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

A Reddit user, 26F, found herself in hot water with her in-laws after her teenage sister-in-law (16F) used her personal skincare products without permission, resulting in chemical burns. The sister-in-law had come over for an unplanned sleepover, used expensive salon-quality hair products excessively.

And went through the user’s prescription skincare stored in a pharmacy bag. Now, the family is blaming the Reddit user for not warning her about the risks. The Redditor wonders: is she really at fault for not stopping something she never anticipated? Read the full story below for all the details!

‘ 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. 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 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 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 rude I just 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. 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 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 was likely the culprit for the irritation.
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 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 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?

Here’s what the community had to contribute:

compassrunner −  NTA. She is old enough to read a label and see cream is prescription. Definitely need to set boundaries here with her.

FunStorm6487 −  Boo f**king hoo for little sis 😮‍💨

Radiant_Humor5110 −  NTA 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.

Educational-Rest4256 −  I can also see maybe if I had left this product mixed in with everything else, but I always keep it in the paper pharmacy bag so I don’t lose my Rx number for refills. So she chose to look through my personal medication sack.

Educational-Rest4256 −  Clarifications since this is blowing up: I didn’t have extra products for guests because we just got settled in well after doing renovations on the house and we haven’t had any other overnight guests.

She has spent the night one other time and there were no issues so we let it slide that night when she arrived and asked to stay. We also let her stay sometimes because her parents are not the best. They fight bad, dad drinks a ton, messy environment that my husband absolutely hated as a teen.

We tried to provide a safe space. Obviously now she has lost that privilege. Husband and I both told her she isn’t welcome back indefinitely. We have cameras, no one on my husbands side has a key for obvious reasons. She likely wasted the products to be rude.

She has had jealousy/ attention issues in the past because my husband spends more time with me than with her. She has attention seeking issues for sure. I thought these issues had gotten better with age, but obviously after this situation I see it’s the same.
She has twisted the story to make me look worse.

In Laws changed their tune after we explained what really happened, but they still aren’t happy that she is suffering. Trust me yall I am standing up for myself that is why she isn’t allowed back. Also why i set her parents straight on what happened and reminded them using someone else’s prescription is illegal.

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)

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.

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 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. NTA.

queenViirtualGF −  NTA. Like, who digs through someone’s stuff and uses prescription skincare without asking? She’s 16, not 6—she should know better. It’s not your fault she didn’t respect your space, and you even explained nicely about the products. Her reaction is on her, not you!

Secret_Sister_Sarah −  NTA – Karma’s a b**ch when you’re a b**ch. She got what she deserved, and should have learned a lesson instead of bad-mouthing you to your in-laws.

They’re messed up to want \*you,\* the victim of this b**t’s theft, to pay for the consequences to her actions… I’d fill a shampoo bottle with Nair the next time she pops over…

luuscious_darling −  NTA. She’s 16, not a toddler—she knew better than to dig through your stuff. You’re not responsible for her playing chemist with your prescription skincare. Actions have consequences, and this one’s on her 🫤

Do you think the Reddit user should be held responsible for her sister-in-law’s misuse of prescription products, or was the 16-year-old out of line for rummaging through her personal belongings? How would you handle this situation with family expectations and boundaries? Share your thoughts below!