This mom is warning parents after a Halloween face paint burned her son
What you need to know to prevent this from happening to your child.
With Halloween coming up, parents everywhere are making last-minute preparations for their trick-or-treaters. That includes buying costumes, masks and face paint. However, it turns out that some of the traditional holiday garb may have potentially hazardous side effects.
Alexandra Leigh Carter, a mother of three from Australia, bought a makeup kit to paint her son’s face with for Halloween. She decided to put it on him to practice for trick-or-treating when he suddenly had a reaction. It was only on for “three minutes and then had to immediately take him for a shower,” she wrote. “It has severely burnt his skin.”
Alexandra shared her story in a Facebook post along with images of her son and the face paint that she used on him. The photos show the red marks on his face where the makeup had burned him.
She says that she has painted his face multiple times in the past, but this is the first time her son has had a negative reaction. She suspects the problem is a chemical in the specific brand that she used.
Alexandra also mentioned that she “tested” the face paint on her son’s wrist beforehand, but there was no reaction then. She also assumed it would be safe to use because it was marketed for Halloween use.
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“Not even the most conscious of mums can avoid something like this from happening when you purchase products intended for children,” she wrote.
A report released last years by the Breast Cancer Fund’s Campaign for Safe Cosmetics found that 50 percent of children’s cosmetics (like the kind used for Halloween costumes) have at least one ingredient linked to a negative side effect such as cancer or hormone disruption. The study suggests parents use caution and research ingredients before buying them and applying them to children.
Alexandra hopes her post raises awareness for harmful face paints in time for the holiday next week.
“I'd like to share this to warn other parents,” she wrote. “Safe to say I'll never be using face paint again.”
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