At a Claire's store in New York, Inside Edition purchased a makeup kit called “Muah,” which consists of eyeshadows and lip gloss, and sent it to two independent testing laboratories.
Claire’s is a makeup haven for young girls and teens, but are some of its eyeshadows and blush potentially dangerous?
At a Claire's store in New York, Inside Edition purchased a makeup kit containing eyeshadows and lip gloss, and sent it to two independent testing laboratories.
Both labs found an eyeshadow in the kit contained asbestos, a known carcinogen.
Sean Fitzgerald, director of research at the Scientific Analytical Institute, told Inside Edition he was "shocked and appalled" by the results.
“I can see in this makeup that there are clearly asbestos fibers in the microscope," he said. "Any asbestos should not be in makeup, especially makeup designed and sold specifically to children.”
Claire's disputed the finding, saying the analysis was both "misleading and incorrect and not scientifically supported."
This week, the FDA said it had also found asbestos in three Claire's products, including an eyeshadow.
Claire’s also disputed the FDA results saying it had “significant errors.”
Concerned mother Kristi Warner said she's worried because her daughter loved using Claire’s makeup.
“You would assume that before it's put on a shelf, it's been tested and proven to be safe before it's going into the hands of a child,” she said.
The FDA does not routinely inspect cosmetics before they're sold but depends on manufacturers to monitor a product's safety. Claire's says there is no evidence its products are unsafe, but said it was pulling the items off the shelves in an abundance of caution.
After our report aired, we received the following statement from Claire's:
At Claire’s, customer safety is our first priority. Last year, we switched to talc-free manufacturing of our cosmetics. Although some products containing talc were still available in stores, in response to FDA’s concerns about three of our make-up products, we have pulled those items as well as any remaining talc-based inventory, all of which are being destroyed. We will provide a full refund to anyone who returns talc-based products.
We are taking these actions out of an abundance of caution and remain confident that any products purchased at Claire’s are safe. We look forward to working with the Food and Drug Administration to ensure the highest safety standards for all cosmetics.
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