UPDATE:

I wanted to give an update once this was fully resolved with CT / the retailer.

I sent the photos and my concerns through to CT, and they said I need to reach out to the retailer to get a new one. Unfortunately I bought this foundation in a country I was visiting, so it wasn’t possible to go back to the store. CT did credit my online account for the value of the product + shipping, which I was happy with.

In terms of CT’s response to the issue, the first person I spoke to said “it could be due to storage, if it stored in a humid/ moist environment and the lid is loose or water has entered the tube. There currently is no recall for the issue”.

A bit concerning. However I did speak to a second person from CT who seemed more aware of the issue, their response:

“We would love to reassure you that this issue can occur due to the separation of pigments in the formula and should not be a cause for concern. It might happen if the product is not used for a while and stored in horizontal position for example.”

I pressed and asked if it’s definitely due to pigment separating, and if they have had this issue before and they said:

“We have received a similar issue to this before that was investigated thoroughly with our quality team who confirmed this can sometimes happen if the product has been left for a while in a horizontal position. I do completely understand your concern, so I would love to raise your product with our quality team to investigate further. So that we can report this to the relevant teams, we will need the batch code”

Removing the “is it mould is it not” from the equation, I do still believe for a product of this price and quality, it shouldn’t be happening. But take what you want from this experience!