Identifying fake MAC Pigments ***Guide with photos***

[1165Cheryl]

I purposly got 2 full jar's, on the blue the color looked fine but the "white" doesnt at all, the texture & color were real off, it was real pearly like white gold. Also, the box was upside down, the way Mac makes the bottoms of the box is how the tops were . I've been buying again to catch fakes when I can get a good price. Since I get 99% of mine direct it's easy to compare but the fake's are getting much better then they were a year ago which is pretty scary.

 

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DEEP BLUE GREEN (FAKE) & TAN (?)

 

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Quote:

Originally Posted by panda0410 LOL! I wonder if she can find that receipt now? The teal is a dead giveaway! The Cornflower - not sure? It should have a red duochrome so it gives the pigment a violet type shimmer under light - MAC describes it as a "Blue Shimmer with Violet Pearl", I saw it in my own pigment, but in these pics I dont see it in either of them actually, The inconsistency in the texture of the pigment I do see though

The piggy from the Ebay seller has more red than the sample sent by Mac Pro.
Here I swatch a bit on a card and held it just the right way over the light so you can see the nuances ...

 

[panda0410]

Thanks for that!!! LOL - now you know it could be fake - its MORE red than the MAC Pro sample.... lolol!!

Your paper swatch of the MAC Pro sample looks just like mine, its more of a subtle violet pearl than bright purple/pink tone.

 

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I will take pictures outside, it's the best way. I'm getting a headache

The cornflower may be original, not sure. The Mac Pro has more of a purple undertone and the Ebay has more of a red .. I'm no expert ...
both have pearl, I need to take shots outside.

 

[BeautyPsycho]

Red, I would say Tan is fake as well... in your swatches it looks metallic (just like my fake Tan below) but it shouldn't be...
So, here's my fake buddy

Teal is real (maccosmetics.com) Tan is NOT! (I just need someone else confirm this for me so I'm 100000% sure, please)... I noticed it right away, but when I took pics, I saw a lot more things... Here you go...

All clickable (Because some of them are not sized by forum rules...I wanted them bigger so you can see differences)


























Oh, and btw it's not just "e" thats bold on real pig.- its everything!

 

[panda0410]

Thanks for this!! These swatches make me think of the cornflower above - both of them (tan & cornflower) are close, very close in fact, to swatch. I still think the above cornflower is a fake - that very obvious purple tone is too much, while the pigment is SUPPOSED to have a red base (thats what makes it have that violet shimmer), it shouldnt be so obvious.

 

[Xqueeze_me]

Hahhaha!

They even tried to forge the stamped batch code. What retards! :/

I love how you labelled some of the pics, BeautyPsycho! They are true and it makes me laugh!

 

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Thanks BeautyPsycho, Diorissima's TAN has all the characteristics of yours, DOWN TO THAT PETROLEUM ODOR

Its A46, same color, same texture, bar code numbers are identical, and so on.
I didn't smell it until this morning, that is proof enough for me.

A big hug to you smaaaaaaaaaaack

 

[BeautyPsycho]

Yeah, the box stinks as well! I gave my mom "Teal" to smell it.. she had to inhale really deep in order to notice anything, but when I gave her this fake "Tan"- she didn't even need to bring it to her nose in order to smell it!
Btw. Seller is- jm_beautique and I e-mailed her saying I'm positive her pigment is fake, she said she would refund my money, just send it back... However, she assured me her supplier is honest and whatnot... I wanna believe she's not lying, maybe she's deceived... Whatever the truth is, I'll get my $ back, and that's it for me... no more e-bay and pigments

 

[wolfsong]

You'd think with their faked-oh-so-well 'pigments' they would at least remember to make different bar code numbers. I mean how hard can it be to make them different? Fuckwits...

 

[BeautyPsycho]

Oh.. btw what do I do? Just mail it back? Do I leave her feedback or anything?

 

[panda0410]

mail them back registered or something so you have a tracking number and can PROOVE they were sent. Tell her to refund you for the return postage, she wants them back so why the hell should you pay twice..... dont leave her any feedback until you get the refund in your hot little hands and open a dispute with paypal just to be safe - tell her you are doing it though.

 

[1165Cheryl]

Has anyone been getting fake pigment where the top of the box fold is different along with the box falling apart?

 

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Back to the Cornflower. It won't get the best of me

Very difficult to show a good swatch, I've tried -- but the difference is there and how ... this has got to be the best fake I've ever seen on Specktra.
Unless you swatch both side by side, you wouldn't know at all.
Probably the seller doesn't even know it, she's a decent person. But she also sold the Teal, and that's a real fake if I ever saw one.
More photos.







this is the only swatch that shows the difference in the duochrome, Mac is on top. Panda you're right, its a complex color ;-) Unfortunately, in the photo you can't notice the duochrome of the Mac, but its real pretty :-D

 

[panda0410]

Thats what I was wondering - I know there is a red base to cornflower because I've had it - its a beautiful blue with violet type shimmer but in the pics you cant see that

So hard to tell from pictures in many cases, but the full sized one you have there has more red than I would have expected when you swatch it on the paper compared to the MAC sample which is what mine looked like. The other thing I dont like about the full sized one you have there is the texture - I dont recall my Cornflower having the balls in the jar - it was finely milled....

 

[wolfsong]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1165Cheryl Has anyone been getting fake pigment where the top of the box fold is different along with the box falling apart?

The 'upside down' boxes seem to be one of the only ways to tell that some of these fakes are counterfeit in photos.
There are pictures of these in the following threads (someone mentioned the falling apart boxes in a post too - though i cant remember where):

http://specktra.net/f257/fake-pigmen...tmustgo-93274/

http://specktra.net/f257/updated-fak...56/index2.html

 

[julie150463]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wolfsong The 'upside down' boxes seem to be one of the only ways to tell that some of these fakes are counterfeit in photos. There are pictures of these in the following threads (someone mentioned the falling apart boxes in a post too - though i cant remember where): http://specktra.net/f257/fake-pigmen...tmustgo-93274/ http://specktra.net/f257/updated-fak...56/index2.html

As it happens - here we go. A white pigment boxed I received on Monday

 

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the White box has the "upside Mac box" we're beginning to see in the fakes

 

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Ok, I'm done here. Is it possible, for arguments sake, that the difference in the Cornflower is do only because you can't replicate exactly 100% each batch? Just to give the seller the benefit of the doubt?
Ok, I just took these pics outside, froze my butt off in the process

what we won't do for Mac

the sample is bluer .. this shows clearly.
You can't get the photo 100% exact, but I can show that there's a difference.