TL;DR – AmorePacific apologizes for products containing excessive heavy metal.
South Korean cosmetics company AmorePacific – parent company to most of the Korean beauty brands you’d be very familiar with such as Etude House, Aritaum, Innisfree, Laniege and Sulwhasoo – issued a public apology on 20th March for its products that were found to have contained heavy metal substance above the permissible limit.
On 19th March, the South Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said 13 products produced by AmorePacific’s local original design manufacturer (ODM), Hwasung Cosmetic, contained excessive amounts of antimony and have ordered for these products to be withdrawn from the market.
Low levels of antimony, which is a heavy metal substance, may cause headache, dizziness and depression. High levels of this substance can cause lung and eye irritation and gastrointestinal disorder.
According to a Korean news outlet, a representative from AmorePacific has apologized for this incident.
“As a manufacturer and distributor, we should have paid full attention to the quality control of all our products. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused to our customers.”
“We will do our best to minimize any further inconveniences in the process of retrieving the products and prevent similar cases from occurring again.”
Here’s the full list of affected products:
1. Aritaum Full Cover Stick Concealer No. 1 Light Beige
Serial No.: AAH, Expiry Date: 2021.01.12
Serial No.: BAH, Expiry Date: 2021.01.30
Serial No.: CBH, Expiry Date: 2021.02.11
2. Aritaum Full Cover Stick Concealer No. 2 Natural Beige
Serial Number: ELG, Expiry Date: 2020.12.17
3. Aritaum Full Cover Cream Concealer No. 1
Serial No.: GLG, Expiry Date: 2020.12.14
Serial No.: AAH, Expiry Date: 2021.01.30
4. Aritaum Full Cover Cream Concealer No. 2
Serial No.: AAH, Expiry Date: 2021.01.14
5. Etude House AC Clean Up Mild Concealer
Serial No.: AAH, Expiry Date: 2021.01.08
Via
6. Etude House Drawing Eyebrow Duo No. 3 Grey Brown
Serial No.: GLG, Expiry Date: 2020.12.17
7. XTM Style Homme Easy Stick Concealer
Serial No.: AAH, Expiry Date: 2021.01.23
8. Black Monster Homme Black Erasing Pen
Serial No.: AAH, Expiry Date: 2021.01.15, 2021.01.16
9. SKEDA Man’s Spot Concealer
Serial No.: AAH, Expiry Date: 2021.02.01
10. SkinFood Cherry Full Lip Liner No. 5 Rose Cherry
Serial No.: AAH, Expiry Date: 2021.02.01
11. Stylenanda 3CE Slim Eyebrow Pencil #Chestnut Brown
Serial No.: AAH, Expiry Date: 2021.01.21, 2021.01.22
12. MakeHeal Naked Slim Brow Pencil Shade BR0203
Serial No.: ABH, Expiry Date: 2021.02.06
13. MakeHeal Naked Slim Brow Pencil Shade YL0801
Serial No.: ABH, Expiry Date: 2021.02.07
Etude House Recalls Product in Singapore
Etude House Singapore issued an official statement on its website stating that “Customers who have purchased the product included in the recall list can return products for a full refund or an exchange for another product at the official ETUDE HOUSE Store in Singapore.”
If you are a fan of K-beauty products and have purchased the recalled products from South Korea, fret not, you may also visit Etude House Singapore to receive a full refund or exchange for another product.