Identifying fake MAC eyeshadows - ***detailed guide with photos***

[minisprite]

Hey everyone,

I created a guide to the tell-tale differences between real and fake mac eyeshadows. I used two different "types" of fakes I (dumbly) bought on ebay.co.uk, and compared them to a genuine shadow feature-by-feature.

http://community.livejournal.com/uk_makeup/6330.html

HTH and please pass along to anyone who might find it useful.

Sarah x

 

[caffn8me]

Great guide, thanks for that!

 

[minisprite]

No worries - as you can probably tell I have some time on my hands... I'm avoiding doing Uni work :/

Sarah x

 

[caffn8me]

LOL! I know that feeling well

I'm sorry you landed up with some fakes but thanks for making something positive out of it. Which eBay sellers did you get these from?

 

[stillsoawesome]

wow, thanks for posting!!

 

[minisprite]

Quote:

Originally Posted by caffn8me LOL! I know that feeling well I'm sorry you landed up with some fakes but thanks for making something positive out of it. Which eBay sellers did you get these from?

gettingglam and nonamesnow - not sure if they're still operating, though.

 

[caffn8me]

gettingglam had an unexpected visit from Trading Standards officers and may well be facing (or has already faced) further action given the value of their counterfeit stock (I counted about £11,000 fake M·A·C at retail prices).

Nonamesnow has stopped selling fake M·A·C but now sells "Sivanna" which may well be from the same factory that produces at least some of the fake M·A·C.

Sivanna seems to be made in (or at least distributed from) Thailand.

It's pretty much a certainty that wherever you find Sivanna for sale, you'll also find high end brand counterfeits.

Have a look at these;

• SHINE BLUSH SHIMMER BLUSHER #11 NEW RRP £16.95 LIKE MAC
  The box looks very similar to the ones the fake M·A·C blushes and shadows come in and the product has a number rather than a name. Does this sound familiar to anyone? Who here thinks that £16.95 is a bit steep for the RRP of an unknown brand blush?
• SIVANNA ULTRA ACID GREEN EYESHADOW CREME #16
  The RRP of this was listed as £12.95 - again, does the packaging look familiar?

For reference, I've attached images of some Sivanna products as well as some counterfeit M·A·C products which bear certain similarities.

 

[minisprite]

Happy to hear that gettingglam has been sprung. The Sivanna stuff definitely looks like the fake MAC - quick cover-up job by changing the name, I wonder?

 

[Ambi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by caffn8me gettingglam had an unexpected visit from Trading Standards officers and may well be facing (or has already faced) further action given the value of their counterfeit stock (I counted about £11,000 fake M·A·C at retail prices).

Woohoo! I'd love to know more about what happened to this ******... I bought two eyeshadows from him in December when I was very new to eBay and quite new to MAC too as they don't sell MAC here in Finland, I thought "oh wow, MAC shadows for really cheap", eh, felt like a moron afterwards. Thanks to Spectra and the LJ community I realized they were fakes before I even received them so I never used them, but I learned my lesson... Just sucks to think how many clueless people there are out there who buy this crap, and who knows what they may contain, I'm glad someone takes the time to write these guides and tips.

 

[Violeta]

That is really great.
Thanks!

 

[chickadee]

that is so ridiculous that people would stoop so low, but I guess it's not that much different from selling knockoff bags, although in that case we all know they are not real (hopefully)

 

[coachkitten]

I just had someone send me a few "bonus" MAC eye shadows because it took a ebay seller 2 months to send a BNIB meadowland e/s. Luckily the meadowland is real as I compared it to the other real one I had but she sent two fakes as an "apology" gift. I kept thinking why have I never seen a MAC mirror and applicator before? Now I know it is because it is fake. It even smells strange and the texture is so off.

 

[ilovexnerdsx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by coachkitten It even smells strange and the texture is so off.

oh man, thats sick

great guide though, thankyou for posting!

 

[xx Elle xx]

I love stuff like this because it helps us see the little signs that many usually don't pick up on.

I'm sick of counterfeit stuff!! It does my head in.

 

[NORDSTROMMAC]

THIS IS GREAT! We always have people trying to return fake stuff but you really know your stuff. Another thing i noticed is MAC puts a batch # on their products on the bottom under the names. Its usuall very faint but more noticable on the lip items. Im not sure the exact formula but its a letter and two numbers. On the fake one it says 11...not a real batch #. The batch # tells when it was made...ill ask my trainers tommorow at update in case you guys want to know if products are expired etc...

 

[..kels*]

oh wow, i probably would have never even noticed if i was you.

but when you point it out, it's so painfully obvious.

 

[juwlz]

im so nervous about this happening to me *sigh*

 

[saniyairshad]

God I cannot thank u enough for this post. EBAY makes me scared...I swear with all the scamming and all going on no one knows what's fake and what's not...it's crazy...I'm always on there usually to find good prices for MSFs. But, now with all these posts this is making me scared..oooh can u guys imagine fake MSFs? That would kill everything inside me

 

[caffn8me]

Even M·A·C has trouble manufacturing MSFs. The fakers haven't turned to MSFs yet and as there are so many easier things to copy (current favourites include pigments, brushes, lipsticks and eye shadows) it's possible they never will try to copy MSFs.

You can be pretty sure that if fake MSFs do start appearing, Specktra will be the first place to publish the news!

 

[freshangi]

can't believe some people make a profit~!!!!!