Sale of fake makeup brands on the rise

Rawalpindi : With the wedding season going on in the twin cities like elsewhere in the country the sale of fake brands of makeup kits and substandard henna (mehndi) is on the rise, posing threats especially to the health of the young girls.

The survey of the local markets revealed that a number of locally or China-made brands of makeup kits and henna carry no information about ingredients, location and the company where they have been manufactured for commercial sale.

These products even never have any price tag and the shopkeepers sell them out according to their own wish or buying power of the visitors. A number of henna brands in the market are adulterated with toxic substances, which can cause allergic reactions.

According to medical experts, the use of these chemicals can lead to dangerous conditions like allergic reactions, heavy metal poisoning, arsenic poisoning, exposure to dangerous bacteria and skin cancer.

Advocate Mujeeb-ur-Rehman said the Drugs Act 1976 never deals specifically with the use of chemicals in cosmetic products due to which all sorts of hazardous chemicals are being sold at markets and bazaars including adulterated henna.