Quote:
Originally Posted by CROPMOMMY
This might be a stupid question but remember, I'm not a MAC person in any way: Can these pigments actually be duplicated?
I've talked with a few people off-line who think it's hilarious that anyone can consider these pigments a fake since it would cost much more money to try and replicate these then they are actually worth. Maybe they don't know all that much about MAC either. However, aren't these dichroic (color changes in different lights)? That seems to me like it would be pretty intense to falsify. However, you guys would know more than I would about this. Just wondering if you have personally ever seen a fake and if they even look close to being real.
|
There are two answers here -
1- YES, pigments can be and
VERY FREQUENTLY ARE duplicated by fakers!! Just look at the counterfeit pigment threads here and you will see that is not only incredibly COMMON, but contrary to your friends advice, also
INCREDIBLY CHEAP! Some of the pigments in full sized jars sell for less than $15AU ~approx $12US, AND the seller has
still made a considerable profit from her point of purchase, so please consider how cheap they really must be to buy for sellers, and how much profit is being made for them particularly if it is being redistributed into even smaller samples or lots.
2- Your actual pigment content within the vials may not be fake at all, it is entirely possible that genuine pigment has been decanted into generic vials.
I have bought my fair share of fakes off ebay, like most frequent specktrettes who use this forum and once its in your hands it easy enough to tell that the pigment isnt real. The part for picking fakes comes in both packaging and pigment content. The problem most of us are having with fakes is that the packaging on some fakes (designercosmetics2007, divalaglam, and a few others for example) is that their packaging is damn near impossible to tell from real packaging - it wasnt until some of the ladies here actually bought the pigments and compared them and the packaging in person to shelf stock at MAC that they were confirmed as definite fakes.
And secondly, some of the fake pigment itself is also getting harder to pick - production processes are obviously getting better for the counterfeiters and they are producing fake pigments that are much closer in colour and texture to real pigments than previously found in counterfeit pigment. I also want to make a fairly loud note that colour changes are not necessarily scrutinized in pigments because of screen setting some monitors will display colours which are not necessarily true to life. This means that some pigments which are real, may not look real, some fake pigments may look authentic. While some fakers are making an effort to produce pigment that is closer to authentic stock, MOST fakers dont give a shit whether it is close to the authentic pigment or not, just look at the
fake Teal pigment sold to one lady here - it isnt even close to the real Teal, not by any length of the imagination....