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 !

Latest MAC Collection – Fashion Sets 2013

I am loving MAC’s latest Fashion Sets 2013 Collection.
4 colours, 5 different products per colour, and for 2013, they are gorgeous !

The 4 colours are:
Ablaze (the reddish orange)
Embrace Me (the darker fuschia pink)
Silly (the lighter Barbie pink)
Heroine (the purple)

Each colour will have its own Lipstick, Lipglass, Eyeshadow, Nail Lacquer and Lip Pencil.

Here is the full product list:

Lipsticks:
Ablaze- Bright Apricot (Matte Finish)
Embrace Me- Bright Fuschia (Matte Finish)
Silly- Bright Pink (Matte Finish)
Heroine- Bright Violet Purple (Matte Finish)

Lipglasses:
Ablaze- Bright Apricot
Embrace Me- Bright Fuschia
Silly- Bright Pink
Heroine- Bright Purple

Lip Pencils:
Ablaze- Bright Apricot
Embrace Me- Vivid Pinkish Purple
Silly- Bright Pink
Heroine- Bright Purple

Eyeshadows:
Ablaze- Midtone Coral (Matte Finish)
Embrace Me- Blue Pink (Satin Finish)
Silly- Bright Pink (Frost Finish)
Heroine- Bright Cobalt Blue (Matte Finish)

Nail Lacquers:
Ablaze- Bright Orange (Cream Finish)
Embrace Me- Bright Fuschia (Cream Finish)
Silly- Bright Pink (Cream Finish)
Heroine- Bright Violet (Cream Finish)

So that’s the lot of them there !
I’m going to add a photo of swatches at the bottom of this post.
I absolutely love these products and seriously done my head in trying to work out what I’m going to buy.

I don’t think Heroine would look good on my lips, so I’m going to give that a miss.
And I have enough lipstick dupes of Embrace Me. Like Pink Pigeon, Daddy’s Little Girl, Quick Sizzle all in matte finish to name a few.

I think I’m just going to buy a few lipglasses, Ablaze, Embrace Me & Silly.

Ok, so when can we get our hands on this awesome collection ?
In Australia, it’ll be in early May.
In the US, it’ll be on the 8th of April.

It’s already available on eBay, for about $30 a piece, so make sure you buy from a reputable seller.
If you want the user names of my favourite sellers, just shoot me a line.

Otherwise, you can wait until May and get it from the MAC website.

Latest MAC Collection – Baking Beauties

The latest collection from MAC for Spring/Summer 2013 is Baking Beauties, colours and products so sweet you could eat them !

In Baking Beauties, we are going to see super sweet pastels and sugary products all revolving around the world of lush cupcakes.
Pastel pinks, lavenders, baby blues and soft peaches and cream.

Here is the full product list:

Lipsticks:

Pure Decoration- Light White Peach (Cremesheen Finish)
Raspberry Swirl- Light White Blue Pink (Cremesheen Finish)
Lavender Whip- Light Cool Lavender (Cremesheen Finish)
Devil’s Food- Glossy Deep Plum (Frost Finish)

Mineralize Tinted Lip Balms:

Baking Beauty- Creamy Light Peach
Cheery Cherry- Creamy Mid-Tone Blue Pink
Sweet Tooth- Creamy Lilac
Glace- Creamy Pale Baby Blue

Brushes:

252SE- Large Shader
129SE- Powder/Blush

Pearlmatte Face Powders:

In For A Treat- Champagne base with matte coral flowers & mint leaves
Pink Buttercream- Light silvery pink base with dark pink flowers & periwinkle leaves

Pro Longwear Paint Pots:

Fancy Frosting- Frosted White
Let’s Skate- Pale Pink with Pearl
Mooncake- Warm Beige
Eclair- Light Chocolate with Gold Pearl
Dangerous Cuvée- Frosted Cool Grey

Glitters:

Pink- Bright Pink
Reflects Transparent Teal- Sparkling White Turquoise

Lustre Drops:

Pink Rebel- Blue Pink with Gold Pearl

Nail Lacquers:

Confectionary- Light Blue Pink (Cream Finish)
Pistachio Creme- Light Teal Mint (Cream Finish)
Blue Velvet- Light Periwinkle Blue (Cream Finish)

So that’s the collection there.
When can you get your little hands on it ?
In the US, it’ll be available online on the 11th of April and instore/over counters from the 18th of April.
Aussie buyers, we are usually about 2 weeks after the US.
That said, you’ll be able to get it all on eBay earlier. There are already some reputable eBay sellers that are taking Pre-Orders. And make sure you buy from a good seller with good feedback.
Check their other items and make sure they are a seller that sells other good products.

If you want the user names of my favourite sellers on eBay for MAC, then just drop me a line.

Now I’ll tell you a little bit about the quality of the products themselves.
The 3 lipsticks that are a Cremesheen finish, the 3 pastel colours, those will settle into the lines of your lips. They’re nice, but I’m just letting you know.
Every time you press your lips together, you’ll be able to see the lines. That’s just what you get from pastel colours in a cream finish.

The lipglasses will have almost the same thing, but not as bad, in a more subtle way. If I had to choose between the lipsticks or lipglasses, I’d go lipglasses.

The Pearlmatte Face Powders are absolutely beautiful looking, and are a perfect highlight powder, but don’t expect any real colour pay-off. They are extremely sheer. Think of them of more of a mattifying powder at best. I would really just use them as a finishing powder, a quick sweep for a bit of shimmer and highlight, that’s about it.

The nail lacquers are very nice but you will most likely need a minimum of 2 coats, possibly 3. I find the cream finished to be quite transparent and streaky after only one coat. 2 is better, 3 is the magic number though !

All the other products in this collection are fantastic. The paint pots are all superb colours and blend beautifully. The mascara is great too.

What will I be buying ?
Probably the 2 glitters, really. I am not a huge fan of the too pale lipsticks and I have dupes of everything else, and personally, though its all really pretty, I just don’t need it so I’ll be waiting for a better collection to come round.
I really love the 2 glitters though, so I’ll just grab them. The lustre drops look quite good too !