inequality

Premium skincare fraud is not a victimless white-collar crime. The financial harm falls disproportionately on consumers who stretch their budgets to access products marketed as higher quality.

• The complaint alleges consumers paid a “substantial price premium” for Algenist’s products on the basis of the “Collagen” label. Marine collagen is genuinely more expensive to produce due to complex extraction and quality control. Algenist charged as though those costs were included while using cheaper grain-based inputs, capturing the margin difference as profit.
• The proposed nationwide class numbers in the millions, per the complaint. The aggregate claims exceed $5 million. That figure, distributed across millions of individual consumers, represents millions of small financial injuries that no individual consumer had the resources to litigate alone. The class action mechanism exists precisely because corporations can make small fraud profitable at scale in ways that are individually unchallenging but collectively massive.
• Private equity ownership adds another layer to the economic harm. Tengram Capital Partners LP, a Delaware limited partnership based in Westport, Connecticut, is named as a co-defendant. The complaint alleges that Algenist LLC’s sole member traces back to William Sweedler, a Connecticut resident and the controlling figure in Tengram. Private equity firms acquire consumer brands and optimize margins. The grain-fiber-for-collagen swap is the kind of input-cost reduction that produces cleaner financial returns for investors while degrading product quality for consumers.

The Math Behind the Deception

The Watchlist and the Next Move

The defendants in this case are named in the public record. The regulatory bodies with jurisdiction over these practices are active and accepting complaints.

The Defendants

• Algenist LLC: Delaware LLC, headquartered in Glendale, California. Sole member traces to Tengram Capital Associates II LLC.
• Tengram Capital Partners LP: Delaware limited partnership, principal place of business in Westport, Connecticut. Controlling figure per California corporate filings: William Sweedler.

Regulatory Watchlist

• FTC (Federal Trade Commission): The FTC has jurisdiction over deceptive advertising and unfair business practices under Section 5 of the FTC Act. A “Collagen” label on a product containing no collagen is precisely the kind of material misrepresentation the FTC is mandated to address. File a complaint at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
• FDA (Food and Drug Administration): Cosmetics labeling falls under FDA authority. The FDA’s Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act of 2022 (MoCRA) expanded the agency’s oversight of cosmetic product safety and labeling. False ingredient representation on a cosmetic label is an FDA concern. File a complaint via the FDA’s MedWatch system.
• New York State Attorney General: The complaint invokes N.Y. G.B.L. §§ 349 and 350 directly. The NYAG has an active Consumer Frauds Bureau and a history of acting on consumer protection class actions. File at ag.ny.gov/consumer-frauds-bureau.
• State Attorneys General (Nationwide): The complaint lists consumer fraud statutes across nearly every U.S. state. If you purchased these products outside New York, your state AG has jurisdiction. Contact your state AG’s consumer protection division.
• CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau): If you financed any purchase of these products through a credit instrument or BNPL service, the CFPB handles complaints about payment and credit-related consumer harm at ConsumerFinance.gov/complaint.

What You Can Do Right Now

• If you purchased any Algenist GENIUS Collagen product (GENIUS Sleeping Collagen, GENIUS Liquid Collagen Essence, or GENIUS Liquid Collagen), preserve your receipts, order confirmations, and any product packaging. Class action claimants are typically required to demonstrate purchase history.
• Monitor ClassAction.org and PACER for Case No. 1:24-cv-08688 in the Southern District of New York. Class certification hearings will determine eligibility and claims processes. You do not need to be a named plaintiff to receive a settlement distribution.
• Contact the attorneys of record: Gucovschi Rozenshteyn, PLLC, 140 Broadway, Suite 4667, New York, NY 10005. Phone: (212) 884-4230. Emails: adrian@gr-firm.com, ben@gr-firm.com, nsari@gr-firm.com. They represent the proposed class and are the appropriate contact for potential class members.
• Share this investigation. The complaint argues that absent collective action, Algenist retains the profits of this deception. Individual awareness is the first step toward collective accountability. Send this to anyone who uses or has used these products.
• Check every “collagen” product you own against its full ingredient list. Algenist’s practice of labeling plant-fiber compounds as “collagen” is not guaranteed to be unique in the industry. Look for the ingredient. If it is not listed as hydrolyzed collagen, marine collagen, bovine collagen, or a clearly identified collagen peptide, the label may not reflect reality.