KARACHI - The flourishing beauty industry in the country is leaving a rich imprint on life-style of the fairer sex. Beauty with a new face now, different brands of cosmetics along with different price tags attached to it, has become everyday usage stuff. The line of "Endymion" by John Keats in which he declares that "A thing of beauty is a joy forever" explains the desire that remains embedded in our fairer sex. To fulfil the wish of being beautiful, our women use everything that they can lay their hands on, in order to enhance their beauty. They believe that the world of beauty is their oyster and they are determined to do anything to look beautiful. This attitude has brought much harm along with it. Today, there is a whole range of beauty products in the market that has made the dream of being beautiful falls handy. The authenticity and reliability of these cosmetics remained questionable. It is a common observation that except few famous and branded products, most of the cosmetics in the market are faulty. These products are cheaper in price and easily in reach of every costumer. These handy accesses bring raise a number of questions that need to be addressed at all levels of society. These days the demand of beauty saloons has also gone sky-rocketed. Different saloons mushroomed in the metropolitan are in fact amplifying their business day after day. This has also raised problems regarding skin care. While conducting a brief survey, The Nation came across such beauty saloons that have been using harmful cosmetics in broad daylight. On any inquiry regarding the originality of those products, the beauticians were unable to satisfy the questioner. The costumers at the beauty parlour were unaware of the fact that they were the victims of fake beauty products at the hands of shrewd beauticians. It was also observed that beauticians were not sharing with their clients the knowledge regarding skin care. When asked about the quality of work done by the beautician, a costumer replied, "I came here because it is cheaper than others in the area. The quality seems to be good too. I faced some problems in the past regarding material they used but what else I can do? I have no other option". When the owner of that shop was asked about the quality of product used, she replied, "We are using the best brand products and my costumers are always satisfied with my work". Ironically, there was no sign of any branded cosmetic that was being used at the parlour. All the stuff has no company tag or an indication that can prove them authentic. This speaks volumes about the situation under which they are working. "The lack of knowledge among the public has largely affected their lives. It is because of this ignorance that our women suffer at the hands of these fake beauticians. It is the duty of the beautician to tell everything regarding the treatments to the client. But it is very unfortunate that for minting money, these beauticians hide reality of the products. Like, after having facial, the skin gets exfoliated. There are different products that are being used afterward in order to avoid sunburn and other skin diseases. But unfortunately, this is not done by these unprofessional beauticians and later on become a continuous headache for the costumer," said the owner of a successful beauty parlour in the area. "There is no institution or organisation that can protect rights of the costumer. The government is equally responsible for the hazards caused by these forged products. It is need of the time for the government to take immediate and effective steps to check this malpractice in the society and protect the general public from these counterfeit beauticians", she added. She continued that inflation had also affected their business. "It is hard to make the both ends meet and we are left in a situation where we have to increase our charges. But we are providing quality services on nominal rates. Our clients have never complained about our work and that is all what we need," she claimed.