Friday, January 22, 2010

Fakes

DON'T BUY THEM. You know what I'm talking about. What? You don't? Pashaw, lemmie show you the bad side of the makeupz.

Was there ever that one perfect MAC colour you've always wanted and you finally found it! On ebay! For $12! It's been discontinued for 3 years but somehow this seller has 15 of them in stock. Sure his feedback is 97% but COME ON! It's "insert magical mac colour here"! And you buy it. Shipping is a friggin arm and a leg but who cares, I'll finally have a full size "blah blahbitty blah"!

You get the colour and it comes in a box and you take it out and notice something isn't quite right. This doesn't even say the colour name. It says "8" in a circle. What the eff is "8"? And for some reason there is a ridiculous mirror and sponge aplicator in it that I don't remember ever seeing the ones in stores have.

You my friend, have been had!

Well. Maybe it's not that bad. You tell yourself this.

Sure, and maybe your eyes won't start to burn and close up on you. Maybe it then won't spread to your throat, swell it up and cut off your breathing. (Pick up this months Cosmo UK)(Not you brits, this was the Jan issue, you probably have Feb by now)

Anyway, my point is, you don't know what is in those fakes. I've been lusting over MAC's Your Ladyship but I've come to my senses, know I will never get the exact jar and I found indie mineral companies with colours SO MUCH BETTER! And cheaper! Unlike the fakers, they do not pump the products full of harmful junk, the ingredients are listed for you.

There is even a company that tries to dupe some MAC colours for you...
http://mineralmakeupmutiny.wordpress.com/
(one day I will learn to link I swear)

So explore the indie mineral makeup world. Samples are hardly ever over $2 and they last forever and the colour payoff is amazing. For realz. Just look at my "EOTD"s. I don't think I've used anything but since I've started this blog. (That shitty Twilight Palette doesn't count, it was crap and for learning, teaching, swatching purposes:)

MAC who?

7 comments:

  1. great post! I don't think I've ever bought any MAC from Ebay. I don't even own that much MAC anyways (only one e/s quad and I'm not hugely impressed). MMU is the best! So many creative people putting their best to bring out great colors, makeup counters are a thing of the past, definitely!

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  2. Sadly ebay is one of the only places that I'm be able to find MAC at a decent price (pfft $32AUD for one eyeshadow? nothanks), but I know so much more about fakes and sellers now than I did a year ago when I started getting heavily into makeup.

    Now I look at the fake listings and wonder how anybody could fall for it.

    But yeah, if anybody is desperate for MAC, then rock-the-catwalk.com and allcosmeticswholesale.com are really the most reliable routes. Though Silk Naturals makes awesome MAC dupes for under $5 and theyre much better for you, so why bother :)

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  3. Exactly! Both of you are sooo right!
    I had to rant.
    I tried to get Your Ladyship last year and it was a fake (too chunky frosty not enough sparkle) and the guy tried telling me different continents will make it different. Uhhhh hello buddy, it should all be coming out of the same place. Of course after he loaded off all his fakes he is no longer a registered user at 99.1%. All that means is he has a new name now...

    And then I was sent 2 eyeshadows from a family member that were fake. I don't know if she knew they were or not, but if she did, is she trying to make me blind? :D

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  4. I don't even like MAC so this isn't a problem for me. HOWEVER! I am a peacock freak so I did purchase a MAC glitter eyeliner in Peacocky (the only MAC purchase I have ever made) on eBay and it is the real deal. But I think that type of product is harder to fake than their loose pigments.
    Still sucks that there are folks out there trying to cheat people like this. :-/

    There is this online store with cheap REAL MAC samples:

    http://www.thebodyneeds2.com/default.asp

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  5. Uh-oh. Do you think this problem extends to MAC brushes as well? I just bought a set off eBay and now I'm starting to worry...

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  6. I'm pretty sure counterfeit brushes get made as well. The bristles will fall out quicker than legit ones.
    It doesn't necesarily mean yours will be fakes though :) I have a set and the bristles do fall out a bit but I've been told xmas sets aren't the same quality as regular stock. Mine are from the store so I know they're real, just kinda crappy on the shedding part :D

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  7. I love how some MAC listings are obviously fake, but then you have people that go to a lot of effort to produce fake Hello Kitty MAC or fake Nars O_O surely it would be less effort to just procure the real stuff and sell it

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