Trading Standards officers in the U.K. recently tested 50 counterfeit beauty products pulled from enforcement raids. Twenty of them contained potentially harmful substances, including mercury, lead, methanol and nicotine.
The worst was a skin-care product with 13,200 parts per million of mercury, or about 1.3 percent of the formula. The FDA allows mercury in cosmetics only in trace amounts under 1 part per million, so that’s more than 13,200 times the limit. In the U.K., it isn’t allowed in cosmetics at all. Mercury exposure has been linked to nervous-system damage.
Lead showed up in several fake lipsticks, eyeshadows and contour products, including a contour kit that measured 40 mg/kg. That’s 40 parts per million, or four times the FDA’s recommended limit. Investigators also found nicotine in a counterfeit perfume, and one fake fragrance was made up of around 80 percent methanol, a toxic alcohol.
“These findings show why counterfeit beauty products can pose such serious risks to consumers,” says Helen Barnham, head of enforcement engagement at the U.K. Intellectual Property Office (IPO).
In July, the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit and Greater Manchester Police seized 1,666 fake hair products, including extensions, shampoos and conditioners, from a Manchester warehouse. Another raid in Bolton turned up £2 million worth of counterfeit perfume, cosmetics, clothing and vapes.
The IPO’s latest Counterfeit Goods Tracker found that younger shoppers are increasingly buying fakes on purpose. One in five 18- to 24-year-olds who bought beauty products last year knowingly purchased counterfeits, up from 6 percent in 2023.
Millie Kendall, chief executive of the British Beauty Council, pointed out that counterfeiters are cashing in on the work legitimate brands put into making safe products, without following any of the same rules.
The IPO’s Face the Fakes campaign is working with content creators and the beauty industry to raise awareness. If you want to be sure you’re getting the real thing, buy from the brand or an authorized retailer, and be wary of big discounts on prestige products.
