Fake Cosmetics Could Harbor Hidden Dangers

Customs officers are the first line of defense for catching illegal shipments, and while the products may be fake, they can have very real health consequences for consumers.

Beauty blogger Tanya Arguelles found that out firsthand when she purchased a popular eyeshadow from a downtown Los Angeles street market last year.

U.S. Customs officers said most of the discounted goods sold likely snuck in under the radar at sea ports like Long Beach.

"I just wanted to know, can this possibly be as good as the $50 I just spent?" Arguelles said.

She tested both eyeshadows, and when she woke up the next morning, she had eye problems.

"My eye's really uncomfortable and it's really itchy," Arguelles said. "It's burning pretty badly at this point. I'm going to have to go to the doctor to get this checked out."

Knockoff eyeshadow gave her an eye infection.

"Within the first 45 minutes, I realized that it was an eye infection," Arguelles said. "I wasn't able to get my contacts on. I looked back at the footage, and it was on the fake side, on the side where I used the fake product, 100 percent."

Arguelles isn't alone. Other people who've used counterfeit makeup have reported allergic reactions, skin rashes, swollen lips and chemical burns.

At the downtown alley where Arguelles found her eyeshadow, most of the fake makeup sold is half the price of the original. Some vendors admitted the products were knockoffs but said they were just as good.

The packaging is nearly identical to the makeup from traditional retail stores.

Some fake makeup has reportedly been found to contain dangerous chemicals such as arsenic, mercury and aluminium.

The fake and real versions of a Mac lipstick and a Jacklyn Hill eyeshadow palette were sent to a lab, where they were tested for 12 metals.

Some of these eyeshadows in the fake palette had nearly four times the amount of lead as those in the real version. In one, the amount exceeded the FDA recommended maximum of 10 parts per million. The fake lipstick had nearly 15 times the amount of lead as the real thing.

"Often, the unsafe consumer goods are made in factories, have unsanitary conditions, so the quality is not to what you need it to be," said Brenda Smith, executive assistant commissioner for the Office of Trade at Customs and Border Protection.

Customs and Border Protection said these counterfeit products are costing the cosmetic industry about $75 million a year. They said reducing the amount of fake products smuggled into the country could be as simple as educating customers.

"The furthest they think is I'm just buying a fake palette. Tthey don't think that there could be ingredients in here that could put by health at risk," Arguelles said.

Fake products aren't just sold in downtown Los Angeles. Consumers need to pay close attention to hot ticket items they find online if the prices seem too good to be true.

Arguelles says the best way to know you are getting the real thing is to log onto the cosmetic company's official website to find out where their items are sold.