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

Cupquake03

Well-known member
I'm so glad I found this thread! Such helpful information... I'm not big on ordering stuff online but this will be a great help if I ever do! Thanks for the info!
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GGBlu

Well-known member
Ladies, I have a question for you regarding a possible swap on MUA. There is a member who has on their swap list Turquoise pigment, Royal Blue pigment, and Light Blue pigment and is willing to swap for my Stereo Rose MSF, Jealousy Wakes e/s and Vintage Grape blush ombre. This swapper has no feedback as of yet and, other than these 3 pigments, doesn't have anything particularly rare on their swap list. I am quite hesitant about trusting this person right now. I want these colors (what collector wouldn't?!?!) but my gut is telling me to back off, especially since they claim all three have been barely used.

I sent a message requesting some type of proof of authenticity but I'm not really sure what I can expect here since these colors are so old. I'm OCD about things myself but I certainly don't have receipts for items I bought years ago. I'd obviously expect this member to ship first since I have more tokens, but even if the pigments showed up, I'd have little way of telling whether or not they are fake short of taking pictures of swatches for posting here. Can anyone give me sample batch codes to look out for? And how many of you are thinking right now that I should run FAST in the other direction, clenching my authentic items to my chest as I go? LOL

And if the swapper is here and reads this, PLEASE don't take offense.

Thanks!
 

m0rg3nst3rn

Well-known member
I say trust your gut. Wait and se if maybe they get some feedback or something.
I was in the same situation and turns out the person was a swaplifter, all of a sudden she got a flood of negative feedback within two days and she had done it to a host of people. I am so paranoid now and I wait until they have some type of feedback under their belt. She was lying to me for a week and being so nice until that happened. Just be careful and trust your gut, if you feel like something may be wrong, then trust in yourself over your desire to have them and just wait a bit. I figure you'd be pretty pissed if you received fakes or something.
 

GGBlu

Well-known member
I say trust your gut. Wait and se if maybe they get some feedback or something.
I was in the same situation and turns out the person was a swaplifter, all of a sudden she got a flood of negative feedback within two days and she had done it to a host of people. I am so paranoid now and I wait until they have some type of feedback under their belt. She was lying to me for a week and being so nice until that happened. Just be careful and trust your gut, if you feel like something may be wrong, then trust in yourself over your desire to have them and just wait a bit. I figure you'd be pretty pissed if you received fakes or something.
I know you're right and I know if my gut is telling me something just isn't right, then I should believe that. But at the end of the day, I'd love to get my hands on these pigments. I'll wait a bit, see if this person answers me about my concerns and, if so, what the response is. If it's anger that I'm questioning the legitimacy of the items, then I'm definitely putting an end to the conversation. But maybe this person will surprise me and these will turn out to be authentic - in which case SCORE, because I've really been looking for these for a long while.

Thanks for the advice.

Can anyone help with the batch codes?
 

Dizzyray822

Well-known member
Just noticed this sticky up here and thought my previous post should have gone here so I copied my post......

Hi.....I bought this on eBay.....I NEVER buy pigments but wanted this so bad and it sounded good. Its supposed to be Goldenaire pigment from the 2006 Lingerie collection. It looks and like all my other piggies except the writing on the back of the pigment bottle. All of the writing on my pigments (which are from about 2007 and later so I dont know if they ever looked different) it justified to the left but this is centered.....here are pics....what do you think? Was Goldenaire like this??





 

rockin

Well-known member
I have Night Light and Apricot Pink in front of me, both 2006, and both have centred text like your Goldenaire
 

Dizzyray822

Well-known member
[quote name="rockin" url="/forum/thread/69309/identifying-fake-mac-pigments-guide-with-photos/660#post_2146391"]I have Night Light and Apricot Pink in front of me, both 2006, and both have centred text like your Goldenaire
[/quote] Thank you. Also, if you dont mind, are the little batch numbers on the color label indented like the newer ones or are they just printed on there?
 

MichaelaLou

Well-known member
Im just getting interested in pigments (i dont own any yet) and was looking on ebay for some, so this is really helpful, thanks :)
 

quidproquo

Well-known member
I bought a fake pigment from eBay --- the insert under the lid gave it away. That, and the sticker on the box and half of the fonts looked "off".
 

quidproquo

Well-known member
Does anyone know if the fake pigments are safe to use? I mean, there's no way of knowing where they came from and what's actually in them.
I stupidly bought two fakers from eBay and they could possibly pass for a nice blush, but I'm afraid I'll burn a hole in my cheek if I try. lol
 

cloudsweare

Well-known member
I have a fake Clear Sky Blue.

At least I think it's fake. Well....I'm pretty sure. It smells weird and makes my eyes hurt when I do try to use it. The batch code is AC3. So, not sure if it's fake or just old.

But, does anyone know if the fakes have "coltaner III" on the inside bottom too. Because, mine does...and that's the only indication I have that it may be real.

quidproquo. I wouldn't use those fakes. I wore mine one time...and I had red puffy eyes all day. It was so gross. :(
 

rockin

Well-known member
I have a fake Clear Sky Blue.

At least I think it's fake. Well....I'm pretty sure. It smells weird and makes my eyes hurt when I do try to use it. The batch code is AC3. So, not sure if it's fake or just old.

But, does anyone know if the fakes have "coltaner III" on the inside bottom too. Because, mine does...and that's the only indication I have that it may be real.

quidproquo. I wouldn't use those fakes. I wore mine one time...and I had red puffy eyes all day. It was so gross. :(
The fakes do have Coltainer III on them as well. The font is slightly different, though - the III is bigger on one and smaller on the other if you compare them closely, but I can't remember which is which. AC3 would be from the first batch made in December 2003, so 9 years old.
 

rockin

Well-known member
Does anyone know if the fake pigments are safe to use? I mean, there's no way of knowing where they came from and what's actually in them.
I stupidly bought two fakers from eBay and they could possibly pass for a nice blush, but I'm afraid I'll burn a hole in my cheek if I try. lol
I definitely wouldn't risk using fake pigments. Like you say, you don't know what's in them, and they could harm your skin or even your eyes.
 

Ambre Tucker

Well-known member
The first time I had ever given a thought to buying a pigmemt I bought it on eBay and ask beforehand if it was authentic she assured me it came directly from a store and it wasn't her taste. Cool no problem got it and it didn't look or feel like anything I've ever gotten from mac so I took it to the store and it was a fake I started a dispute the lady apologized and said keep it now I have something ill never use yay
 

nmurray880

Well-known member
I've always heard the fake pigments have a smell to them...but my pigments I've bought directly from Mac have a scent to them to I've noticed. Can someone describe to me what the scent is in some way? Lol kinda an odd request but seriously my authentic ones kinda have an odd smell...Soooo can some one help me out? :) thanks
 

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