Happy Sunday, everyone! Thanks for reading another post on this blog, it is my one week anniversary of starting up and I'm really loving it - this gives me a space to talk about makeup all I want without giving everyone around me a headache (it is my favourite conversational topic and much to my dismay, not my male friends). If you'd like to hear more from me, you can follow me on twitter and instagram @geebeautyx - I also post my own makeup looks there, although I am hoping to start creating step by step tutorials here soon!
Image from buzzfeed
Anyway, I thought that today I would talk about something really frightening once you really get to know about it - counterfeit makeup. Although most people know that counterfeit products are low quality and usually a lot cheaper, the ingredients used in these makeup dupes are a complete mystery to the rest of us. And just remember that anything that goes on your skin, is absorbed by your body.
What is counterfeit makeup? Counterfeit makeup is when cosmetic products are made by unassociated companies to look exactly like high end makeup but without the same combination ingredients. Sometimes it is sold with the statement that it is counterfeit, but many people just sell off the products at what seems like a "great discount" on a high end piece of makeup.
However once you hear this, you'll much prefer to pay the extra and buy genuine makeup rather than risk it with counterfeit.
Image from Wikipedia.
Lead
It has been reported that counterfeit makeup can have up to 16x the legal amount of lead in them. Lead is a metal that can be found in most places, however it can cause irreversible damage to the body's nervous system. It can cause learning difficulties, high blood pressure, or even worse...death. It is a highly toxic metal and a very strong poison.
image from The Global Healing Centre
Arsenic
The Daily Mail conducted an experiment in which they bought counterfeit makeup online for testing, and found traces of the poison arsenic in the products. Arsenic is deadly, but dealers of counterfeit products do not care for the health of those they are dealing with - only getting as much money as they can out of the product.
Image from The Daily Mail ; One of these "Bad Gal Lash" mascaras is knockoff - but which?
Rat Droppings
Disgusting, I know! Traces of rat droppings have been found in these cheap knock offs, due to unsanitary and unregulated conditions in the factories that they are made in. So many diseases are carried and spread by rats, can you imagine what this could do when you are putting it on your face?
Image from Happy Gate
Human Urine
Although it is not makeup, counterfeit perfumes have also been tested and shown to contain traces of human urine. CMV, cytomegalovirus, is spread through urine and is a virus belonging to the herpes family. The symptoms of CMV are similar to glandular fever (which is a very nasty, very tiring illness that you do not want - I've had it) and the virus stays in your body for the rest of your life once infected, although it usually becomes inactive.
Image from Britannica.com
Mercury
Mercury is found in the air, water and soil. It has also been found in counterfeit makeup! At high levels of exposure, Mercury can cause harm to many vital organs and the immune system. At even higher levels - respiratory failure and death. Is it worth it for a cheap deal?
There are many other harmful things that have been found in counterfeit product, including aluminium and dangerous amounts of bacteria like e.coli. This christmas it is well worth telling family and friends thinking about buying their beauty products from untrustworthy sites like eBay about the large possibility that these products will be fake, and the lurking dangers/gross obscenities behind them!
I hope that this has given you all the information you need to make the right choice about your makeup collection! I was blind about it all once, until I read an eye opening article somewhere a while back - and now I daren't buy makeup anywhere other than official sites like beauty bay or the Debs counter.
Thanks for reading my Sunday post! I'll be back on Tuesday, hopefully with my long overdue Primark haul post and decent pictures from my camera - yes, I gave in and ordered a new USB to connect it to my laptop after losing it...oops...
I will see you all then, please leave a comment and let me know what you think or maybe even follow for email updates! Bye, bye! Gee x @geebeautyx
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