25 May Toxic Counterfeit Makeup Triggers Serious Allergic Reaction for Young Teen
Just when she thought she’d got herself a bargain, Charlotte Heather experienced a horrendous allergic reaction to a counterfeit eyeshadow palate she had bought on eBay for £15
Counterfeit goods are deliberately made to look like the genuine product and although many people knowingly buy fake goods, there are many people left in the dark on the crime and end up experiencing consequences costing them more than they bargained for. The Counterfeit goods trade has been challenging the fashion industry for decades, costing up to 27 billion dollars a year, but now the black market is taking a new industry by storm – cosmetics.
Whilst on holiday, market stalls selling fake Rolex watches, Ray-Ban sunglasses and Louis Vuitton handbags everywhere you look seems relatively normal and many innocent tourists purchase counterfeit products every year without thinking twice – that’s until you reach customs and border control at the airport and realise you could have your products seized or worse, face prosecution. Counterfeit goods are getting harder and harder to spot and the beauty and cosmetic industry is the latest industry to be hit hard by dupes being sold to millions of naïve consumers.
Meet Charlotte Heather, my younger sister and a 15 year old impressionable teen who bought counterfeit makeup online in January 2018. After using the product just once – she experienced a huge allergic reaction which appeared all over her face. Her story is just one case of the thousands of people who have experienced awful reactions to fake makeup, posing a more serious question – what toxic ingredients are found in fake cosmetics? And in Charlotte’s case – why on earth was she able to buy counterfeit goods from leading online marketplace, eBay?
Charlotte explained, “I really wanted the Modern Renaissance palate by Anastasia Beverly Hills but I knew it was £45 in the shops and I can’t afford that!” She was hooked on the product that she’d seen many ‘Instagram bloggers’ use and started to look for alternatives. After being told by a friend to look online, she found many palate’s on websites such as Amazon and eBay. After finding a palate for £15, she was excited to get her hands on it. Charlotte explained, “It was described as an unwanted Christmas gift so I didn’t think for one second that it could be fake.”
I asked Charlotte if it even crossed her mind why it was being listed for such a bargain price, especially when it was retailed elsewhere for £45, to which she said, “I thought perhaps someone’s parent was listing it for them and were unaware of the value.” Charlotte quickly bought it without telling anybody and waited for it to arrive – which it did, the very next day. Charlotte received the makeup and immediately began using it on her face.
Using the brush provided, she applied glitter and matte pigment across her eyelids, up to her eyebrows and under her eyes, right on the lash line. “I hadn’t even finished when my eyes started itching,” she said. At this stage, Charlotte still didn’t question the legitimacy of the product. She told me that she rarely wears much makeup anyway, so she thought her eyes were just not used to lots of eye shadow. When she looked in the mirror, Charlotte noticed her eyes were beginning to look blood shot and watery. she said, “That’s when I gave up with the makeup.” That’s when Charlotte sent a photo of her face to me. I was shocked and immediately questioned the makeup she used and asked her to send me close-up photographs of the eyeshadow palate.
Real vs Fake Modern Renaissance Palate
I knew one of my friends had a legitimate Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance palate and asked her to send me close-up photos also, so I could compare the two. I got in contact with Miyah Graham, a beauty therapist and recently qualified dermatologist. A dermatologist is qualified to diagnose and treat skin disorders and she confirmed that allergic reactions most commonly occur on the face and neck, especially around the eyes. She described Charlotte’s allergic reaction as, “contact dermatitis.” When I told Miyah about my sister’s reaction, she said, “If we can have major allergic reactions from legitimate makeup that has been tested, you can only imagine how our skin could react when you cover it in unknown chemicals and dodgy, potentially toxic, makeup.”
The sale of counterfeit cosmetics is not a recent crime – it’s been an increasing problem over the last 10 years. In 2017, the Los Angeles Police Department seized over $700,000 worth of fake cosmetics being falsely advertised under the name of reality television star, Kylie Jenner’ cosmetic line – Kylie Cosmetics. The investigation led to tests being conducted on the products seized and the results were shocking. The products contained high levels of bacteria and even human waste. The makeup-mogul, Kylie Jenner took to her social media to inform her impressionable young audience that they should only purchase her products via her official website.
Refinery29 reported on an investigation into the world of counterfeit makeup and highlighted that when criminal gangs mix up ingredients for makeup, they don’t care what’s in it. These criminals are not chemists with degrees. Counterfeit makeup is not made under the same strict conditions as legitimate makeup, there is zero quality control and products are made in incredibly unsanitary conditions. Within the report, Estee Lauder released photographs of a dirty back room where these cosmetics are made.
Unfortunately, eBay couldn’t advise me directly so I took to their guidelines page on their website and found their advice for buyers who think they’ve purchased a counterfeit product. The page states that eBay is, “committed to making sure you can buy products on their site with complete confidence.” So, what happens if you are unlucky enough to fall for a dupe? There’s a ‘chance’ that you’ll be covered by their ‘money back guarantee’ – however to me it seems like there isn’t enough initial regulation to stop counterfeit goods making it onto the site in the first place.
The Trading Standards Agency highlight ways of protecting yourself from purchasing counterfeit goods. Their website explains, ‘many counterfeit goods are sold at car boot sales, pubs, markets and fairs – this makes it difficult to trace the fraudster.” In comparison, they say it’s much more difficult to trace sellers online however eBay are doing their best to clamp down on counterfeiting and piracy.
Though it may seem innocent buying counterfeit goods on holiday, it usually leads to profit being used for organised crime. Buying fake goods also deprives the genuine manufacturers of profit. Photographs of dodgy factories and allergic reactions consumers have had to counterfeit cosmetics is enough to put anyone off. But what about those less in-the-know, like Charlotte?
Alice Heather
