Help a newbie out! A couple of questions regarding MAC authenticity.

[Nastka]

Hi there! I've recently bought a few MAC items off eBay (yes, yes, I know...!). I'm pretty new to distinguishing fakes from the real deal, and all I wanted to ask is...:

Do MAC eyeshadows have the logo engraved or painted onto the clear plastic dome? Mine are engraved. Same question with pigments. Engraved or painted onto the pot at the front?

Furthermore, the printing on the box is bolder on the ones I've got off eBay. Also, in a couple, the grammature on the pot and the box don't match up (1.3 grams on a couple of pots, 1.5 on the box)

Everything else seems to check out. The plastic pot itself is identical from the storebought MAC I have. The shadows range in age from '04 to '08. Any help is MUCH appreciated!

 

[Civies]

I think the most obvious would be the different gram measuring on the box and pot. It should always be the same. Eyeshadow pots are 1.5g and pigments are 7.5g.

I also just checked out my pigment & eyeshadows and the MAC logo is definitely not engraved because looking at it closely from the side, the pot doesn't 'sink in' like it would if it was engraved. It's raised just the slightest bit because of the paint.

I've never seen fake MAC in person and since I always buy my MAC from the store or warehouses, I'm not very experienced with fake MAC but I just wanted to put my two cents in.

 

[angi]

From looking at eyeshadows and pigments the logo is not engraved as such, but if you run your fingers over the logo, you can feel that it is slightly raised.

The information on the boxs and the jars/pots should match up, but weights do vary, for example some pigments were 4.3grams, and some of the eyeshadows (veluxe pearl) are 1.3g.

If you post some pictures of the stuff you got, it might help in identifying the counterfeits.

 

[marusia]

Just about anything "out of place" means it's probably counterfeit. There are some great guides in the counterfeit section of the forum.

 

[Civies]

Quote:

Originally Posted by angi From looking at eyeshadows and pigments the logo is not engraved as such, but if you run your fingers over the logo, you can feel that it is slightly raised. The information on the boxs and the jars/pots should match up, but weights do vary, for example some pigments were 4.8grams, and some of the eyeshadows (veluxe pearl) are 1.3g. If you post some pictures of the stuff you got, it might help in identifying the counterfeits.

wow I never knew that. Thanks!

 

[panda0410]

Quote:

Originally Posted by marusia Just about anything "out of place" means it's probably counterfeit. There are some great guides in the counterfeit section of the forum.

Ummm, not quite... I can think of many production issues that were totally off base but were still authentic. Last years Circa Plum piggie came with flat non logoed inserts - which was previously only ever seen in counterfeits. And Goldenaire pigment had a production issue which saw the MAC logo spread halfway across the face of the jars - and they were also authentic. 2nd run Barbie shadows came in non Barbie boxes and were printed black on the lids instead or the first "official" run which was printed in white.

Lots of other issues spring forth, but its worth bearing in mind that primary product information is just as important as being able to spot the difference

 

[marusia]

I'm very leery of buying any makeup off eBay, as there's about a 98% chance of if being counterfeit. Having dealt with a counterfeit issue quite recently, I can only say I'd assume that it is. *shrugs*. Knowing who the seller is would help. There are several sellers who have 100% feedback with thousands of sales that are selling counterfeits. With that being said, I know there are some differences in products sometimes that are legit, but all those added up sounds really fishy to me.

 

[Nastka]

Thank you all for your replies! I contacted the seller regarding another issue (the grammatures / amount of product in grams on the box and container don't add up on three eye shadows), and he told me that his supplier assured him they are genuine. However, he also told me that he wrote to MAC to find out about the discrepancies. Maybe it's a misprint? I didn't tell him about the engraved logos, yet. I will post some pictures tomorrow or Sunday at the latest, so stay tuned!

And again, thank you all for your helpful comments!

 

[Nastka]

Hi there again. Here are some pictures that I took for your enjoyment, lol. The main issue is that the weight on the boxes and containers differ, and that the logo on the pigments are differently aligned. Please add your comments and concerns, I'll be eternally grateful!

The shades are Femme Fi, Henna and Beautiful Iris. The boxes read 1.5 grams if you can make it out.

A closeup. You can barely see the etching, but it's there.

The view of the pans. The colours are gorgeous in real life and don't feel like fakes at all.

The labels on the containers. 1.3 grams, so the weight differs from that on the boxes.

Some of the writing on the back is bolder than others.

Same again, just the ingredients.

The barcodes.

Now, to the pigments and glitters.

Top view.

Front #1, you can already see that the alignments differ.

Picture #2, as before.

Again some of the writing differs. Sorry for the wonky picture.

Bottom's up!

Barcodes. The differences are quite large. 'Made in USA?'

And, finally, the back of the boxes.

I forgot to post the side that shows ingredients, but I'll do that if anybody needs to see them. Sorry for the rather average pictures, but I was in a hurry. If you need any higher resolutions, I have all of them all in very much higher quality. The glitters come also with a leaflet with the ingredients, I don't know if that's normal. Thanks for looking!

 

[marusia]

They're fakes. I can guarantee it. For one, check the backs of the pigment jars. Some of them will say made in canada, while the boxes say made in USA, that's a dead giveaway. Also, with the eyeshadows, MAC doesn't say one weight on the back of a container and a different one on the back of the box. I'd tell this seller to give you your money back.

 

[Nastka]

Quote:

Originally Posted by marusia They're fakes. I can guarantee it. For one, check the backs of the pigment jars. Some of them will say made in canada, while the boxes say made in USA, that's a dead giveaway. Also, with the eyeshadows, MAC doesn't say one weight on the back of a container and a different one on the back of the box. I'd tell this seller to give you your money back.

Only the Rose Gold pigment says 'Made in Canada' on the container itself, whereas the rest state 'Made in USA'. I know that the boxes of the shadows shouldn't have a different weight from the container, but I received 6 other ones from this seller that don't have that flaw

 

[marusia]

This is what I'm guessing, and I'll tell you why...sometimes they have an oversight on a couple of colors, and get the rest dead on. I only know this because I bought a large lot from a supplier not long ago. (We're talking $2,000). I can honestly tell you that I can't tell most of the counterfeits from the authentics because the counterfeiting is getting THAT good. I'd seriously advise you to get your money back. If they are counterfeits (which I'm thinking yes), you have no idea what are in those products. A lot of countries don't have the strict manufacturing regulations that we do, and since they copy word for word what's in the product, we don't have a clue. There could be some really harmful contaminants in them. (Like lead.) Makeup isn't really anything to play with when it comes to your health. Once it gets in your mucous membranes, there could be all sorts of horrible side effects. It's just my $.02 though.

 

[Nastka]

@marusia: Thanks for your lengthy reply. I agree with 100% with you regarding the unknown ingredients in these products, which can be quite dangerous. On the other hand, having worked in production and manufacturing, I can tell you that mistakes DO HAPPEN in every single factory there is on the face of this earth. Be it some sort of problem with the alignment of a logo or even typos etc. Exactly this makes telling the differences between the real thing and fakes so difficult. Whilst I'm quite sure that some of the items I got from the seller might be fakes, I'd still like to know if there's a chance that there might be some authentic ones among them. The seller contacted his supplier as well as MAC, and offered me a full refund, which I'm likely to take once I know that most of the items in my lot are fakes, not just one or two of them. Furthermore, I still haven't received a clear answer to the original question at the top of the topic regarding the 'engraved' logo. I'm still quite confused

 

[angi]

I can absolutely guarantee you that all of the pigments are fake. If you want more info, feel free to PM me and I'll explain. In terms of the glitters I'm pretty certain they're fake, but would need a better look at the bottom of the glitter jars. None of the glitters I've owned have ever said 'made in USA' on the barcode - but I can't profess to be the expert on the printing on these..... I've only ever owned three.

The boxes of the pigments and the glitters seems to be the typical cardboard seen on some of the counterfeits- the type of cardboard that scratches easily and leaves a dark black mark if you run your nail over it.

Variation in printing I would say is no indication of counterfeit - many of my eyeshadows are completely different in terms of printing (from looking at the printing on my Henna box, mine looks even less convincing than yours- and I know mine is real as I brought it at the mac store!) I have also found that with pigment logos the alignment does vary, and the printing of the logo is not always consistently level. However, even though printing might get bolder or fainter, it should be consistent. The printing of the 'e' on the front of your glitter boxes looks like it might be a little off, as it doesn't look like the horizontal parts of the letter are finer in comparison to the rest of the letter (this is something that happened a lot with the earlier fakes)

In terms of the eyeshadows I only have Henna from the exact same collection as yours, my Femmi Fi was from Neo Sci-Fi. The batch codes for the two LE eyeshadows look to be spot on - my Henna has the same batch code as yours - but, the box of my Henna is printed correctly (1.3grams), which, being that they are from the same batch, I would think goes against there being a printing error on the whole lot. The barcode of my Henna is the same as yours, but the ingredients appear to differ.

In terms of the engraving - I'm not quite sure. I think if I took a picture of mine under a certain light, and with the flash it would probably look like that, and you can feel the printing, but only on the surface - it's definitely not indented.

Because of the incorrect printing I think I would probably go with the eyeshadows being counterfeit.

 

[juicy415]

i think henna is fake because the logo is engraved and the dot should not be as circle, it should be like an oval..

 

[dopalives]

As far as the pigments go, the bar codes should be stickers, not printed directly on the box. I can't tell if yours are printed or not.