Counterfeit Makeup Dangers | How to Spot Fake Cosmetics

Counterfeit makeup dangers are very real – and they’re not only a threat to your skin, but to your health.

We live in a world where beauty standards are normally very high; brands and moguls compete incessantly and we are constantly bombarded with the newest and best options. Genuine, long-standing makeup companies are always trying to come up with better products and ideas, and there are unfortunately individuals who take advantage of consumers’ trust by counterfeiting the best products and passing them off to us without knowing. These counterfeit makeup dangers are now arising and posing a threat to our health.

Beauty and skin care products are all the hype, and popular brands such as MAC, Nars, Lancome, etc. are always raising the bar with their premium ingredients, pigmentation and color palettes, becoming a true need for those who express themselves through makeup.

But, just as those and many other brands are launching newer products, the prices also seem to skyrocket. Sometimes these causes that their very solid fan base seek other alternatives or better deals.

This is the main reason why counterfeit makeup has come to light. Those advertisements that seem to be “too good to be true” are almost that. Just batches and batches of illegally-produced, unapproved, and truly dangerous products.

Counterfeit makeup ingredients go anywhere from simple silica laced with artificial coloring, to high doses of arsenic, mercury, lead, cyanide and even human urine.

As unbelievable as this may seem, the illegal and clandestine operation behind these products makes it significantly difficult to stop it in its tracks.

More often than not, these products are mass-produced in hidden locations across Asia and Europe, where sanitation and security measures do not have the same level of reach as those imposed to OSHA-regulated manufacturers.

So, according to expert research what are the most common counterfeit makeup ingredients? Fake products are more often than not packed with:

Arsenic
Mercury
Lead
Beryllium
Cyanide
Cadmium
Aluminum
Paint Thinner
Rat and Human Feces
Human Urine

In addition to these, some products have tested positive for bacteria, including E. Coli. Obviously, the wide number of fake products comes with just an alarming number of counterfeit makeup dangers, including:

Skin rashes
Allergic reactions
Eye infections
Swollen lips
Skin infections
Chemical burns
Swollen face
Glued-like eye lids

And depending on the level of toxicity and the chemical used, other health counterfeit makeup dangers include high-blood pressure, infertility, blindness, abdominal pain, shock and even death.

Unfortunately, how to spot fake cosmetics has become a task for the trained-eye, because these illegal productions replicate the exact coloring of the packaging, lettering, the color and pigmentation of the original makeup piece and even similar scents.

Depending on the place of origin, some pieces may even come with a fake certificate of authenticity, which is the case of special brands that have suffered because of unauthentic replicas such as Estee Lauder and Chanel.

In many cases, one may come across a package that may seem similar, but feels distinctively cheap, or is not exactly as the advertised version.

How to spot fake cosmetics is really a matter of a number of factors:

Where are you buying your product from
Whether or not the price or discount seems to be excessive or a bargain compared to the original
If it has the place of manufacture printed on the packaging
A product that does not list its ingredients
Inconsistent labeling or spelling errors on the packaging

Because the market of counterfeit products is so wide, health officials are warning the population to only buy these types of merchandise from the actual brand that manufactures them, or from their authorized sellers.

Many brands have their own online shop where you can get the original products with their certificate of authenticity and as approved by the FDA, while others list all their authorized sellers (such as Ulta or Sephora) where you can purchase the goodies without having to worry.

At the end of the day, finding a “good bargain” in exchange for a counterfeit makeup product that will harm your skin and your health is simply not worth it.