Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Women's Views on News

Women's Views on News

Authorities warn of harmful fake cosmetics sold online

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 04:22 AM PST

Paint stripper, nail varnish remover and urine have been found in fake make-up bought online.

Internet forums are full of scary stories from women who were victims of cheap rip-off make-up with shocking ingredients.

In one YouTube video, a psychology graduate living in Oxford gives a salutary warning about the dangers of buying cheap counterfeits.

"After applying a fake blusher, my face was swollen, my eyelids were swollen and my face was really itchy," she said.

Mandy Lanham, 48, bought a foundation on eBay, saving herself up to £10.  But it smelled different, and after application her face felt sticky.

The next morning, she said her skin had flared up and her face felt tender and puffy.

She contacted trading standards officers and discovered she had bought a fake.

According to Staffordshire Scientific Services, a fake MAC eyeliner sold on-line at £3.50 - and which normally sells at £14 – contained 46 times the permitted level of copper, making it unfit for use on eyes.

When they tested some potentially fake products using the same methods trading standards officers employ, all the fakes were found to contain a cocktail of potentially harmful ingredients ranging from lead, copper and mercury to arsenic and cadmium, a metal which is highly dangerous.

And dermatologists are reporting an increase in the number of women with skin conditions triggered by the use of counterfeit make-up. These can range from acne and swelling to more serious skin conditions, such as psoriasis.

And authorities are warning women of a growing trade in fake cosmetics, tanning creams and slimming tablets which can prove harmful.

Christine Heemskerk, of the Trading Standards Institute, said that counterfeit cosmetic products may not have been made in a sterile environment or that they may contain carcinogenic ingredients that are banned from use in cosmetics and could cause long-term harm.

They may trigger rashes and eye infections as well as more serious conditions such as lead poisoning, which can affect major organs, causing problems for the heart, kidneys and nervous system.

And, she points out, the manufacture of genuine  cosmetics is strictly controlled and products are rigorously tested before they  go on sale.

But the counterfeiters churning out the cheap versions do not abide  by any of these rules, so along with potentially harmful metals, other banned  substances may be used.

Specialists says what makes this trade worrying is the fact this new generation of beauty fakes are so convincing.

Leanne Wertheim was caught recently trying to sell £40,000 worth of poisonous Chinese-made fakes, and had brands like Max Factor, MAC, Lancome and Bobbi Brown.

One counterfeit Max Factor mascara contained more than three times the legal amount of lead.

Wertheim was selling products worth £30 for £3.99.

Cosmetic companies are tracking down consignments of counterfeit goods, and eBay insists the website is clamping down on counterfeiters.

But the Scottish Crime and Drugs Enforcement Agency (SCDEA) said that the – low – price on these goods was a giveaway potential buyers should look out for, on the grounds that ‘if it looks too good to be true, it probably is’.

The agency said that criminals selling counterfeit goods on-line also steal credit card details as well as take cash for goods that will never be delivered.

SCDEA also warned that counterfeit criminals are extending their range of goods on sale to alcohol and condoms.

The best advice the SCDEA can give that consumers should follow is to check out a brand’s authorised and approved sellers and dealers, and always buy beauty products from a trusted source.

Working households in poverty says report

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 02:17 AM PST

A new report finds that the nature of poverty in the UK is changing.

And most working-age households affected by poverty are in work rather than unemployed, with low income (or poverty) defined as ‘people living in households with income below 60 per cent of the median for that year’.

For the tax year ending 5 April 2012, the median gross annual earnings for men were £28,700, and for women were £23,100.

According to the report, ’Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion 2012′, written by the New Policy Institute for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation there are now 6.1 million people living on less than two thirds of the average wage – on around £8,400 a year.

And around 6.4 million workers are under-employed – wanting to work more but unable to obtain extra hours.

According to the Office for National Statistics, part-time workers are four times more likely to be those under-employed.

Just under one fifth of people in Britain are on low incomes at any one time, but poverty affects a third at some time in a four-year period.

Over half of the children living in poverty now live in working households.

And poverty is no longer confined to those living in social housing: most poor people live in the private rented sector.

The government's welfare reforms are worsening their plight, as they are cutting things like tax credits and housing benefits, which the working poor need to supplement low wages and meet rising housing costs.

And these trends are more likely to affect women. Women living in the most deprived areas can now expect to live shorter lives than men in the richest parts of the UK.

The report concludes that ’changing the benefits system will not solve problems such as in-work poverty, increasing underemployment and rising health inequalities’.

According to a recent TUC study, three quarters of the UK's over 8 million part-time workers are women and they earn 36 per cent less per hour than full-time workers.

The regional earnings distribution figures released recently by the Office for National Statistics showed how wages in the UK differed by sex.

While weekly earnings were highest in London for both sexes, earnings for men were lowest in Northern Ireland, at £479, and for women they were lowest in the East Midlands, at £402.