How To Spot Fake MAC Make-Up Products

BEFORE I WRITE THIS POST, I WANT TO CLARIFY THIS POINT:

The above photograph is of fake MAC products from the Wonder Woman collection. I have added it to this post merely for illustrative purposes so my readers can see an example of fakes.
I do not endorse the sales of fakes & utterly hate them.
This post is to provide information on how to spot fake MAC products.
I should also point out that I don’t get paid anything from anyone when I write my blog.

Now, let us begin.

So I’ve been buying MAC makeup for many years & I mainly buy off eBay because my closest MAC counter is about an hour or so away. That said, I have accidentally purchased my fair share of fakes & had to go through many disputes to get my money back.

The first piece of advice I would give anyone is to make sure you always have at least a few different items that you have purchased directly from MAC. That way any items you buy off the net, you’ll be able to compare them to your genuine ones immediately.

The main MAC products that I’ve seen the most fakes of are:
Lipglasses
Lipsticks
Pigments
Blushes
Single Eyeshadows
Foundation Compacts
Concealers
Eyeliners
Mascaras

And the most replicated collections that I’ve seen are:
Wonder Woman
Surf Baby !
Liberty of London
Hello Kitty
Marilyn Monroe

The first thing to do when purchasing an item that’s from a collection is to firstly familiarise yourself with the entire collection. Go to the MAC website for instance, and see for example, how many lipsticks came out in the Wonder Woman collection and familiarise yourself with their names.
So if there are only 4 shades on the MAC site, and you see a seller with a pic of 10 different shades, you know straight away that they’re fake. Full stop.

Steer away from colour names that are like ‘Light Pink’, ‘Coral’, ‘Beige’ and so on. MAC never names their colours like that. They’re always names like ‘Emancipation’, ‘Show Orchid’, ‘Scarlet Ibis’ etc.

So let’s go to the packaging. Boxes. Look closely at the box.
Is the font even ? Does it look like the correct thickness ?
And is the colour name typed directly onto the box or is it just a sticker ? And if it is a sticker, is it black or silver ?
Silver stickers are fake.
MAC usually type colour name directly onto the box, however on some products they are put on neatly with a black small round sticker.
And the font is always written across the length of the box, horizontally.

Always check what the small print says on the box. Where is the product made ?
Is everything spelt correctly ?

And the colour name sticker on the bottom of the product itself. If it’s a lipstick, it should also say the finish of it, like lustre or satin or matte.

Next up is the product itself.

First & foremost, smell your products.
If it’s a lipstick or lipglass, it’ll have MAC’s signature vanilla/caramel scent.
If it smells like anything else, don’t put it on your lips because it may have harsh chemicals in it & may react badly with your lips.

You can also try swatching it on the back of your hand.
See what the colour description on the MAC site, for example shimmering pink with silver pearl. See if matches up.
See the consistency of the product.
If it’s a lipglass, it’ll be nicely thick & gooey. If it’s watery or runny, it’s not real.

And if it’s a lipglass, check the font on the tube. Is the writing very thick or very thin ?

These are all common tell-tale signs of the item being a fake.

And lastly, if you are buying off eBay, the most important thing to do is to buy from a reputable MAC seller.
And that doesn’t just mean anyone with feedback that sounds good.
I came across a seller the other day who had feedback of about 9,000 and she was selling a load of MAC fakes. She’d apparently bought a batch without realising and having never dealt with makeup before, she was unaware.

So go through the sellers feedback and see what those positives are for.

What I do is, go through the sellers other items and see what else they sell. If they have lots of other MAC items and it all looks and sounds genuine, and their feedback is good, then you should be right to go.

I have a few favourite sellers if anyone needs a link.

That’s really about it for now…
If you need help deciphering if your item is genuine or not, please just drop me a line & I will try to help.

Thanks !

Make-Up Product of the Week – MAC Antonio Lopez Collection 2013

Ok, so out at the moment is this lovely limited edition collection from MAC, who have collaborated with fashion illustrator Antonio Lopez to come up with these gorgeous palettes.

The MAC X Antonio Lopez collection comprises of 3 palettes for the eyes, 3 for the lips, 2 for the face, plus a stack of accessories, so I’ll give you a list of all the colour & palette names first, and then I’ll tell you a bit about the palettes I purchased.

So let’s begin with the eyes. We have 3 palettes here, in Bronze, Teal & Violet.

6 Eyes/Bronze:

• Dear Cupcake – midtone coral pink (satin finish)
• Artistic License – midtone frosty pink gold (veluxe pearl finish)
• Easy Gesture – pale warm beige (frost finish)
• Creative Copper – sparkling true gold (lustre finish)
• Golden Touch – tarnished taupe (veluxe pearl finish)
• Carbonized – deep warm brown (veluxe pearl finish)

6 Eyes/Teal:

• Colourful Life – dark teal (veluxe pearl finish)
• Fashion Legend – black with pink pearl (lustre finish)
• Nighttrain – charcoal grey with crystalline frost (lustre finish)
• Sex & Disco – sparkling cool silver (lustre finish)
• Freshwater – midtone sparkling blue with blue pearl (veluxe pearl finish)
• Sketchbook – glittery blackened olive (lustre finish)

6 Eyes/Violet:

• Violet Impact – vibrant violet (veluxe pearl finish)
• Envisioning Pink – midtone blue pink (satin finish)
• Lithe Spirit – cool cream (satin finish)
• Showgirl – dark blue grey (veluxe pearl finish)
• Graphic Style – deep silver (veluxe pearl finish)
• Carbon – intense black (matte finish)

Next we have the lip palettes…

3 Lips/ Nude:

• Art Directed – glossy sheer champagne (glaze finish)
• Antonio’s Girls – light peach (satin finish)
• Vivid Image – light pink white (amplified finish)

3 Lips/Fuschia:

• Candy Yum-Yum – matte neon pink (matte finish)
• Moxie – midtone blue pink (matte finish)
• Violetta – bright clean violet purple (amplified finish)

3 Lips/Red:

• Scarlet Ibis – bright orange red (matte finish)
• MAC Red – vivid bright blueish red (satin finish)
• Deeply Adored – deep scarlet (matte finish)

And the face palettes…

Face/Pink:

• Belightful – light bronze with golden shimmer (iridescent powder)
• Pure Femininity – midtone blue pink (blush, satin finish)
• Peaceful – midtone peach (beauty powder)

Face/Coral:

• Star ! – peachy golden with pink and yellow pearl (iridescent powder)
• Passion For Colour – midtone coral (blush, satin finish)
• Smooth Harmony – medium golden bronze (beauty powder)

And lastly, the accessories..

• 129SE Powder/Blush Brush
• Compact Mirror
• Makeup Bag
• Tote Bag

And everything is limited edition and comes in gorgeous packaging with illustrations on them.

Now, I purchased the Nude lip palette as well as the Teal eye palette.

The Teal eye palette is gorgeous, the stock photos don’t really do it any justice because the shades are just so beautifully glittery & shimmering. The darker colours aren’t as dark as they look. I couldn’t be happier with this palette. It’s beautiful and actually contains some different colours. They’re buildable and easy to blend, and overall the palette is a good size.

The Nude lip palette on the other hand… Meh. It’s ok. Don’t love it, don’t hate it either. There’s only really one colour in there that looks half decent, which is the shimmery shade on the direct right side.
The other two colours are quite drying and apply somewhat like a paste. And the shades are not so flattering.
The palette is smaller than I thought it would be. It’s fair, but smaller than what you may think. I’m thinking I should have gotten the Fuschia palette, but I didn’t want to as I already have two of the shades as lipsticks. Oh well…

The beauty of the teal eye palette kind of balances it all out.

Here’s the rest of the collection pics.

Make-Up Product of the Week – MAC Smash Hit Lipstick / Indulge Collection

This week I purchased one item from MAC’s latest Indulge Collection for 2013.

The only colour out of the lipsticks that really stood out to me was the colour ‘Smash Hit’.
Smash Hit is a dazzle lipstick which means that it’s fairly sheer and has a large amount of glitter & sparkle in it.
I’d best describe it as a sheer gold with medium size flecks of gold & pink sparkle.

I really loved this because for starters, I had nothing like this in my lipstick collection.
The best thing about it is that it’s perfect for Summer. It’s a lipstick that you can apply, and it looks like a light shimmery gloss on your lips.

There isn’t much actual colour there, but it gives your lips a nice amount of sparkle with a golden sheen and a pink pearlesque effect.
The ultimate lipstick to apply without a mirror !

It’s the ultimate lipstick to use when you’re doing a smoky eye in Summer and you want a nude lip, but not a heavy one.

Currently, Smash Hit is available on the MAC Aust. website about about the $36 mark.
You can also find it on eBay for about $30, but you’ll more than likely have to wait for shipping from the US.

For what I wanted in a lipstick, I score this is a 5/5. It’s light and sparkly, and perfect for people that don’t usually wear lipstick, but want a nice and easy go-to shade for Summer.
Do not buy this expecting full golden lips, as you won’t get it. This is sheer and mainly all sparkle.

Make-Up Product of the Week – MAC Fall ’13 Forecast Eyes & Lips

 

 

MAC Cosmetics have managed to impress me yet again ! I swear, are they released new collections by the week now ? My little purse in screaming in agony !

Our latest infatuation is the MAC Fall ’13 Forecast Collection, consisting of 2 palettes, one for eyes and one for lips, both of which are pictured above.

I personally think the colours are gorgeous for this Autumn/Winter, they are so warm & woodsy, perfect to match with some deep scarlet or pine green heels and a sexy, classic trench coat, with beautiful dark eyes or deep lips.

Each of these palettes sell for $65 on the MAC Australian website, and both are available now.

Here are the colour names for each palette:

EYES:

Oyster, Scarab Green, Smoked Indigo, Rustic Red, Oil Slick Black & Purple Fusion.

LIPS:

Au Naturale, This Is Autumn, Style Apparent, Rich New Mood, Red Statement & Fashion Noise.

Both these palettes are limited edition, so they will sell quickly, and at $65 a pop, its not too bad, considering you are getting 6 decently sized shades. The palettes are a good size too, they are not tiny, and they are quite solid.

The lipsticks in the Lips palettes are Amplified lipsticks, so they are long wearing and have a medium buildable coverage.

The eyeshadows in the Eyes palette are a new Cream Colour Shadow and they too have a medium buildable coverage and are quite smooth.

I personally love these palettes, and though MAC does this a lot with new seasons, its always well worth it to have a set like this if you don’t already have one. If you do, then thats different, but if you dont, these are fabulously priced, and well worth the money.

I am a huge fan of MAC products, but I will always tell you which ones are better than the other because lets face it, even the best brands sometimes stuff up with certain products, so Im here to tell you which ones are a winner and which ones you should skip, and these are a winner.

Now, I’ve already looked on eBay, and there are none of these on the Australian eBay site just yet, and when finally do advertise some, they will be too expensive, because the range will be sold out at MAC, and because its limited edition, eBay sellers will inflate the price, so your best bet at the cheapest price is going to be to just buy them directly from MAC for $65 each.

There are a couple of international eBay sellers that have them, but they want too much on postage, and it works out to be more expensive, so its not really worth it.

Plus, when you buy from MAC, you are guaranteed that your product is going to be 100% genuine.

Below are a couple of photos of the colourways of each palettes. The colour names that I have above are in order from left to right of each photo.

And lastly, I am going to do a post very soon on spotting fake MAC products, so keep an eye out for that one ! Some very valuable lessons coming up over the next few days… Enjoy !

 

Make-Up Product of the Week – MAC Prep+Prime Lash

This is one product I can’t live without.
MAC Prep+Prime Lash.

A mascara to wear before you put on your black mascara.
For those of you who don’t use a mascara primer, I’ll give you a bit of info first.

Mascara primer not only helps protect your lashes from everyday mascara wear, but some variants also help your lashes grow longer and stronger.
Another big upside to wearing a lash primer, is that it coats your lashes and makes them longer and fuller.
So when you put your normal mascara on top, your lashes look a lot longer, fuller and more voluminous than without it.

I have been using MAC’s Prep+Prime Lash for about 3 years now.
It is a fantastic product.

It goes on a creamy white and lengthens your lashes as much as a normal mascara would.
Imagine how long the lashes look when you add regular mascara on top !

Also, since I’ve been using it, I’ve noticed that at night, when I am scrubbing at my eyes trying to take my makeup off, I don’t get stray lashes coming out anymore.
This suggests to me that this product is also working to strengthen and protect my lashes.

You can get this product from the MAC website in Australia.
Here is a link: MAC Australia
It retails for, I think $36.

You can also check out eBay and find one for about $25. Just make sure you buy off a reputable seller so it’s genuine.
Remember, if it’s too good to be true, it probably is. Anything less than $15 an it’s probably fake, so be careful.

5 star product though. Can’t live without it.

Make-Up Product of the Week – Bobbi Brown Desert Twilight Eye Palette & Brush Kit

I got this palette and matching brush kit about a week ago, and I haven’t stopped using it since.

They are both limited edition from Bobbi Brown’s Desert Twilight Collection.

The eye palette consists of 8 eyeshadows in a variety of textures and finishes. The colours are all lovely shades of browns & neutrals.

The colours included are Navajo, Twilight, Pink Dusk, Water Colour Pink, Chocolate Mauve, Dusk, Cement and Twilight Pink.

The palette itself is a nice size, not too small. The bottom is black with the colour names on it. The lid has a nice brushed steel sort of look. It is metallic and looks very nice.

Overall, the casing is very sturdy.
There is also a double ended eyeshadow brush inside.

This palette is so wearable and versatile, you can create so many different looks.
Soft and neutral for day, or deep chocolate smoky eyes for night.
Shimmery glitter or matte. Smooth satin or velvety finish.
The possibilities are endless and though this palette is a bit expensive, you will get a lot of use out of it.

The Desert Twilight Brush Kit consists of a Gold brush bag that has 4 brushes inside. The brushes have mini size handles, but the heads are normal size.
The handles are a metallic goldish colour and they feel nice and heavy in the hand.

Included is a blush brush, an eye sweep brush, an angled eyeshadow brush and a liner brush.

All the brushes are very easy to use and perfect to create any eye look.

What I love the most about this little brush set is that in the bag, there is a section at the back made especially for the matching palette.
The palette slides in, and fits perfectly, so all you need it this cute little gold bag and it holds your palette and all your brushes.

You could actually stick a phone in there instead if you wanted to, though the iPhones are a bit too big for it.

If you are in Australia, you can get these items from the Bobbi Brown Australian website for $130 for the palette and $110 for the brush kit.
You could also try eBay for a cheaper price.

If you are from the USA or any other country, check out the Bobbi Brown US website.
Luckily for you gals, it’s a lot cheaper for you than it is for us Australians.

Make-Up Product of the Week – MAC Moxie Lipstick

My favourite makeup product this week is this new lipstick I got from MAC.

It from MAC’s latest ‘By Request’ Collection.

This shade is called Moxie and it has a matte finish.

I’d best describe this shade as a hot pink that has a tinge of redness to it. It’s not one of those pinks that look like they are pale purplish or cool-toned.
This is definitely a warm hot pink.

The colour coverage is opaque and if you apply a full coat, it lasts a good 4 hours without having to reapply.

Even though Moxie has a matte finish, it isn’t drying. It has a creamy consistency and is easy to apply. It doesn’t drag. It doesn’t feel overly heavy either.

This has become my favourite lipstick at the moment.
The colour is gorgeous, it applies perfectly, and lasts.

Moxie was originally released by MAC in a previous collection, a while back, and it sold out like hotcakes.
When MAC launched its ‘By Request’ collection, MAC fans around the world voted for which shades should be relaunched, and Moxie was a hot favourite.

You can your hands on one on eBay for about $35. Just make sure you buy from a reputable seller with good feedback.
If you need advice on spotting MAC fakes on eBay, please send me a line.

Alternatively, check out the MAC website.
For Australians, this is the MAC website link: MAC Cosmetics

Make-Up Product of the Week – MAC Formidable Nail Lacquer

This is the make-up product that I’m obsessed with this week.

It is a nail polish by MAC called Formidable.

It was originally released as part of MAC’s Venomous Villains collection and sold out immediately.
This year, it has been re-released as part of MAC’s Nail Lacquers 2012 collection and is now a permanent product in the MAC range.

The Nail 2012 collection has already been released in the US and has now also hit Australia.

Formidable is a duo-chrome nail polish, which means it has different colours of glitters & shimmers. Outside, in sunlight, it will look like a completely different colour than what it’ll look like inside.

Formidable is a reddened purple which shimmers teal, blue, violet & pink, depending on the light.

I currently have it on my fingernails & toenails. To me, indoors, it looks like a purplish dark blood red that shimmers of turquoise blue.
Outside however, in the sun, it could be deep purple shimmering pink or dark blue shimmering light blue.
It all depends on the light.

I simply love the uniqueness of this shade. It is so different to any other colour I’ve seen.
Plus the good thing is, you can wear it in Winter and Summer, thanks to all those pretty colours.

It wears a bit thin though. One coat will definitely not do. I go a full 3 coats.
2 would also be ok, but 3 coats gives me the full effect and opaqueness.

It applies smoothly and evenly though. The formula is pretty good.

Where can you get it ?

The MAC Australia website will have it, here is a link: MAC
Also check out eBay, and make sure you refine your search to be ‘worldwide’. I’ve seen it there for about $30 delivered.

You can also go to your local MAC counter and check it out there. I am pretty sure it’s about $32.

Love it. I’m hooked.

Make-Up Product of the Week – Benefit Lipscription

This is the one product that I’ve been thrashing this week.
It’s Lipscription by Benefit Cosmetics.

In this freezing weather that we’ve been having in Sydney, with the crazy wind and all, you need to protect your lips.
The worst thing is having the awesome heels, the amazing bag and jewellery to match, the last thing you need is dry lips that are cracked.

Even worse, dry lips means you’re more prone to cold sores. Ugh.

I have been using this product for a few years now, and I must say, it is the best ever.
I have tried literally every single lip balm out there, and there is always one thing that isnt right.
It’s either the smell or colour, or texture, or it doesn’t last long enough…

Lipscription is a fabulous set. I got it from the Benefit Cosmetics website for, $34 I think it was.

You get two tubes.
One is a lip exfoliator. A white cream with little beads in it that you rub onto your lips with your finger.
It takes all the dead skin away, and leaves your lips extremely smooth and rosy. It’s also gently. It doesn’t hurt at all.

The second tube is the lip balm.
It is very thick. You have to really squish the tube to get any out. Only a teeny tiny bit will do.
It tasteless, colourless and odourless.
It is hard to the touch at first.
But when you begin to rub it into your lips, it melts under your fingertip and it is thick and you can actually feel the protection it is providing.

It lasts for ages too. During the day, a good 2-3 hours. At night, a solid 8 hours.

Your lips never feel dry again. I swear this is the best lip treatment ever.
Plus, you only ever use so little of it that this set of 2 tubes will last you a couple of years easy.

If you want a good and proper lip balm that actually looks after your lips, this is it. If you want colour, use a gloss or lipstick.
If you want true protection and silky smooth lips, use this product.

You can buy it from here: Benefit Cosmetics but you’ll have to wait for international postage.
If you want to shop nationally, try Adore Beauty, or click here.

You can also buy from eBay but beware of fakes. Buy from a reputable seller and always check their feedback.

Any questions or need help, just leave a comment for me please.