Customers report health problems from fake makeup ordered via Wish
Counterfeit cosmetics a widespread problem online
When Kathleen Knight isn’t teaching belly-dancing classes in Tulsa, Okla., she’s often searching for bargain clothes, nail art and knick-knacks from overseas merchants on Wish. But the one product Knight wishes she’d never bought from the e-commerce app is makeup.
Last year, Knight ordered cosmetics that she said were listed as products by Urban Decay and MAC. The makeup took about two months to arrive, and she saw immediately something was off. The eyeliner fell out of its tubes, and some of the eyeshadows had to be chiseled to get any of the product out. The powders smelled vaguely sulphuric, she said, and when she applied them onto her right eye, her skin promptly broke out.
“It looked like somebody had punched me in the face,” said Knight, 41. “There was pus coming out of my eye.”
Wish, reportedly valued at more than $8 billion, has built one of the fastest-growing ecommerce businesses today by offering a dizzying range of products that sometimes sell for as much as 90 per cent off regular prices. The bulk of merchandise available through the app comes from distributors overseas. A $30 smartwatch on Wish might take longer to ship, come in non-standard packaging and lack the specs of an Apple Watch, but shoppers don’t mind because it costs a fraction of the price. That calculus becomes riskier, though, when it comes to cosmetics.
Fake makeup is a widespread problem online. In a recent report, the U.S. Government Accountability Office tested frequently counterfeited consumer products from Amazon.com, Walmart.com, Sears Marketplace, Newegg and eBay. Officials found that of the 13 cosmetics they purchased, none were authentic. The companies said at the time that they were committed to ferreting out counterfeits.
Wish has largely avoided scrutiny over sales of potentially counterfeit or harmful consumer goods. That’s despite a Danish Consumer Council advisory in April warning consumers against purchasing cosmetics from the app. Out of 39 cosmetic products purchased for the study, the group found 21 did not display an ingredients list as required by European Union regulations, and one face cream in the sample contained two prohibited preservatives.
Online — on sites like Reddit and Twitter and in comments on beauty blogger YouTube videos — and echoed in interviews with several customers who spoke to Bloomberg, complaints abound of rashes, pink eye and other skin problems resulting from cosmetics purchased on Wish. The company didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment. Estée Lauder Cos., the maker of MAC, said shoppers should buy from its stores or an authorized retailer listed on its website.
Concerns surrounding the sale of counterfeit cosmetics are well-documented: In April, the Los Angeles Police Department confiscated $700,000 worth of counterfeit makeup in the city’s Fashion District. The products tested positive for bacteria and animal waste. Fake name-brand makeup seized in Houston that same month had high levels of lead, aluminum and arsenic.