HOW TO | Stop Fake Make Up

Hello guys and dolls!

Isn't cheap makeup brilliant, everyone loves a bargain but when that bargain can contain ingredients like lead, copper, mercury, arsenic and cadmium is the few pounds worth it? Would you put any of this on your face, no. 

Buying fake makeup by mistake is easy to do but it is dangerous and I don't think enough people know the difference and we really should!

I've found myself at 2am looking on eBay, Amazon and other sites for super discounted makeup, I ran out of Benefit Erase Paste It's not a must in my makeup bag but I did like it and it lasted a while so I thought 'Ohhh I'll have a nose' off I went and into a world of cheap makeup on ebay, Erase Paste is priced at £19.50 so it's quite a blow to the purse when you're a drug store queen!

After selecting what I was told was a real and genuine product for around £10 I couldn't wait to get my package, when it arrived the box looked exactly the same and then when I opened it and got to the pot, that's when I immediately realised fake.  

Through this post the left pot is fake and the right is real.

Firstly the colour of the lid was slightly pink compared to my real pot as well as the lid being longer in length, also you'll notice the pot is filled all the way to the bottom whereas the real product isn't.



The bottom the colouring is different and also Benefit's 'peel here' actually lifts to reveal the website URL and other information whereas the fake doesn't lift at all.
Onto the product.. As you can see there's again, a colour difference! Erase Paste is itself very thick, quite pigmented and 'gloopy' it's not greasy and it warms up easily when rubbed. The product in the fake pot is a lot lighter, it's not thick and shiny like the Erase Paste, it's so greasy but hard it feels like butter what ever this is, it's absolutely disgusting. Funnily enough the Erase Paste smells worse than the fake product, it smells like plastic whereas the fake smells slightly floral!



As you can see on the skin it's totally different, when rubbed in the fake vanishes. (I apologise that you cant see massively how thick the erase paste is, iPhone 5 cameras aren't amazing in this light!)
If you are in any doubt about the authenticity of a product take it to a counter and ask, I took mine to the most unfriendly counter girl just to ask and she looked at me like I had bought her a dead cat, but she confirmed it fake.

 Generally the overall quality feel of the product is a massive give away but if you haven't ever delved into higher end makeup you'd never know.

If there was no harm in fake makeup it wouldn't matter but the truth is there is. You have no idea what's in it, they may not have been made in sterile environments and can contain banned ingredients that can cause long term effects or even cause breakouts, skin irritation, eye infections, swelling etc.

What to do with fake makeup -

• Ask for a refund, open a case if the seller is unhelpful. Make a fuss, don't let them brush you off.
• DO NOT use it just because you have it.
• Make sure you warn others if you know they want to buy any makeup off of eBay etc. These people need to be called out and consumers need to know how harmful the makeup can be.
• If you're paying for something that says genuine it should be!

Just a quick search and I found this eBay listing and read the seller feedback to discover a few people had said it was fake, there's hardly any information and it say's it's Benefit as well as having a single photo taken from the website, anyone who didn't know would buy it and think it's the real deal.
This goes for any cosmetics, if its desirable it'll be copied. MAC particularly is heavily counterfeited, again a small search threw up SO many results that can be fake, worst part is that a real lipstick is only a few pounds more than some of them. - 'MAC' Lipsticks / 'Limited Edition' Wonder Woman Lipstick  eBay have said they're trying to crack down on fakes but the whole site is saturated. I love eBay and I'm a heavy user I'm just super cautious!

Things to think about when buying high end or any makeup off sites like eBay -

• If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
• Does the seller have TONNES of expensive products at a super low price? I can't imagine it's legit.
• Limited Edition products are well.. DUH... Limited edition! Unless someones selling their personal collection I wouldn't trust a job lot of 'Limited Edition' lippies!
• Factory seconds is a warning word. I just avoid as it justifies why the product isn't the right colour/texture/damaged.
• MAC eyeshadows don't come with foam applicators ever apart from a few holiday or limited edition pallets.
• MAC Barbie, Disney Villians & Hello Kitty is heavily counterfeited so PLEASE buy with caution.
• It's not only MAC or Benefit that is faked, Just scrolling through eBay I saw fake Bobbi Brown and Nars that was being sold for almost the same price as normal!
• Google swatches and check the packaging heavily. Fellow bloggers than have the real product can be a massive help!
• MAC batch numbers are a good give away too. 

If in doubt just save a few extra weeks and head to the real store or website, you'll thank yourself when you have a beautiful product that isn't going to harm you!

I'm not a pro but I know enough and have been duped enough to post about my experience with some fake makeup, I hope this helped anyone who's thinking of buying makeup off eBay etc, have you ever bought a fake by accident or do you even care if the products fake? Let me know below! 

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