Yuck Alert: FAKE MAC Lipstick!

 Last December I went to The Fort Bazaar at NBC Tent.

It was a really nice experience shopping there. There were a lot of stores... some were online stores that I've previously bought makeup from like Pretty Goddess which really sells authentic products!

One of my purchases from the bazaar was a MAC lipstick that I was meaning to give to my sister as a Christmas gift. Unfortunately, I bought a fake one.

Here's the story:

I am not really knowledgeable to every color available for MAC lipsticks. The ones that I know are the very popular ones. So when I was browsing the booth (unfortunately again, I wasn't able to check the name of the store) selling the MAC products (they also have Smashbox and Benefit), I really thought that those were real ones. They really looked authentic. Plus, when I was asking questions to the one in-charge of the booth, she really seemed knowledgeable about MAC items and that her items were bought from the US and reselling them. I was asking her for Ruby Woo or Russian Red because my sis wanted a good red lippie and she recommended me some more. But since I'm not quite satisfied of the red shades they have, I went with something Fuchsia since my sis likes that color too. I went with the most Fuchsia among the selections and bought it. The name of the shade I bought is Violetta. And I got it for Php720.00.

 When I got home to check about reviews on it, the color was very, very different. 

Such a shame. :(

I was really disappointed because my sister always gives me super nice makeup. This would have been the first time I got her something more expensive than NYX lipsticks (Well, that's all I can afford back then).

Some days ago, I read a blog post by Chriselle regarding Fake MAC Cosmetics and reminded me of this experience. It encouraged me to write about this and warn my readers regarding these stores that mislead people on thinking that they are selling authentic products.

 So here's the lipstick I bought. Really looks like the real thing right? Even the other products like the Studio Fix Powder foundations and the Benefit and Smashbox Items look super like the real thing!

(left is the original, right is fake)

But when you look closely, it also has the same shimmer on the package except that the fake one has more shimmers. And the brand logo of the fake one easily comes off.

 If you put them side by side, the fake one is bigger.

 I only have 2 authentic MAC lippies right now-- Purple Rite and Most Popular (My sis has more). 

Anyway, the fake one has a bigger diameter. It also has a different font on the labels written in a circular way. And it has the brand logo on top of the shade's name which is not existing in the original 2 i got.

And on the color, there's a very huge difference as well. 

Here are the comparison between the real Violetta and the fake one I bought:

 Real

 Fake

And here's the swatch on skin:

 Real

 Fake

 and on the lips:

Real

Fake

*All pictures of the Original MAC Violetta are from www.temptalia.com.(Thank you!)

As you can see, the real Violetta has a very violet/purple shade while the one I got is very fuchsia.

The shade is nowhere near the real thing. And the scent is different. It doesn't have the Vanilla scent that is present in MAC lipsticks. :(

It's too bad my cell phone doesn't have internet access. I would have researched about it first before buying it. And to get a fake one and bought it for Php720.00 is a big 'ouch.'

I was embarrassed to give it to my sister but my sis said it was fine... although she traded it with some of the NYX Black Label Lipsticks I bought. Haha. :P

I learned a lot from this experience. This is my first time and hopefully last. I do hope this won't happen to any of you and this post can serve as a warning against those who sell fake products. Who knows what ingredients they put in it. Be careful of these sellers.

Cheers,

DAWN