The next time you try the testers at a beauty counter, consider this dirty little secret: The free samples may be swarming with harmful germs.

Think about it.

Scores of bacteria-laden fingers have messed around in that face cream, eye shadow or lipstick you were going to paint your pout with.

Cosmetic brands here say they adopt hygiene measures such as providing cotton buds, cotton wool, tissues and spatulas to scoop out products as well as disposable mascara brushes and slicing off sampled areas of lipsticks.

They add that product samples are changed between once every few weeks and once every three months, depending on the level of usage.

However, when Urban did a random spot check at 10 beauty counters in town last week, the results were far from pretty.

Nearly all the counters blatantly flouted these industry standards.

The make-up artist at one counter even offered us an eyeliner brush that she had just used on herself.

KEEPING IT CLEAN

However, most beauty brands maintain that they conduct weekly visits to all their counters and say they will step up checks on hygiene practices when told about our findings.

Counter staff who flout hygiene standards can be fired if they repeat the offence after an official warning.

The spokesman for one American brand says: “We usually have an operations visit every week to make sure that equipment used to maintain hygiene, such as alcohol solution and disposable wands, are in place.

“We emphasise the importance of hygiene to our make-up artists during training.”

The micro-organisms in cosmetics contaminated by dirty fingers make for a scary-sounding list: yeast, mould and bacteria such as staphyloccocus, streptococcus – which is generally found on the skin – and E. coli, which is found in faecal matter.

That is according to Dr Eileen Tan, 43, a dermatologist at Eileen Tan Skin, Laser and Hair Transplant Clinic at Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre.

Such bacteria can cause infection by entering your body through a scratch on your skin or through mucous membranes on your lips or the thin skin around your eyes.

People with sensitive skin have to be especially careful, as they are more prone to developing allergies and prolonged infection.

Dr Tan says: “I have seen cases of bacterial infection on the face and conjunctivitis after the use of shared cosmetics or expired skincare products.”

In 2004, a two-year study led by biologist Elizabeth Brookes of Rowan University in New Jersey was published.

It reported that an alarming 67 to 100 per cent of make-up samples taken from 20 companies had some level of contamination by staphylococcus aureus, a bacteria commonly found on skin that can cause eye infection.

Dr Patrina Wong, 41, a medical aesthetics director at LinC Aesthetics Clinic, says there is “no limit to the different types of germs that can exist”.

“There are viruses, in addition to bacteria, which are even more difficult to identify,” she adds.

MIND THE ERRANT CUSTOMERS

Freelance make-up artist Larry Yeo, 30, who used to work as a make-up artist with two American cosmetic brands, warns that there are customers who are clueless about hygiene and inconsiderate to boot.

He says: “Some errant customers treat the counter like their own home and give themselves a full make-over with the testers.”

This is something Marilyn Ng, 32, a trainer for French beauty brand L’Occitane, has also seen.

She points out that counter staff try to maintain hygiene standards by being pro-active and demonstrating how to use a product.

However, she says: “Customers feel they have the right to lay their hands on things they are inquisitive about. If the sales staff show discomfort about them touching our testers, it antagonises them.”

Undergraduate Natalia Lim, 21, for one, is not bugged by the idea of germs in the potions she tries.

She says: “These are just the things you have to brave to get the make-up that’s perfect for you.”

But Sarah Suhel Chaudhry, 23, a freelance make-up artist, shies away from samples.

If she does try a product, she wipes it clean with tissue before applying it on the back of her hands – never on the face.

“It’s disgusting. You never know where these testers have been,” she says.

SPOT CHECK

NORA FARHAIN did a random hygiene spot check of 10 beauty counters in the Orchard Road belt. Our finding: Most counters pay only lip service to industry standards.

Lipsticks, lip pencils, eye pencils, lash curlers and eyebrow trimming tools