Health experts warn against fake Kylie Jenner lipsticks sold for $2 in Turkey

ISTANBUL

AFP photo

Health experts have warned against fake Kylie Jenner lipsticks sold cheaper than usual in Turkey, drawing attention to the fact that their ingredients are unknown. 

While there is no sale of the Kylie Jenner lipsticks in Turkey, users are able to order it online for 60 Turkish Liras ($17). Those who find the price expensive, on the other hand, are able to buy the fake version of the lipstick starting from 7 liras ($2), daily Habertürk reported on June 26. 

Turkish users of the lipsticks called “Kylie Lip Ki” can buy the fake version also from the internet or from markets. 

Jenner recently released another set of make-up called “Kylie Cosmetics Koko Kollection,” which she launched in collaboration with her sister Khloe Kardashian, and the price of the collection, including four different shades of lipstick, blush and a contour palette, is sold for $75 (265 liras).

The make-up products are being followed closely by Turkish women and make-up bloggers. On some shopping websites, prices of the products are close to the original, while in others it’s being sold for considerably cheaper.  

According to Habertürk, the lipsticks are sold for between 7 and 14.90 liras on famous Turkish shopping websites, but whether the products are original is unknown. 

When the follower comments on make-up bloggers’ websites are examined, it was seen that there were users that claimed to buy the product for 5 liras ($ 1.4). 

Elif Topçu, a Turkish Youtuber, has a video called “I tried a Kylie lipstick that I bought for 5 liras,” in which she says she bought the product from a market upon the insistence of a seller, while claiming that the lipstick is the same as the original. Topçu, however, said she was afraid of getting cancer from using the product. 

Another Youtuber, Esra Aydemir, said she bought her Kylie lipsticks from Tahtakale, which is home to a market where such products can be found for very cheap, for 6 liras ($1.7). 

Comments of those who used the fake Kylie lipstick can be found online, with one saying that it tastes like rust.
 
Moreover, when the “Koko Kollection” products sold on a famous Turkish shopping website were examined, it was seen that their packaging was different than the original. A note can also be seen under the product on the website, which said the stocks were limited. 

“It sold out as soon as it was released and it’s out of stock in the whole of the United States. Our stocks are extremely limited,” the note read. 

Experts have said that some companies are analyzing the original lipstick and are trying to make the exact same one. 

“Some firms are taking the original lipstick and sending it for analysis by tricking people as, ‘We think this is fake, what’s in it?’ Then they create a lipstick with similar chemicals,” experts told Habertürk.

The health ministry, which often checks cosmetic products, medicine and medical equipment, released a list of unsafe products in March, which said that 379 cosmetic products out of 1,198 were unsafe. 

According to the ministry, 606 of them were determined to be “against technical regulations.” 

A company which sells fake Kylie Jenner products said they are struggling to meet the demand and has been selling 200,000 of them each month. 

An official from the company called “La Fera” said they use the same raw materials in fake lipsticks used in the original one, adding that the material is being bought from Europe and the filling of the lipsticks are done in Turkey.