Mums warned about popular lip gloss after 'awful' reactions: 'Don't kiss kids'
A worried beauty fan has warned parents after the lip-plumping gloss she was wearing left her nephew with a "raised red mark on his face" when she kissed him.
Too Faced Lip Injection Extreme, sold at Mecca, is a popular product designed to temporarily plump up the lips thanks to the active ingredient capsicum, which causes the lips to tingle and swell for a fuller look.
"WARNING! If you’re going to use the Too Faced Lip Injection Extreme, don’t kiss your kids," the Aussie woman warned on Facebook.
"My poor nephew was left with this raised red mark on his face. I felt terrible."
Luckily, the irritation subsided after about an hour, she said, but the warning left many parents shocked.
Dozens more warn against kissing kids after bad reaction
Alarmingly, dozens of women said they've experienced the same thing, with their kids also reacting to the product — most likely due to the sensitive nature of young skin.
"Same thing happened to my kids!! Awful," one concerned mum said. "They found it in my handbag and painted their faces. Poor things were so uncomfortable."
Meanwhile, another said her two-year-old ended up "red and swollen" after applying it "all over her face."
Laura Lowe, from Tasmania, said her son broke out in hives which she first thought was a reaction to food. Ms Lowe shared a photo in the comments of the post.
"My sister was over who had just applied the lip gloss then she kissed my son on the cheeks," she told Yahoo News Australia.
"I sent pics to a few nurse friends and they said it was hives. My sister gave him a face wash and we just monitored him and the red reaction seemed to dissipate [within] a couple of hours."
But it wasn't until the next day they realised the lip product was to blame.
"My sister applied her lip gloss again. She put two and two together and realised that the reaction was because she had applied the lipgloss and then kissed him," she said.
Another parent, Jess, told Yahoo News Australia her daughters have reacted a couple of times after she'd applied the gloss — most recently on Friday at a Mother's Day lunch.
"I clearly did not stop using it [after the first time], but I will never put it [on] near them again," she told Yahoo, admitting she forgot about the reaction it caused the first time.
Despite it being "the best lip gloss I have ever used," she said, she'll now decide whether or not she wants to keep using it. And many women agree.
Another woman Tennille told Yahoo News Australia said she won't stop buying it, despite once reacting badly.
A photo shared online shows her lips and chin looking extremely red and irritated. She said her "skin felt like it was burning" after washing her face while wearing the product.
"When it’s on my lips and I’m not kissing my partner it’s fine, it’s just a mild tingle," she said, suspecting the irritation occurred only after rubbing it.
Product warning: 'Can cause a tingling sensation'
According to the product description on the Mecca website where it's sold, capsicum "delivers a slight tingle that causes the lips to become fuller and juicier on application".
A warning also states that users are instructed to "rinse immediately if uncomfortable."
But it says nothing about it being transferred to other people, particularly kids.
Some women reported they were the ones who reacted badly to the product after using it.
"I returned mine as it made my lips bright red and burned rather than tingled. I feel like the potential side effects could be highlighted a bit more on the product," one said.
Another woman said she tried it on her hand as a precaution, before applying it to her lips, but her hand ended up "red and super itchy"
"I’m assuming it’s safe, but I don’t think I’ll be using it!" she admitted.
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Too Faced Lip Injection Extreme joins a long list of lip plumping products on the market. Cinnamon is also commonly used in place of capsicum and is known to have the same effect.
New York dermatologist Sejal Shah, MD previously told Yahoo such ingredients "work to plump the lips by causing an irritant type reaction, increasing blood flow to the area leading to redness and swelling".
"Some people often notice that their lips tingle or itch when they apply these products, indicating a reaction. So it's not surprising that applying it to the skin caused this type of reaction," she said.
Yahoo News Australia reached out to Too Faced Cosmetics for comment.
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