Why do some beauty websites give irresponsible and dangerous information?
As our regular readers may know, I have a kind of love-hate relationship with the website Refinery29. I love it because they have the really good at ferreting out interesting news stories on beauty and fashion. I hate it because, on occasion, I have seen them provide information that is… dubious… at best.
Case in point is this article about using lip gloss to achieve a wet look eye shadow. The author of the article discusses a video by makeup artist James Vincent who uses lip gloss to achieve that wet look. While some lip products MAY (and I stress MAY) be okay to use around the eye, others are most certainly not. One reason is that the eyes are particularly sensitive and an ingredient, such as a flavor, maybe perfectly fine on the lips but could irritate the hell out of your eyes. Another potentially more serious problem is that the colorants used in lip products are not necessarily approved for use around the eyes.
Not all cosmetic colors can be used near eyes
To keep us all safe, colorants for cosmetics are controlled by the FDA. Certain colors are NOT allowed to be used close to the eye because they can cause problems (including blindness!) Here are the colors used in the Ardency lip gloss referenced in the video:
Titanium Dioxide, Red 28 Lake, Red 6, Red 7 Lake.
And here’s what the FDA says about applying these red colors to the area of the eye:
“None of these colors may be used in products that are for use in the area of the eye unless otherwise indicated.”
Missed opportunity
I shared this information in a comment on the post and suggested that the author include a disclaimer so no one is accidentally harmed by following their advice. In a response to my comment the moderator at Refinery29 acknowledged they were wrong in response and they changed the headline of the post from “Lip Gloss On Your Lids? Yes, Really” to “Wet-Look Lids? Yes, Really.” However, as far as I can tell they didn’t change any of the text of the article and they certainly didn’t change the video itself. In other words they’re still giving out the same dangerous advice which you won’t realize is problematic unless you scroll all the way down to the comments section.
Shame on Refinery29 for not taking this opportunity to better educate their readers. And even more shame on this expert make up artist who should know better.
Have you ever seen dangerousness information on a beauty website? Leave a comment and share your thoughts with the rest of the Beauty Brains community.