EXCLUSIVE

A Sephora cosmetics store in Hollywood cared more about peddling lipstick than the oral health of customers, and now a woman is stuck with a lifelong disease ... according to a new suit.

A California woman claims she visited the store in October 2015 and sampled a lipstick from one of the "common use" tubes on display ... and ended up with herpes on her lip. She says the infection was diagnosed by medical pros and she claims she never had herpes or cold sores before this Sephora visit.

According to the docs ... Sephora failed to clearly warn the woman and other customers of the risk of getting herpes or other diseases from trying on the lipstick samples. She says if she would have known ... she would've avoided them like the plague.

The woman claims other lipstick companies have proven methods of avoiding herpes exposure -- like individual samples or assistance from trained professionals -- but Sephora cared too much about making a quick buck to bother.

She's suing the cosmetics chain for the emotional distress over an "incurable lifelong affliction" she says she now has to deal with as a result of using its lipstick samples.