Latest IPO data shows that the proportion of young (18-24) people who knowingly purchased counterfeit beauty products tripled from 6% in 2023 to 20% in 2025, with 71% of counterfeits purchased online.

Beauty products are now in the Trading Standards’ top 10 of most commonly investigated fakes. Earlier this year, a police raid in Manchester saw 1,666 counterfeit hair products seized, while a raid in Bolton resulted in Trading Standards seizing £2 million worth of counterfeit products, including cosmetics and perfumes.

Counterfeits bypass UK regulation, safety assessments, manufacturing oversight and quality controls that ensure product safety. In a recent test of 50 seized beauty counterfeits by Trading Standards, unsafe ingredients including mercury, lead, nicotine, methanol and hydroquinone were found in 40% of the sample.

To address this challenge, the IPO’s new Face the Fakes campaign in partnership with the British Beauty Council, SafeGlam and the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Perfumery Association provides new guidance for salons, beauty professionals and smaller businesses on how to identify the counterfeit warning signs and ensure they are sourcing products from trusted suppliers.

The campaign also targets consumers with five practical tips on how to Shop Safe

1. Check who you’re buying from: Look beyond the marketplace or social platform and check the seller behind the listing. Where possible, buy from trusted retailers, official brand websites, or authorised sellers.

2. Question the deal, and don’t be rushed: A discount doesn’t mean something is fake, but an unusually low price can be a warning sign. Be wary of deals or sales tactics that pressure you to buy quickly – pause and think twice before you purchase.

3. Look beyond the listing: Don’t rely on convincing imagery or five-star reviews alone. Check the product information, ingredients, company/contact details and other information you’d expect to see and look beyond the listing for information about the seller.

4. Pay attention if something feels off: When your product arrives, check the packaging for an ingredients list, batch number, company name and address, and any relevant safety warnings. Missing details, blurry print, spelling mistakes, missing information or something that looks, smells or feels different from what you expect can be warning signs.

5. Think it could be fake? Don’t use it – report it: Don’t try it and see. Keep the product, packaging, receipt and seller details, and report your concerns to Trading Standards.

“Counterfeit beauty products can look incredibly convincing. You cannot tell from the packaging what chemicals are inside, how the product has been made, or what risk it might pose. That is why knowing where your beauty products come from matters,” says Rani Ghosh, an independent toxicologist.

“When you hear that mercury has been found in face cream, lead in make-up or nicotine in perfume, it raises serious questions about what is going into these products and how they are being made. Some reactions to unsafe cosmetics may be visible, such as irritation, swelling or changes to the skin. But what concerns me as a toxicologist is what you might not see. Substances such as mercury and lead can affect the body internally, and those effects may not be immediately obvious.”

“Counterfeiters trade on the reputation and creativity that brilliant beauty businesses have worked hard to build, without putting in the same care or meeting the same standards,” adds Millie Kendall, CEO of the British Beauty Council. “The UK beauty industry puts enormous care, creativity and expertise into creating products that people love and can use with confidence. Safety and trust run right through our industry, from the brands developing products to the retailers and professionals bringing them to consumers. We are proud to support Face the Fakes and stand alongside businesses across our industry to help consumers buy beauty with confidence and keep fakes out of their beauty bags.”