Cosmetic products pulled after TV series' safety check

Several hair and eyelash dye products are being recalled. Photo / Northern Advocate

Several hair and eyelash dye products are being recalled after producers of a new television series discovered banned ingredients in the products.

Kmart has issued a recall for the 1000 Hour Eyelash and Brow Dye Kits, which it has stocked since 2005, and Wilson Consumer Products and Gary Harris are recalling hair colour, creams and lotion from the Grecian range.

Customers who return the products are being offered a full refund. The names of the substances were not disclosed.

Belinda McLeod, producer of the series What's Really in Our...?, which starts screening tonight on TV3, said she was shocked many of the retailers approached did not know they were stocking products that contained banned substances.

Products which did not comply with the Cosmetic Group Standard 2006 were also found in four Auckland pharmacies.

"It's quite a self-regulating industry, really, and if the retail shops don't know what some of these banned substances are then it is unlikely consumers would either," Ms McLeod said.

"It's only through careful and thorough research that we discovered some of these products were banned in New Zealand."

The series will look at what's in bathroom cabinets and products Kiwis use in their daily lives, ranging from sunscreens to moisturisers, toothpaste and hair dye.

Ms McLeod said the series aimed to open Kiwis' eyes not only to what they were buying, but also to the need for better policing of what was being stocked on the shelves.

The average Kiwi used 10 to 20 cosmetic products even before they left the house, and New Zealanders spent more than $780 million on personal care products annually at the supermarket.

However, she said, many people did not know if the products they used might be harmful to them.

RECALLED

* 1000 Hour Eyelash & Brow Kit (four colour types)
* Grecian 5 5-Minute Haircolour 30ml
* Grecian 2000 Cream and Conditioner 60g
* Grecian 2000 Lotion with Conditioner 125ml
* Silvercheck Hair Cream 150ml