Knives disguised as grooming products promoted on Instagram: report

An American company is promoting knives that look like grooming products on Instagram, The Telegraph reports. (alienoutfitters)

An American company is promoting knives that look like grooming products as part of its wares on Instagram, The Telegraph reports.

Alien Outfitters advertises knives through its Instagram account, which boasts 442,000 followers. Featured on its Instagram are different types of knives -- among them knives that look like hair combs.

It’s against the law for disguised knives to be imported into the UK, the newspaper reports.

On the Alien Outfitters site, Fox News was able to add a knife that looks like a pink hair comb to its shopping cart and enter a UK shipping address, before being given an option for international shipping.

A flick knife was bought for a British woman by her husband through Alien Outfitters and imported, according to the Telegraph. It is also against the law for flick knives to be imported into the UK, the gov.uk website says.

"Instagram’s action in hosting this site is reprehensible,” Patrick Green, the chief executive of a knife crime awareness charity in the UK called the Ben Kinsella Trust, told the newspaper. “They are glamorizing these knives as fashion accessories. This is a forum where young people openly encourage each other to break the law by buying flick knives and concealed knives which are illegal for any age group."

On its website, Alien Outfitters describes itself as “the leading manufacture [sic] in alien attire providing a secret style source for a unique species, born to stand out.”

The company asks users if they are over 18 years old, the Telegraph notes. The business also says that its knives are meant to be “decorative,” and features a disclaimer on individual knife product pages.

“By purchasing any item sold by AlienOutfitters.com, the buyer expressly warrants that he/she is in compliance with all applicable Federal, State, and Local laws and regulations regarding the purchase, ownership, and use of the item,” part of the disclaimer says.

“An Instagram spokesperson said the @alienoutfitters account had been reviewed and a number of posts had been blocked for UK users after the Telegraph brought the content to their attention,” the Telegraph report said.

Alien Outfitters and Instagram did not respond to requests for comment from FoxNews.com.