TOKYO, (PNA/Itar-Tass) — The number of Japanese women who have suffered from poor-quality skin-whitening beauty products produced by Japan’s Kanebo Cosmetics reached 14,000, as reported on Friday by representatives of the company.
This summer, Kanebo announced a recall of more than 450,000 packages of a beauty product bought by about 250,000 people.
This decision was taken after dermatologists have found that the use of these cosmetics does not lead to even skin bleaching, but separate bright white spots appear on the skin instead. The reasons for this are still unclear.
Currently, a number of clinics in Japan is carrying out special examinations of those affected by poor-quality cosmetics use.
Kanebo has already apologized for the incident. According to the corporation, cosmetics recall would cost about 5.6 billion yen (US$ 56 million).
The beauty product was sold throughout Japan in 15 thousand shops – from large department stores to small shops.
According to an investigation carried out by a united group of lawyers, two years ago Kanebo started to receive customers’ complaints related to poor quality of the products; however, the cosmetics producer didn’t take any actions until July 2013.
Japanese women traditionally strive to have a brighter skin considering it criteria of elegant beauty.
In ancient times they used ceruse, and today they use more complex beauty products. Kanebo sells its products all over the world including Russia.