Fragrance Direct now selling MAC?

rockin

Well-known member
What worries me is that they have a lot of eyeshadows from older collections that are popping up all over ebay (Thunder, Climate Blue, Blue Flame, Warm Chill, Henna, Solar White, Bang On Blue for example). I bought some of those on ebay and they turned out to be fakes. Where are they all coming from? For that reason I'd be dubious about buying 'MAC' from them
 

Mac-Guy

Well-known member
Maybe just ask them where they get their merchandise from - just to be on the cautious side.
 

Suzich

Active member
I`ve bought Fleur Power blush from fragrancedirect and I don`t know if it is fake. This little sign with an arrow is smaller than usually:

http://imageshack.us/g/694/img8925h.jpg/

What do you think? Here are some comparisons to my other blushes which are 100% authentic (Fleur Power is pinky and first in upper row, it has thinner letters than other blushes):

http://imageshack.us/g/854/img8907z.jpg/

Edit: it`s fake I guess. Letter M on the front side is slightly different, lid doesn`t hold well, letters on the bottom are not greyish but on the white side, and sticker is different and bigger than on original ones.:(
 

Catatonia

Well-known member
Yeah it doesn't look right to me. I know it's tricky trying to judge by the photos only but the sticker on the back looks all wrong to me. I'm sorry hun. Hope you get a refund. :(
 

Suzich

Active member
Thanks dear.

At first glance, logo on the lid looked little bit strange to me. But I was thinking - OK, maybe this is because it is Made in Canada (others are in Italy), maybe this is how it should be. I don`t have other powder blush to compare, just mineralize blushes, so I wasn`t sure about the bottom side - I thought maybe that is how it looks like on powder blushes. After discussion and other pictures that I saw on our Croatian cosmetics forum - comparisons of fake and authentic powder blushes - I realized that it is all wrong!!:(

I`ll send them an e-mail and request refund, I don`t know if they are even aware that they sell fakes. I`m their customer and until now, everything was OK with their items. I`ve also bought Mineralize Skinfinish, I guess it is fake too.

Edit: the logo on the front is deeply engraved and rough on the touch!
 

nukacola

Member
Hm. I've brought from Fragrance Direct before (not MAC however) and they seemed like such a trustworthy company, now I'm not so sure. I was actually considering buying some MAC from them as I noticed they've recently started selling it but I think I'll pass now. The worst thing about fake makeup is that often its dangerous to skin... I don't trust where fake makeup comes from. I've heard that most of it's made in countries that have very different laws on health and safety, ingredients allowed in cosmetics etc to countries like the US and the UK.

This actually makes me want to avoid buying anything from them actually. Seems a shame as they have good customer service and their products are good prices (and the stuff I've brought from them - Sally Hansen lipsticks - has been of course genuine, who would fake Sally Hansen anyway lol) but I think buying from them just encourages them to sell more fake stuff.

But then again they may just not be aware they're selling fake items? Has anyone emailed them asking them where they get their stock from? I may email them possibly asking for photos of their labelling and where they get it from later on actually.
 

Suzich

Active member
I asked, take a look at their answer:

"Dear Sir/Madam
Good afternoon, I am sorry to hear you feel you have received counterfeit products. We do buy all of our goods from the manufacturers, however if you wish to return the goods to us for testing.

Our returns address is;

Garrison House
Sutton Garrison
Byrons Lane
Macclesfield
Cheshire
SK11 7JW.

If you need any further information, please answer to this email keeping the reference ----- in the subject line, and we'll be able to respond to your email quicker.


Kind regards,

LaurenThompson
Fragrance Direct
Customer Service Team. "

I mean, manufacturer?? Since when MAC manufacturer supplies web shops like fragrancedirect? And what testing?? I don`t know what to answer. I`ll ask them who is this manufacturer.
 

Mac-Guy

Well-known member
Well, ACW is also selling MAC, thus it is not that unusual. Has anybody ordered from there yet?
 

rubytitania

Well-known member
They are selling fakes. I purchased a Peachtwist blush from them and it's nothing like the genuine one! The label has the same issues as Suzich's Fleur Power, and the blush itself is completely wrong (chunky, glittery orange-bronze instead of the smooth, shimmery peach it should be). I emailed them and they gave me the same line about buying direct from manufacturers and told me to send it back if I wanted. I don't want a refund - what I want is for them to admit they're selling fakes and apologise! They have a good reputation and a pretty large customer base so this is really awful.
 

Suzich

Active member
Horrible! And they would never apologize, they act like everything is OK.
Here is the rest of our "conversation":


"Dear Customer Service,

who is the manufacturer? Where did you get this items?

I think there is large possibility you were tricked. I own many MAC items and none of them are like this.

Where would you test this products and how does that testing look like?

Thank you for your kind help and hoping for best resolution of this problem,

Suzich"


"Thank you for your e-mail.

Our buying team most certainly do not purchase counterfeit products, of that I can assure you.

In terms of testing the products, we do not test these ourselves prior to the dispatch of goods as obviously we are unable to sell used items.

Kind regards,

Matt Oldfield
Customer Services Manager"


"Dear Mr Oldfield,

thank you for your kind answer.

I understand that you cannot test products prior to the dispatch, for obvious reasons, but Ms Lauren wrote me that I can return goods that I bought to your return address for testing.
So, therefore, my question is: where will you test products that I purchased and how? How will I know results of that testing?

Thank you very much in advance,

Suzich"



"We would not test the products ourselves, they would be returned to our supplier. Invariably information regarding the outcome of any decisions is not fed back to ourselves.

Kind regards,

Matt Oldfield
Customer Services Manager"


And that was the last mail.

Why in a world would supplier, who is accused to sell fake items, test products? The only one test FD can make in this situation is to go to MAC counter in order to check authenticity. I`ve ordered Fleur Power from my friend who lives in Canada, so that I can make detailed comparison.
 

FiveTo1984

Member
The MAC website has a link where you can email a customer service rep. I think those folks would have the best answer as to who supplies what and where. They promise to respond in 24 hours, I guess it would be worth emailing and asking about it.
Last time I checked, Estee Lauder owns MAC. So I'd imagine that's where the "direct supply" would come from.
Has anyone mentioned the quality of the actual makeup itself?
 

rubytitania

Well-known member
The MAC website has a link where you can email a customer service rep. I think those folks would have the best answer as to who supplies what and where. They promise to respond in 24 hours, I guess it would be worth emailing and asking about it.
Last time I checked, Estee Lauder owns MAC. So I'd imagine that's where the "direct supply" would come from.
Has anyone mentioned the quality of the actual makeup itself?
I emailed MAC and got a response:

I’ve looked at the website, to be honest I can’t tell but I would recommend you don’t purchase any MAC products from any websites that is not a guanine MAC Websites WWW.MACCOSMETICS.CO.UK. You don’t know how they are made and could cause a reaction.

MAC products, you may not be aware that MAC is one of The Estee Lauder Company brands. Please be advised that our products are distributed for sale only at our authorized retail store accounts, the majority of which are located in major department stores or perfumeries, internationally. While there are other points of sales, such as duty-free shopping locations, we are not seeking to expand our distribution network at this time.

The resale of MAC product is not permitted under any circumstances.


I compared the PeachTwist blush I bought with one in the MAC store and they were very different. The real PeachTwist is smooth, shimmery and peach-coloured. The one I bought from Fragrance Direct is orangey-bronze, chunky and glittery - almost like a lustre eyeshadow.
 

Suzich

Active member
Hey girls (and boys), I`ve received Flower Power from my friend in Canada, she bought it for me in MAC store. I can only say that now this fragrancedirect`s screams: Fakeeeee
th_rolleye0014.gif
, it is not even the same colour!! Photos are coming soon...
 

iluvmakeup7

Well-known member
oh my fragrancedirect has fake mac stuff ??

i found these pigments stacked 1 and 2 for a good price
u think those would be fake too as they were only limited editon products

what do u think ?
 
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