Fake / Duplicate MAC Products – Beware!!

Beware of DUPLICATE Cosmetics Products

Hi Gals,

This is going to be an interesting topic. I don’t know how many of you are aware and have actually experienced the Duplicate Cosmetics products. Honestly I was not aware that the fake products of the big brands available in market, till the time I got very informative mail from my yahoo group. I am member of one of the yahoo group where all member share very nice, informative mails within the group. So one day I got mail from my group saying that “Fake cosmetics products available in market”.. the subject itself was very shocking that I just couldn’t stop myself.. Through mail I came to know that there are duplicate products available in market for the big brands in cheap price.. was definitely shock as I had never come across such fact or situation coz I always buy my cosmetics stuff from Shoppers Stop, Beauty Shop, Life Style, Inorbit… so no need to worry about duplicate products…

But still it was in my mind that is it really true… so I decided to search for such products.. definitely I was not supposed to get any duplicate products in any big malls… so I thought to check in small shops around the kandivali and Borivali markets.. the main challenge for me was How I will find that the product is duplicate.. what are the signs.. but fortunately I need not think more on that coz I went to one shop at borivali (will not disclose the name), it was ok-ok shop.. I mean not very big and not very small.. I went inside and was just looking at the cosmetics products.. and BINGO.. there I found products from MAC… it was first shock coz till I know MAC products are only available in 4-5 stores in Mumbai… I asked him to show me MAC products.. they had everything eye shadow, eye liner, pencil liner, base, gloss from MAC.. there was dis shadow palette.. I asked the price and got second shock: IT IS OF ONLY ONLY ONLY Rs. 275.. have you ever heard MAC 6 shadow palette just in 275.. huh..

Unfortunately I couldn’t took the picture of the stock they have for MAC.. but I tried to get info on why they selling MAC products at very cheap rates.. there were 2 males and 1 female sales executive and to my good luck the owner of the shop was not there.. so I tried to became more friendly with the girl to get the info on the products.. she said its duplicate.. to communicate more I showed surprise to them that I am not aware of such thing.. and the poor girl said arey ma’am har products ka duplicate milta he.. we were talking more on that and mean while the other 2 SE also jumped in our conversation..

I said y u selling duplicates it may be harmful to skin, do you knw what ingredients it have… one of the SE was very smart and he replied “arey nahi ma’am ye duplicates nahi, ye to custom me se nikala he is liye cheap me bech rahe he”.. so I understood dat its duplicate but this guys will absolutely not reveal the truth.. and I bought this palette to do more research and left that shop…

Here is 3rd shock what I got… after coming home with duplicate shadow palette, I went to MAC site to check this product so that I can find the difference.. and I got BIG SHOCK.. they don’t have any such product…

Images of the Duplicate shadow palette…

This MAC eye shadow palette which I bought Rs. 275… shocked na…

Fake MAC
Fake MAC

The cover (box) image.. just closely look to the circled area..

Below is the correct logo of MAC.. if you compare both the logos you will not find any difference.

Mac
Mac

And here is the photo of palette

Fake MAC
Fake MAC

This image is of shadow palette… and if you closely look at the circled area you will find the difference between the real logo and this duplicate logo..

The eye shadow

Fake MAC
Fake MAC
Fake MAC
Fake MAC

Conclusion: PLEASE DON’T BUY ANY COSMETIC STUFF FROM LOCAL SHOP AND ONLY BUY IT FROM THE MALLS AND COMPANY RECOGNISED SHOP…

IMBB RECOMMENDS

55 thoughts on “Fake / Duplicate MAC Products – Beware!!

  1. LOL…So true Ami. Me, Rati n Ki just spotted such stuff the other day. And unfortunately there are lots of shops selling these in Kerala as well as Bangalore too..sigh

    Guess its high time consumers are aware of these products and keep away from them

    1. yeah poornima, it’s quit a common thing here but didn’t realize that the logos were different.

      I wonder why no action is being taken against such frauds… ?:-)

    2. Yup Rati n Ki…very very serious issue.But I guess the companies can also not do anything about it. In countries like Singapore and Hongkong, there are actual factory rejects being sold for dirt cheap price. So in effect, there is absolutely nothing anybody can do about it. The roots are deep

  2. Heyy Ami….I have seen a similar thing too…soem time back a friend of mine happily told me that I got a MAC eye liner for only 200 Rs. at some local store in Goregaon….my instant reply was its fake…the shopkeeper had told her that they get the stock directly etc…all golis….I told her if MAC pencils are soo cheap, i will only buy MAC henceforth 😛

    I took her with me to the MAC store to confirm and as I hd expected they dont even have such a product !!

  3. Hey Ami…thanks I never had a clue that someone could copy MAC… :-(( :-(( and that too with such precision……I had bought duplicate VOV nail enamels but i found that they were duplicate but sold at the same price as the original….that is CHEATING…….

      1. Hey HD…I am here…..I just peed and had a look….. :female: :female: :female: :female: whether everything was okay LIKE YOU DO :silly: :silly: :silly: :silly: :silly: :silly:

  4. ohh you do get lots for these fake branded bags…the shopkeepers get it from bangkok…

    I am totally with you on fake cosmetics Rads but I wouldnt mind buying a fake brnded bag for the design…I knw I wouldnt be able to afford the original one and if the fake one is economical enuf I may buy it…I knw the quality wud be that ways too but its fine w me…I anyways buy bags etc from bandra linking road which is famous of it…specially if I want it in varying colors…i prefer buying non-branded stuff since I wud spend less and wud get to buy more….but thats just my opinion 🙂

  5. ha ha!! ya thats dumb!!! I would buy it only for the design/color/style etc…so yes if I get something similar in Indian brand I wud def pick that up!!!

    I soo wanna go to bangkok/china for shpng!!!

  6. so true !!! i also came across MAC hello kitty black gel liner … it was for 200 bucks .. instantly thought “must be fake” … lol i hv also come across fake VOV stuff… we roam around in vile parle market a lot .. get to see so many fake prodcts and people buyin them too . . .!!!! :struggle:

  7. I never use anything fake. :smug: :smug: :smug: :smug: :smug: :smug: :smug: …Rads is a FAkemati :heh: :heh: :heh: :heh: :heh: :heh: :heh:

  8. :heh: :heh: :heh: :heh: Hope Rads has found a cure for her psoriasis……. :snicker: :snicker: :snicker: :snicker: …..somebody went all the way to Beijing to get a fake Puma……. :smug: :smug: :smug: :smug: :smug:

  9. I guess, the only solution wd b nt to buy these products at a lesser price, coz if we stop buying then they hv to stop producing.
    Ppl buy these products that is d reason they r flooding d market with these fake products.

    I had just started surfing IMBB n had been to a shop in Bhubaneswar (where i belong to) n they had MAC cosmetics, they showed me an eye shadow palette for Rs. 325/-. I did’nt buy it. Initially i was like MAC products in BBSR?? Was very happy too, bt had seen d prices on this site n was like Eek! after hearing the price.

    P.S. Rati pls delete d previous post with my real name.

  10. I saw some of these at something called the U.S. dollar store and immediately got excited. I didn’t buy any though, cause besides the ethical qualms I was more scared of the havoc these would wreak on my precious eyelids. I love the detective work you did!
    Great post 🙂

  11. i’ve seen so much fake mac! even before the real deal came to india, i could see it being sold in shops. the best way to avoid picking up fakes is to buy makeup directly from the concerned stores. some fake items are so scarily close to the original that even seasoned buyers cannot make out the difference!
    there are fake items from “channel”, mufe, bobbi brown etc too!

  12. I also saw some fake MAC products here in pune at shops in clover centre (rati u are here so maybe u can also visit and see) the other day but i instantly thought why will they sell MAC at such cheap cost might be something fishy and anyways if i want something MAC i’ll go to their main outlet and buy from there it’ll be more authentic and good quality. I wonder how ppl. who buy fake makeup don’t get any allergies or anything or maybe they get?

  13. Hi All,

    M so sorry for late reply….. was lost in work…
    thanks a lot to all of you…
    my objective was to create the awareness that fake products are there in market and how you can identify them… obviouls the price difference is the very first point but apart from that you can check logo and such things so that you can stay away from such things…
    i agree that the what that shop is doing is wrong but still i liked there one things is that.. yaar they could have charged 900-1000 for this palette, and giral who are not aware about all these would have paid that much money.. 1000 rs for mac fake shadow… but he didnt do it and he kept the price only for 275… i dont why he is doing that…
    still confused 😕 😕 😕 😕 😕 and 😯 😯 😯 😯 😯 😯 😯

    1. Ami,

      A small shop keeper knows that if he sells something worth 1000 bucks no one would purchase anything from him. People would purchase from the store instead. And who knows his profit margin must be quite high in Rs 275 as well… ?:-)

      1. Or perhaps his clientèle is people that want to buy a “cheaper MAC”
        Is it plausible that much like luxury accessories, people view high-end makeup brands as status symbols and want to purchase them not for the performance, but just for the name?
        I see it happen all the time here, when people buy fake stuff on ebay, especially makeup brushes.

  14. Hey everyone 😀

    You also get a lot of FAKE VOV PRODUCTS

    The original “VOV” is a korean brand i guess and it’s amazing!!!! I have a few “ORIGINAL” nail paints.But the fake ones are extremely bad !!! 😐

    So make sure there is sticker or something that says “made in korea”
    Don’t get the “made in germany” or “India” one.
    The packaging itself will help you find out 🙂

  15. hi all, you know what there are many mac prods which are sold online on some chinese website.. they say that the product is of high quality but not original and also one cannot makeout whether its original or duplicate… any idea about these products???

  16. huh,even i have seen some fake MAC eye pencils on kolkata footpaths and in some local shops for years. eye pencils cost about Rs. 20 per pc. he he. i purchased one when i was in college.i was a make-up virgin and didnt even know such a brand really existed. i hav seen fake vov products too.they are mainly sold at new market and hatibagan area. 😛

    hey Ratidi(u r way too senior than me), i LOVE this blog.its really really helpful for a beginner like me. can u pleeeeeease suggest me some eye shadow palette ( not too expensive,< rs. 500) with pink, mauve, turquoise blue colors? i am really dying to buy these colors,bt hav never found one. 😥

  17. Well, I saw fake MAC at a stall in night market in Penang, Malaysia. Haven’t found one in Jakarta.
    Please beware also people selling on websites offering you wholesale, such as MAC, Benefit, etc. I tried to find the information about the quality of the product in the websites, but didn’t find any. One thing that made me suspicious is the low price they offer for a package of lots of stuffs.
    Just search on internet…..

  18. HI! Thanks a lot for your blog, such an informative one. I am from the Philippines and I saw one of those eye shadow Palette selling here at the office. I have a gut feeling that it was really fake since it does not have any counterpart at any MAC store. Such a relief to raed this blog. Now I know that I really need to be aware. And this is very alarming! Thanks! :yes:

  19. Hi Ami,
    Nice post. Even I have come across Mac products in Borivali. I also came across a 98 eyeshadow palette from VOV which is sold at different rates at different shops.
    I guess its fake bcoz the packaging has no details of where it is made.
    Would you disclose the name of the shop so that I wouldn’t go to it 🙂
    Plz could anyone suggest an eyeshadow palette with a variety of colours?
    And 1 more thing is The beauty shop Kandivali, a safe place to shop?
    Thanks 😀

  20. Hey

    I have seen fake VOV, L’Oreal, Maybelline(Maybeliner)lol, MAC

    I tried a couple of fake MAC eye shadows- and they are pretty good

    most of the ingredients are the same

    the cost price of these are pretty much the same as that of the real deal

    the brand just makes more money with their sales

    :dazed:

  21. I have also seen fake mac foundation at one of the shop in Dehradun. When i came to know about its price i was shocked bcoz it was priced @150.

    Then i thoroughly checked the packaging, it was made in South Korea. I think these fake products are available all over the world at very cheap prices.

    We should buy cosmetics products from branded stores/ malls only.

  22. Recently my friend n I were shopping in gk 1 market, Delhi… We stopped at an open stall which sells hair clips etc there we spotted these makeup products too… N they had single eye shadows which had same packaging as original mac. The price was 175 bucks n im sure after bargaining he would’ve sold it at like maybe 130-150 …. They even had mac eye pencils for as low as 100INR !!!! I was shocked. I’ve been wanting the mac feline since so long but I don’t buy it coz of the price n here they’re selling mac eye pencils for 100!! N people must b buying them that’s y they have so much in stock!! Fake products of good brands shouldn’t be encouraged!!

  23. I just saw the differences of the fake MAC Logo. But what i think its understood that MAC Product original only avialable worldwide on the MAC Counter, Plus the prices are hight than fake chinese MAC product. so its very easy to find the price differences of MAC original and fake. always buy branded product from their sales counter. i hope this will help U those U are using MAC Product.
    with love.
    Mumtaz

  24. Even i have seen the duplicates in Bangalore also , once me and my friend went to a local shop and saw these MAC dupes i told my friend these are dupes and mac will never sell for these rates ,the shopkeeper heard that and said me “Madamji woh log AC lagake shops mein bade price tag lagake bechthe hein ,yaha hum toh asli daam lagake bechthe hein, dono ekee chees hein . i really got surprised by his explanation .

Leave a Reply to Anonymous Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *