Hoping to cut down on your beauty expenses? Beware – not all deals and dupes are as amazing as they seem!
Sweetmint, a Chinese beauty brand, has become popular on TikTok due to its resemblance to the beloved K-beauty brand Rom&nd.
However, this imitation has a sinister side – it was recently discovered that the eyeshadows from this brand contain harmful substances such as arsenic and lead!
Keep reading to learn more about this alarming revelation, and make sure to be vigilant about the ingredients in your beauty products.
Sweetmint’s Palettes
The Sweetmint palettes have long been known as dupes of the Rom&nd Better Than Palettes, with similar colors and packaging.
People have been drawn to their low price on platforms like Shopee, where you can get a Sweetmint palette for less than RM15.
In contrast, the Rom&nd Better Than Palette is currently selling for RM139 at Watsons!
However, you should be extra cautious when prices are this cheap, as these products are often unreliable and can even be harmful to your health.
This was proven true for Sweetmint’s palettes, which recently failed a random inspection by the Jiangxi Provincial Food and Drug Administration, the Jiangxi branch of China’s National Medical Products Administration.
They tested two batches of Sweetmint’s eyeshadow palettes, both in the shade 05 Mellow Mocha, which is a palette of nude matte shades.
They discovered that the palettes contained arsenic and lead, toxic substances that can cause serious damage to your skin and overall health!
The Harmful Ingredients
As a toxic heavy metal, excessive lead in cosmetics can be harmful, causing sensitive skin, dryness, itching, and hyperpigmentation.
Similarly, arsenic can enter the body through different ways like skin contact, inhalation, or ingestion.
Long-term exposure to high levels of arsenic can lead to skin problems such as dermatitis and hyperpigmentation. Moreover, arsenic is known to be carcinogenic, potentially causing skin and lung cancer!
However, if you’ve been using Sweetmint’s palettes, there’s no need to panic just yet. It takes a significant amount of long-term usage for the product to actually harm your body.
Additionally, users on Weibo have reached out to the manufacturer, and discovered that the issue mainly lies with the raw materials used in Sweetmint’s palettes in 2023.
Therefore, if your palette was manufactured before or after 2023, it should still be safe to use, at least theoretically.
Nevertheless, it’s always better to be cautious and opt for high-quality cosmetics from reputable brands instead!
