"Beauty products are meant to enhance your features, however, the fakes can in fact do quite the opposite."
Recently, officers have suspended 5 500 sites that are selling for what appear to be luxury makeup, yet are actually fake alternatives said to contain dangerous levels of lead, mercury and cyanide as well as human urine and rat droppings. These criminal organizations produce large quantities of cheap toxic makeup in their underground laboratories, claiming to be high-end brands, on popular sites such a eBay and Amazon. Unfortunate victims have had extreme allergic reactions including swelling of the face and eyes, and permanent face sensitivity. These fake versions of popular makeup brands such as MAC and Urban Decay, have said to contain 19 times the legal limit of lead which can have defecating effects to your health such as high blood pressure, fertility problems, memory and concentration problems and increased risk of harm to the fetus during pregnancy.
In our second unit in chemistry, we discussed Chemical Reactions and this article is a prime example of a real-life, every-day chemical reaction. Because of the high levels of metals in the makeup, it reacted with skins natural chemical balance and disrupted it, causing an allergic reaction. A lot of people have a reaction to normal makeup as it is, from the preservatives, fragrance or non oil-free products. To avoid this, look for products that say "hypoallergenic" (less likely to cause allergic reactions), "non-comedogenic" (won't block pores), "non-acnegenic" (they won't cause acne), and try to go as natural as possible when it comes to beauty products.
When I read this article, I honestly wasn't too surprised at the idea, but I was pretty shocked of how common and readily available it is to purchase. As a makeup wearer, I understand how tempting it is to snatch at a cheaper price for luxury makeup, so it's a little scary how people like myself can be easily lured into a potentially deadly trap. Reading this article definitely opened my eyes on what I'm putting onto my skin, and has definitely made me reconsider going "all-natural" as much as I can. I hope this helps others like myself wake up and realize the dangers of buying make up from an unreliable source and the dangers it can have on our skin.
Do you wear makeup regularly? If so, has this made you rethink about the products you're putting on your skin? And whether or not you're an active make up wearer, do you believe there should be more laws or some sort of regulation against certain ingredients they use in make up products?
Link to article:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3085665/Warning-fake-make-tainted-cyanide-dangerous-chemicals-Counterfeit-versions-leading-brands-cooked-criminals-squalid-underground-labs.html
I agree that government regulations on makeup products ought to be enforced strictly, not only from what chemicals they can contain, but concerning other ethical issues such as animal testing. Any product that you put on your body has the potential for negative health effects and all consumers ought to proceed with caution. Especially in the presence of products containing cyanide, lead and mercury! This article is very informative and will definitely make me question not only my consumer choices in makeup but in other products such as soaps, perfumes and body lotions, as they have potential to be equally harmful when not properly regulated by a governing, health-concerned body.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, ay caramba. I wear makeup on the daily and reading this article does make me a little bit concerned about the ingredients in my cosmetic products. I absolutely thing that there should be some sort of government regulation concerning what goes into cosmetics, especially when they're used so frequently. I don't like the thought of potentially smothering human urine and rat droppings all over myself and I'm certain that other consumers would agree.
ReplyDeleteI do wear makeup regularly and I have wondered about what exactly I’m putting on my skin but I’ve never been too concerned about it because I assumed that the regulations put in place by Health Canada were enough. In doing my research I found that although Canada’s laws governing cosmetic ingredients are far more comprehensive than the United States’, we are still not up to par. Canada has only banned around 500 chemicals, there are thousands more that are known to be harmful but are allowed based on Health Canada’s protocol. In comparison to the number of products banned by the European Union, this is pitiful. I think Health Canada needs to step up and ban more of the dangerous chemicals that are currently allowed in our cosmetics and health care products.
ReplyDeleteI hope (and assume) that products sold in stores that are not fakes would have better regulations and not contain these harmful chemicals. I have never bought makeup online (mainly because I am too lazy) but have lusted after many expensive products. If I were to buy it online I would only buy from the brands website because I have heard horror stories about getting fake products off resale sites. I wear makeup regularly but the thing I look for is animal testing (or lack thereof). Animal testing is a big concern for me as I love animals and my favorite animal is rabbits ( I have a white rabbit that is the breed most rabbits that are tested on are) I never thought of the fact that I should probably researching the actually chemicals that the products contain. Like Hannah I think the government should in force stricter regulations on chemicals allowed but also animal testing. In Europe they have more information on what chemicals and combinations of chemicals are safe to help reduce animal testing. I think our government should invest in programs like this to help avoid harmful chemicals reaching consumers and avoid testing these hazards on animals.
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