JOIN USThere is no dearth of cosmetics these days. Even the tiniest road will have a store selling nail polishes or lipsticks for a discounted rate. But can one trust these unbranded products? While being overly brand conscious doesn’t always make sense, should one take the risk when it comes to directly exposing their body to chemicals?
With increasingly rigid standards for beauty being created everyday, the cosmetic industry has found its boom. But many people find that this is a trap and nothing more. While trusted brands at least try to maintain health standards, unbranded labels are known to cause much damage on one’s body. Nicola Lewis, a student, says that she stopped buying unbranded cosmetics after a bad incident.
“I once bought a branded lipstick from Nepal and it made my lips black! The packaging was good and it smelt pretty good so I didn’t think about it when I was buying it, but when it started affecting my skin, I looked it up online. The brand didn’t even have a product like that! That’s how I knew it was a fake.” In order to get rid of the stain, she applied olive oil on her lips for months. “Now I use Biotique lipbalm. After that incident I’m too scared to try anything that isn’t branded,” she adds.
She isn’t the only one who has faced such incidents. While heaps of nail polish for a cheap price might seem enticing, one should be careful when picking up cosmetics. Discolouration, acne, rashes are just few of the side-effects of chemical abuse. Ushoshi Syam, a design student, has bought unbranded items but now, sticks to products she is comfortable with. “These products seem okay at first used but when you use branded products and compare the two, you realise it’s always good to use the latter. I once got a rash from using a cheap lipstick I bought at a roadside shop. Now I stick to particular brands,” she says.
But does this mean people are willing to pay through their pockets for quality products? No, says Ushoshi. “I’m not that into makeup, and I’ve found stuff I like so I stick to them. And they are reasonable priced.”
In a time when social media has become synonymous with social change, many make sure their experiences are shared online, to help other users. This is where one realises that even brands can be deceiving. Pavithra Prasad says, “To some extent even branded products harm the skin; there’s no assurance that it does not do harm. When a product says it cures acne I end up getting more acne. And when it says hair colour won’t harm, I’m left with lifeless looking hair after a colour. I usually put it on social media to prevent others from going through the same. Once I have a bad experience I make sure someone else doesn’t.”
According to Pavithra, because of the beauty standard set for women by society, one can’t help be a part of the charade. “Society doesn’t like to see a woman plainly dressed. We subconsciously underrate a woman who doesn’t match these standards so the cosmetic world has made us, women into dolls in their hands.”
This chain of being indulgent is hard to break so one must be careful. “We go to buy eyeliner but end up with lipsticks, nail colours, eye shadow and highlighters! The standards of beauty set by society sometimes becomes a pressure on a woman. So if given a chance, I would not buy any cosmetics!” says Pavithra. This, she adds, is a tragedy, that only a minority are able to break away from these set standards.