I was horrified today when I learned that a certain cosmetic used to promote eyelash growth (I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post product names...so I won't) was recalled by the FDA. I found out about the product on a make-up review forum where individuals who used it were raving about their results. More and more women on the forum ordered it and started using it. They posted before and after pics that showed how much the product really worked (the results were really amazing).

Needless to say, their pictures were enough to convince me. I ordered the product and it arrived at my home the very same week I decided to go raw. Luckily, I was so engrossed with my new lifestyle and demands of grad school that I kept forgetting to try it out (it takes several weeks to actually work so I wouldn't get the instant gratification...).

The same women who inspired me to buy the product are now posting pictures of the damage done by the product. It has been linked to permanent skin discoloration around the eyes (really gross...the skin turns reddish brown. Like someone who is really sick), permanent darkening of the iris (especially in light-eyed people like myself), optic nerve damage, and decreased vision (due to other harmful effects done to the eye).

Yikes!!! That could have been me. I LOVE RAW!!!

Leesah, Good for you! Sounds like you really saved yourself a lot of agony. Reading is a passion of mine and, without my eyes, I couldn't imagine what I'd do.

I'm so glad you learned about this when you did!

Me too!

The really sad thing is that some of the women are continuing to use the product, despite the FDA recall and the horrifying pics. They post links where you can obtain the product from other countries (those weird pharmacy sites). They defend the product by saying, "Well, it hasn't happened to me yet" or "The product I use is made by a different company, so it must be safe."

Different company, same results, same harmful chemicals. Vanity taken to a scary level!

I love to read too! I purchased a new book called "Beautiful on Raw" and it's great so far!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/04/2008 09:45PM by Leesah.

That's sad because, by the time the FDA warns against a product, it's usually much too late and damage has already been done. If women are still using this product after the FDA warns against it, that's pretty scary.

At least you're safe! You're not a faceless name in the news to us. If something like that happened to you, we'd feel horrible, too!

Yikes!!!!

my across the street neighbor who i just started jogging with a few times a week (her husband watches her three kids and my daughter for one hour -- sweet!) told me she is going to have injection lypolysis. i didn't even know what that was, but apparently some totally unregulated, unstandardized, and largely untested formula of chemicals is injected into the target zone, supposedly causing an inflammatory response that breaks open fat cells, causing them to dump their contents into the liver.

[www.msnbc.msn.com]

scary! makes eating raw sound easy.

Yes, I remember reading abstracts about it, especially the permanent iris darkening.

No thanks. I guess I am lucky to have substantial lashes naturally. I would never even consider such a product.