Market check reveals: Four eyelash lamination products you as a consumer should not be able to buy
Eyelash lamination products contain substances that are not intended for home use. Nevertheless, these products are widely available for purchase for consumers. We have identified four examples.
Brow and eyelash lamination create more defined and uniform hairs, but the treatment requires strong chemicals.
The products contain thioglycolic acid, which breaks down the structure of the hair, and hydrogen peroxide, which fixes the hair in its new shape. Both substances are particularly harsh and can cause redness, irritate the skin and eyes, and in the worst cases lead to chemical burns. For this reason, there are strict requirements regarding permitted concentrations and who is allowed to use this type of products.
Despite this, our market check shows that several products — although intended for professional use only — are still freely available in shops and online stores, without consumers being aware of the risks.
What “for professional use only” means
If a cosmetic product is labelled “for professional use only” or similar, it means that it is intended for people who work with the product professionally — not for consumers. This includes hairdressers, cosmetologists, beauty technicians, and similar professionals. These products contain harsh chemicals that may pose a risk if used by consumers who are not aware of the risk and lack training and awareness of correct application.
Professional eyelash lamination products in ordinary shops
We found eyelash lamination products containing thioglycolic acid and hydrogen peroxide in ordinary shops and online stores that primarily have private customers.
Consumers can therefore easily end up buying these products without realizing that they are not actually intended for home use.
Note: Listen af produkter kan evt stå I en box/accordion, da det ikke er sikkert at produkterne i sig selv er så relevante for andre lande. Men det er stadig fint lige at nævne dem.
The products include:
- Femmeunique Skeyebeauty Do It Yourself Eyelash Lift and Brow Lamination Kit, purchased at Normal
- Fleeky Lashlift Kit, purchased at Matas
- RefectoCil Brow Lamination Kit / Lash & Brow Perm + Neutralizer, purchased at Beautycos.dk
- RefectoCil Refill Lash & Brow Perm, purchased at Beautycos.dk
The listed products and sellers are merely examples. The products might be sold by other sellers, and other similar products may also exist on the market.
Some of the products are labelled “for professional use only”, but not all, and in some cases this information is given in such small print that it is difficult to read. One product is even labelled “Do it yourself”, which contradicts the fact that it is intended exclusively for professional use.
Eyelash and brow lamination sold together
Brow lamination is often included in the same package or product line. The same rules do not apply to brow lamination that are allowed to contain higher concentrations of some of the harsh chemicals compared to lash lamination.
Therefore, it is important to be aware that even though the products are often sold together, and could look similar, brow lamination products must not be used on eyelashes.
Why can you buy them?
Although legislation requires products to be labelled “for professional use only”, there are no precise requirements regarding where or to whom they may be sold. This is explained by Camilla Maria Petersen, AC Officer at the Danish Environmental Protection Agency:
“For products that contain one or more substances for which cosmetic legislation requires the warning ‘for professional use only’ to appear on the product label, the products must not be used privately by consumers. However, cosmetic legislation does not regulate sales, meaning that products intended solely for professional use may legally be sold to private consumers.”
She continues:
“In cooperation with the ministry, the Danish Environmental Protection Agency has on several occasions made the EU Commission aware of the challenge that products labelled ‘for professional use only’ can be purchased by consumers.”
This may explain why professional products end up being sold in retail chains such as Matas, Normal, BeautyCos, and others that primarily have private consumers as customers.
Stine Müller, Project Manager at the Danish Consumer Council THINK Chemicals, believes that consumers are therefore not adequately protected:
“Labelling products for professional use only, is not sufficient to protect consumers from unwanted effects from this type of product. On the contrary, “professional’ may be perceived as a mark of quality rather than a warning. If authorities believe a product is not safe for home use, labelling alone is not enough. These products simply should not be available to consumers.”
She continues:
“It should not be the consumer’s responsibility. If products contain chemicals that are so harsh that they are not safe for consumers, both legislation and retailers must ensure that they are sold only to trained professionals — not to consumers, as is the case today.”
Several retailers stopped selling the products
We contacted some retailers and manufacturers of the eyelash lamination products to find out what they think about consumers being able to purchase these products in their stores or webshops.
Following our inquiry, some of the retailers - Matas and Normal - have stopped selling the products.
This is what the retailers say
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Following our inquiry, Normal has removed the eyelash lamination product Femmeunique Skeyebeauty Do It Yourself Eyelash from their store.
They state that their supplier had forgotten to include the wording “for professional use only” on the eyelash version, and that they have chosen to remove the product from their stores because they do not wish to sell products intended solely for professional use, and their customers would not be able to see the difference on the packaging
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Matas states that, following our inquiry, they have stopped selling the Fleeky lamination products.
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BeautyCos, from whom we purchased RefectoCil, refers to RefectoCil’s response stating that the products are intended for eyebrows and are therefore permitted for retail sale.
See further details in RefectoCil’s response.
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RefectoCil itself points out that there is a difference between eyelash and eyebrow lamination when it comes to their products RefectoCil Brow Lamination Kit with Lash & Brow Perm and RefectoCil Refill Lash & Brow Perm:
“The use of hydrogen peroxide is permitted on eyebrows, as they are classified as hair under the Cosmetics Regulation. Therefore, BROW LAMINATION / BROW LIFT products containing hydrogen peroxide are permitted for retail sale, as they are used on eyebrows. Despite the above, the instructions for use state that the brow lamination kit is intended for professional use only.”
At the Danish Consumer Council THINK Chemicals, we have a different assessment than RefectoCil, as the brow kit contains lash and brow perm and therefore is not unequivocally intended for eyebrows, and furthermore the information about professional use is printed in very small text on the product. The same applies to their Refill Lash & Brow Perm. Therefore, our conclusion is that the lash products including the kit should not be sold to consumers.
Three recommendations for eyelash and brow lamination
- Consider whether brow and eyelash lamination is necessary, as it involves harsh chemical treatment. If you want eyelash lamination, it is best to have it done by a professional.
- Avoid products labelled “for professional use only”. They are not safe for private use.
- Do not use brow products on eyelashes.
We have previously seen similar examples involving gel nail polish and brow and eyelash dyes.
- See our test of brow and eyelash dyes - Test: Chemicals in eyebrow and eyelash colors
- See our investigation of gel nail polish - Experts warn against gel polish: "Think twice"
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