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Fashion and Beauty on Female First
Research commissioned by www.babtac.com (The British Association of Beauty Therapists and Cosmetologists), the premier UK association for beauty, hair, holistic and sports therapies. A total of 2,511 Britons took part in the recent survey, all of whom were aged 18 or over.
It unveiled the amount of Britons prepared to risk sacrificing their safety in order to get a cheap price when buying DIY beauty treatments online, with a fifth confessing they had experienced 'severe' adverse reactions to the treatments purchased.
Firstly, all respondents were asked if they had bought DIY hair or beauty treatments online in the last year, and asked to consider such things as teeth whitening, tanning and hair colourants. A third of the Britons polled (34%) stated that they had indeed purchased DIY home treatments online.
This same group of respondents were asked if they were confident about the quality of the site or seller from which they purchased it, to which just over a fifth (21%) stated that they were. They were then asked if they were aware of whether the treatments purchased met the legal and safety requirements for trade and use in the UK; to which more than three quarters of respondents (76%) confessed that they were not sure of the safety or legality.
The survey then asked if these respondents had been concerned over the prospect of adverse effects when buying the treatments, to which the majority (85%) confirmed that they were not worried about their safety.
When asked to detail what treatments they had bought online, and select all that applied, the following treatments were revealed to be the most popular:
1. Tanning treatments - 45%
2. Teeth whitening kits - 39%
3. Eyelash extension kits - 32%
4. Hair dyes - 28%
5. Nail and hair supplements - 26%
A further 14% stated that they had purchased 'intimate hair removal treatments' online. All relevant respondents were then asked how much they thought they had saved, by buying the treatments online rather than in the high street or salon. The average saving made was £6.75.
In order to investigate the kind of effects these treatments had, all relevant respondents were then asked if they had been happy with their DIY treatments, to which over half (53%) stated that they were 'not satisfied'.
All respondents were also asked if they had experienced any adverse effects from the treatments, such as allergy flare-ups, rashes, unexpected soreness or redness etc; to which almost one in five respondents (19%) stated that they had experienced 'severe' adverse effects, followed by 37% who had 'mild' adverse effects.
Jason Phillips of BABTAC made the following comments regarding the results of the study "It's crazy that people are so desperate to hunt for the best bargain that they are prepared to sacrifice their health, risking so much just to get whiter teeth or a better tan! It really beggars belief; we have seen time and time again instances in which people suffer horrible reactions from treatments and products that aren't properly applied, patch-tested or don't meet the required regulations. It's just not worth it for the sake of saving a few pounds!"
He continued "There are other ways to save money - and no harm in home treatments if that's what you want to try, but be sure to stay safe regardless. You must make sure you buy products from reputable sources, online, in salon or on the high street. Go over and above to take all the suggested measures to protect yourself, like patch testing and checking the British standards stamp on the packaging even if you've used the product a hundred times before. It might seem like a pain, but it's far better to be safe than sorry."
Tagged in Lifestyle