Fake cosmetics are rampant

(Baonghean) - To meet the beauty needs of women, the cosmetics market is increasingly diverse and rich with a variety of types, prices, and origins. However, currently, fake, unknown origin, and poor quality cosmetics are appearing everywhere on the market.

After ... beauty

Ms. Nguyen Kim Yen, Quan Bau Ward (Vinh City), has been receiving treatment at the Dermatology Center for nearly a week now, with symptoms of itching, rash, and scaly skin on her face. She said: “After giving birth to my second child, my dark, blotchy skin made me lose confidence. I heard that there was a cream extracted from turmeric that could whiten and remove dark spots, so I bought it to try, but I didn’t expect to have an allergic reaction.”

Ms. Phan Thi Thanh (25 years old, Xuan Lam commune, Nam Dan) shared: "I saw an advertisement online about a mixed cream that has the effect of whitening skin quickly and treating acne for only 130 thousand VND, so I bought it and tried it. At first, my skin became brighter and my acne was reduced. However, recently, strange symptoms started to appear and I went to the doctor and was told that I had an allergy."

On average, every day, Dermatology Clinic No. 76, Le Hong Phong (Vinh City) receives 2-3 patients with dermatitis due to using cosmetics of unknown origin.

In the first 8 months of 2015, Nghe An Dermatology Center received and treated more than 1,000 patients with skin diseases caused by using poor quality cosmetics. Through clinical practice, dermatologists found that the cosmetics that most often cause allergies to users are skin whitening creams, anti-wrinkle creams, acne treatment creams, lipsticks, sunscreens, shower gels, etc.

Doctor Huynh Phuc Son, Deputy Director of the Dermatology Center, said: There are two cases of allergic dermatitis caused by cosmetics. One is people with allergic constitution, easily irritated even with good cosmetics, but these cases are very rare. The second cause is that patients use cosmetics of unknown origin that contain many chemicals that cause very strong irritation reactions.

At Dermatology Clinic No. 76, Le Hong Phong (Vinh City), Doctor Nguyen Viet Hai, Head of the Clinic said: on average, the clinic receives 3-4 cases of dermatitis caused by cosmetic allergies every day and the number of cases of dermatitis caused by cosmetic abuse is increasing.

To limit unwanted effects when using cosmetics, consumers should carefully check the ingredients and labels, and test for reactions before using cosmetics, especially cosmetics used for the first time. Skin test method on the inside of the arm: apply cosmetics to the skin on the inside of the arm for 24 - 48 hours. If you do not see any allergies, it means you can use that type of cosmetic.

Floating origin

Walking around Vinh City, we can easily buy all kinds of cosmetics. Cosmetics are sold in shops and in retail stalls of markets.

Ms. Hien (who sells cosmetics at Vinh Railway Station Market) said: “We often import goods from familiar sources, there are both “genuine” goods and cheap goods. However, buyers are often concerned with price and rarely look into the quality and ingredients of the product, so few people can distinguish between genuine goods.”

Market management officers inspect and fine stores selling cosmetics of unknown origin in Vinh City.

At a store specializing in selling "hand-carried" cosmetics on NVC Street, the store sells many types of cosmetics, mainly bearing the name and label of Lioele, a famous Korean cosmetic line. When we expressed our desire to buy cosmetics to treat melasma, the store owner did not hesitate to advertise a series of ginseng-extracted skin creams originating from Korea; with prices ranging from 1 million to 3 million VND. However, when asked about the origin, the store owner simply said, "My daughter who lives there directly imports the goods, so you can rest assured to use them, these are genuine Korean products."

Recently, the authorities have stepped in to control the widespread sale of cosmetics of unknown origin. The transportation of counterfeit and smuggled goods is no longer confined within the country but has been recorded in many cases originating from abroad, with many sophisticated forms of transportation.

For example, on January 14, Market Management Team No. 3 coordinated with the Economic Security Department and Nghe An Traffic Police to inspect a passenger car with license plate UN-6789 driven by Nguyen Ngoc Dong (Dien Chau) returning from Laos. Upon inspection, 1,214 bottles and jars of cosmetics were found without invoices or documents proving their origin. The total value of the fined goods was more than 168 million VND.

From June 1 to August 27, after nearly 3 months of implementing the topic "Inspection and sanctioning of administrative violations of counterfeit goods and infringement of intellectual property rights", the provincial Market Management Department inspected 9 cases of cosmetics business and all of them were found to be in violation. The most violated products were foundation, shower gel and lotion. The total value of the violated goods was up to more than 70 million VND.

Mr. Nguyen Van Duan, Head of the General Planning Department, Market Management Department said: In the past, the Department has handled many violations with many sophisticated criminal methods such as: tearing goods into small pieces for transportation, using revolving invoices or more complicated transportation methods. Detecting and handling these violations is still difficult because the functional force is still thin, the funding source for each topic is limited, while the criminals are increasingly using more sophisticated tricks and fiercely fighting back when detected by the functional force.

While the management of the cosmetics market is an unsolved problem, consumers need to be smart in choosing to buy products at reputable stores; when choosing products, they need to carefully consider invoices, documents, labels, and product ingredients; proactively try the product before use to avoid the consequences of using poor quality cosmetics...

Nguyet Minh - Thanh Quynh