There was consternation and alarm today at a cosmetics factory when a worker fell into a vat containing 3,000 gallons of Boswellox. Luckily the substance is non-existant, just one of hundreds of made-up ingredients used by the 30-billion-pounds-a-year cosmetics industry.
Peptapentides
The unharmed worker, who hasn't been named, was not taken to hospital as this was not thought necessary. It is potentially the worst face-cream related accident since four men fell into a giant tub containing imaginary skin replenishment ingredients in 2003 and were unharmed.
Avocado and Cranberry
The practice of adding non-existent ingredients dates back to 1924, when Donald MacMurray, chief scientist at Avon, accidentally added water to some face-cream. When a colleague asked what he'd done, he simply said that he had added "aqua", and a legend was born.
