Fake Make-Up Could Leave Lasting Damage

Rat droppings, human urine and poisonous chemicals are just some of the things found in fake beauty products.

It's after police in London launched a crackdown on potentially harmful counterfeit costmetics, like make up and perfume.

Radio Aire spoke to local make-up artist Rosie Powers.

"It's really worrying ... The products are being used on the most sensitive part of the body - the face, eyelids, lips... High levels of these products are causing allergic reactions - an allergy to a product you're sensitive to can last for five months, ten years, even a lifetime".

She says the appeal is to have fashionable brands at a much cheaper price, but in her profession it's not worth the risk.

"Anything I buy is straight from the manufacturer, because for me it's important to know it's coming from the right place because it's too risky to use anything that's not coming direct.. "The industry is reliant on trust really, if someone's coming in to your home or you're going to a salon, someone's applying make up to your eyes and other sensitive areas then you don't want to have in the back of your mind the worry that there could be something wrong with it".

Laboratory testing also found arsenic and cynadide in some of the counterfeit goods. It's estimated at least £90-million is spent on fake products in the UK every year.