Beware of salon allergies

Nadira GUNATILLEKE

The Health Ministry will inspect all beauty salons established countrywide within the next month through the Cosmetic Devices and Drugs Regulatory Authority to ensure their safety and quality. This will be carried out under the direction of Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena, a Health Ministry spokesperson said. The ministry took this decision after a female school teacher died after undergoing a facial from a beauty salon in Negombo.

Currently, there is a large number of beauty salons countrywide but some of them are run by unqualified personnel. Some of these salons use unregistered and expired products for beauty treatment.

But they charge large amounts of money from customers, the spokesperson said. He added that it is possible for a person to die within 20 minutes if he or she is infected with a severe allergy. Severe allergies may be the cause of expired, unregistered and low quality chemicals.

As many creams are used for facials such products should be in high quality, the spokesperson said. "Ladies should be careful when obtaining the service of beauty salons and check the standard of their staff and products used for beauty treatment to avoid any health complications," he added.