Are your cosmetic based lash products safe? by Eyelash Excellence Clients suffering allergic reactions to lash extensions, lash artists developing respiratory problems, does this sound familiar, if so, read on.
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f you are one of the “lucky” artists that have never had a client suffer a reaction, or you do not currently suffer with respiratory issues since working in the lash industry, then we urge you to still read the below. This could be some of the most vital information you learn during your lash career. Here at Eyelash Excellence, we are passionate about providing safe products to the lash industry. We are also passionate about educating the industry about all things lashes. We work closely with our UK manufacturers to ensure that we have an excellent understanding of not only our ingredients but the legislation governing cosmetic based products and the long terms effects that many unregulated lash products are having on the health of not only our clients but ourselves as lash artists. As the lash industry continues to grow, we of course continue to see new products being developed overtime. These products are sold across the globe to an International industry. But how many lash artists “really” know what ingredients are in their products and most importantly, are safe? As a result of the above, we have been studying cosmetic based lash products entering the UK from the Far East (which is where most lash products are manufactured). We wanted to see the quality and safety of the influx of these new products, which are now extremely cheap to buy.
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Our research and findings over the years has left us horrified, we have seen most products entering the UK containing ingredients that are not approved or banned altogether, yet they are still making their way into the market and being used on clients. So how is this happening? The International lash industry is unregulated and there is no global organisation that polices the safety of the cosmetic products we use across the globe. Lash artists are unknowingly buying non approved and unregulated products that pose serious health risk to not only themselves but their clients. The lash industry is relatively new, therefore the long term health risks have yet to be identified. Give it 5-10 years and we will sadly be seeing extremely sick clients and lash artists as a result of using unsafe products due to an unregulated industry. At Eyelash Excellence we felt it was time to educate the industry so that they understand the real truth as to what is really happening and we hope that you will join us in our mission to stamp our unregulated cosmetic based products to protect our clients, ourselves and the industry. What is a cosmetic product? Cosmetics are constituted from a mixture of chemical compounds derived from either natural
sources or synthetically created ones. Cosmetics can be classed as products such as skin care or body cleansers as well as those designed to enhance one;s appearance (makeup etc). In addition, they can also fall into the category of any substance or mixture intended to be placed in contact with the various external parts of the human body. From this, we can see that lash products certainly fall into the category of cosmetics – namely the liquid-based products we use – NOT accessories! •A dhesives •P rimers •P H Balancers •C leansers •B onders •D e-bonders •L iquids •N ot Accessories ( lashes, mascara wands, applicators, tweezers etc) Cosmetic legislations covering cosmetic lashbased products Below you will see a quick overview of the cosmetic legislations covering just a few of the main countries across the globe: • ( UK & EU) The UK and European cosmetic products are covered by robust safety legislation, the EU Cosmetic Products Regulation 1223/2009 (CPR).
