Time to play spot the fake again via packaging! MAC is one of the most faked cosmetic lines in the world and there are others that are hot on their heels; Benefit, NARS, even more indie brands like Anastasia and The Balm.
I was debating whether to repurchase one of my favourite foundations, MAC Pro Longwear Nourishing Waterproof Foundation purely because I have so many bases that I am trying to use some up rather than letting them spoil. In the end I decided to because I like it’s heavy coverage for special occasions. I looked on eBay and saw some people selling it for about £8 – bargain right? Because the original stuff is is £25.50.
I decided to investigate to see if the foundation had been faked since there were quite a few sellers with 10 or more of the foundation all at around £10. Sure enough, I realised that this base (and a few other of MACs) has been faked. I bought a fake on to directly compare to a genuine one I bought on counter, so perhaps this will help someone who is unsure if their product is real.
I ordered NC35 in the fake version to compare and annoyingly they sent me the wrong colour – NC25 which means I couldn’t do a shade comparison.
The one of the left is real the one on the right is fake.
The real box fits together better and is slimmer. The fake is a bit loose hence it looks like its been flattened. It’s slightly larger than the real one. The font is brighter, slightly slightly thicker with a glowy effect.
The card is slightly more sheeny and shiny than the MAC one.
I am noting these things but seriously – you wouldn’t notice them if you didn’t have the boxes side by side. The fake is EXTREMELY convincing.
The words match up entirely –
The printing is not completely straight on the fake box. See how the boys is folded a bit looser and there are white lines visible whereas the mac is tucked in and all black around the edges.
One again the font is thicker and has that whitish glow to it. The lines on the font are finer and sharper on the real MAC.
The actual tube again is very similar.
The fake is a slightly taller tube and more narrow. It has a slightly pearly finish and the real one is not quite as shiny. The crimp on the fake is like a double crimp – the real one has a narrower neater crimp.
Fromt he back you can see how the fake is a taller bottle. It also has a sticker to indicate the shade, and it should be printed like on the left.
Not the best way to tell but both come sealed, the real one fits in to the grooves and the fake one is smooth.
From what I saw the fake colour looks more orangey than other NC25s I have seen and the formula has every so slight separation.
Annoyingly I couldn’t test the shades side by side to see the differences as they sent me the wrong colour.
Honestly – the fake is extremely good and like I said, unless you are comparing next to the real thing, it’s hard to tell. Of course the best thing to do is to buy from a MAC counter or online, or only buy from eBay from a trusted source. Someone selling one bottle is not the same as someone who somehow as 20 bottles of the stuff to sell at £8 which is way below retail.
I personally don’t see the point of fake make up like this – you are buying the formula, not pretty packaging or the name so you obviously want the actual product, not just a fake where you don’t know the true ingredients list!
I’ve spotted some amazing fakes lately, including NARS, Lime Crime etc. They are so convincing too so I’ve been extra careful where I buy from.
Hope this post is of help to someone!