5 Facial Products in S’pore Have Been Found To Be Toxic

Let’s be honest here; everyone wants to look good. Beautiful. Handsome. In fact, it’s somewhat like attaining a dragon ball: there’s just something about looking strikingly good that appeals to humans.

But here’s the thing; how do you look good? Granted, your attractive friend has been advising on the same pointers for many years now:

• Exercise
• Eat right
• Maintain a positive attitude
• Drink enough water
• Wear nice clothes
• Spray some light perfume
• Download the Goody Feed app

But what he never mentioned is how you could fix your face. After all, you could dress as strikingly as Cristiano Ronaldo, and smell nicer than a Victoria’s Secret model, but if your face resembles something out of the recent Trolls movie it really isn’t gonna help much. 

“I need something more solid,” you decide determinedly. “It’s 2019, it’s a new year and I want to look good. I need to do something about it… oh wait, what about that new facial cream I saw on the shelves?”

It’s a no-brainer; facial cream helps to clear up your complexion, and that means a better-looking face. Enlightened, and distinctly pleased with your moment of genius, you head to the supermarket, sweep that golden facial box into your basket and bring it back home.

And it seems to work too. Thirty days in, and your skin’s looking a little better. You grin as you work on your laptop because for once something seems to be looking up for you.

“Hey Re Da,” your editor says. “Write this topic for me. Finish it by today.”

“Alright, gotcha boss.” You wink. He stares at you for a moment, before heading back into his office.

Must be my face; it’s improving.

Motivated, you read the topic:

5 Latest Facial Products in S’pore That Are Found To Be Toxic

“Hah, I pity the folks using them…”

You trailed off, for you just saw a very familiar product in the image attached.

You observed a minute of silence, not because someone passed away, but because your face might be facing an untimely demise soon.

“Oh shit.”

Stop Using These Five Cosmetic Creams: HSA

Now, the introduction above might’ve been fictional, but the topic’s as real as it gets:

The aforementioned cosmetic creams are dangerous.

According to The New Paper, the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) issued an alert last Thursday (31 Jan) against the five cosmetic creams because they all contained undeclared potent ingredients. And in case you can’t depict the identity of the guilty products, here’s a literal list of them:

• Deeja Cosmetic Sun cream
• Deeja Cosmetic Dream cream
• Deeja Cosmetic Wrinkle cream
• RDL Babyface Whitening cream Night Cream 5 in 1
• RDL Face Off Fade-Out Cream Day Cream 5 in 1

“But are they really so bad?” I can imagine affected users arguing. “What’s the worst that could happen anyway?”

Well, for a start, the creams were found to contain ingredients like hydroquinone, a skin lightening agent, and mercury, a toxic metal.

And according to the HSA, exposure to such amounts of mercury could cause harm to the kidneys, digestive and nervous systems, among other issues. The Deeja Cosmetic Wrinkle cream, for one, contained mercury levels more than 40,000 times over the permissible limits.

According to The New Paper, the three Deeja cosmetic creams are sold on local online platforms, while the RDL creams were imported by Arklife Distributors and are marketed in retail outlets.

Yeah, retail outlets, the place we thought should be safe.

Preventative measures

In order to curb any further damage, HSA has instructed Arklife Distributors to cease the sale of and to reclaim the affected products. The administrators of online platforms, which provide web listing of the products, have also been told to rectify accordingly.

Consumers, on the other hand, are warned to stop using the products with immediate effect, and they should consult a doctor should adverse effects come into play. HSA also added that consumers should beware of health products that promise quick and miraculous effects, or carry exaggerated claims, as they may harbour prohibited harmful ingredients.

And just to set things straight, marketers found guilty of selling or supplying the affected products are liable to be jailed for up to three years, fined up to $100,000, or both.

Should you have information on the sale and supply of these products, you can contact HSA’s Enforcement Branch on 6866-3485 during office hours, or email [email protected].

Do, however, refrain from informing us as we would then have to reward you with a virtual cookie for your efforts.

And we would rather eat it ourselves.

So You Know What To Do (SYKWTD)

As my Aunt Matilda always likes to preach:

“Stop ****ing using it already and just throw it away. If you see some other ****ers selling it, kick them in the balls and throw those toxic ****s away. If they don’t have balls then kick them in the-”

Yeah, you get the idea.