Counterfeit cosmetics

vac · ‎05-18-2013

I thought this was worth sharing from byrdie beauty:

Last month, Refinery 29 reported on something called the "gray market"—unauthorized retailers who sell (potentially fake) cosmetics we know and love. The makeup attracts consumers with prices falling far below normal retail. Price cuts sure sound great to us, in theory. But not at the risk of ending up with a less-than-genuine, expired, or simply unhygienic product. That sounds awful.

The most popular example is Costco, which, as R29 shared, was sued by Yves Saint Laurent and other brands for selling counterfeit merchandise. In a post titled "Think Twice Before You Buy These Beauty Products," R29 wrote, "We wrote a story titled '20 Surprising Beauty Buys You Can Find at Costco.' Soon after, we started receiving emails from brands we featured asking to be removed from the slideshow." Why? Costco isn't an authorized retailer, according to the brands. Yeah, it gets crazier. You can read the full story on the R29 site.

If you have a strong stomach, head on over to R29 for separate (but equally terrifying) video footage of a young lady who documented what she found inside a Beautyblender she purchased from an unauthorized retailer. Seriously, we couldn't even bring ourselves to repost it here. Shiver!

Listen, we're sure there are plenty of other stores (and websites) out there to avoid. Here's our rule of thumb: If a deal feels too good to be true, it probably is. You can reference our guide to cosmetic expiration dates if you are unsure of a product's shelf life. But we strongly recommend not cutting corners when it comes to shopping for new makeup. Forking over a few extra few dollars to a trusted source for that Beautyblender ($20) or YSL Touche ÉclatRock Resille Collector ($42) might save you a big headache in the long run. Because a cheap product that's expired or full of bugs isn't a deal, now is it?

Bella Carro · ‎10-01-2011

@vac good post. Cosmetics and personal care items manufactured by authentic companies go through a lot of testing before being released to market. While it may be simple for a clever knock off to replicate a formula they probably are not sending the product through any testing. I don't think I'd trust them to use the correct preservatives or amounts of preservative. Too much and the product will irritate. Too little and, well, yuk. Also, if they are not accountable to any testing how can you be sure of the other ingredients?

Other ingredients, in turn, get into issues of product performance. If your favorite brand of say cream uses a large amount of Shea or rice bran oil and the knock off uses instead a larger portion of say stearic acid you won't get the same performance. Of course, stearic is way cheaper than Shea butter. Or, maybe the knock off company had lots of coconut or peanut oil hanging around and someone has a nut allergy yet that ingredient is not listed? Some folks are so sensitive even using the same equipment not thoroughly cleaned will cause a reaction. I just can't imagine the manufacturing levels are quite as stringent.

Danielle46 · ‎12-26-2011

I always try to buy from authorized dealers and I totally understand why the buyer has to be careful but I'm finding it hard to believe that Costco would "purposely " sell counterfeit merchandise. Do we know if this is actually true? Another site you have to be careful with is Amazon. I have read reviews on certain high end salon formula hair care products that said it did not contain the real product. As you know, amazon has thousands of different sellers and we have no idea where something is actually coming from. I no longer will buy a beauty or hair products from them. Though I did buy a Kerastase intense hair conditioner from sleekhair.com and its definity the real thing because I compared to what I had at home (which I purchase directly from Kerastase) and it was exactly the same.

Jump4joy2 · ‎03-11-2010

@Danielle46 wrote:
I always try to buy from authorized dealers and I totally understand why the buyer has to be careful but I'm finding it hard to believe that Costco would "purposely " sell counterfeit merchandise. Do we know if this is actually true? Another site you have to be careful with is Amazon. I have read reviews on certain high end salon formula hair care products that said it did not contain the real product. As you know, amazon has thousands of different sellers and we have no idea where something is actually coming from. I no longer will buy a beauty or hair products from them. Though I did buy a Kerastase intense hair conditioner from sleekhair.com and its definity the real thing because I compared to what I had at home (which I purchase directly from Kerastase) and it was exactly the same.

I agree -- I don't think that Costco would knowingly sell counterfeit products. I have always been impressed with Costco -- their customer service and excellent return policy.

shoekitty · ‎03-10-2010

@Danielle46

I think there is a big difference between an authorized dealer and counterfeit merchandise in this case.

I don't think Costco would sell counterfeit merchandise.Knowingly, anyway. I bought Sisley from Costco years ago, and I did call them about it. Because the cost was almost less than half. That is a huge chunk of change, about 200 less! They said the product was absolutely first quality, from Sisley. But I failed to ask if they were authorized. Come to think of it, maybe not because Sisley usually sells only to 3 high end dept stores I know of. I do know the mark up is over 600% with commissions to their sales people included.

I do agree about counterfiet merchandise. I have received 2 Perricone products in the past from Amazon. The thing is, I was lucky I was a Perricone user already. If not, I would have failed to detect that the color and the smell were way off, and the consistancy was so different. I talked to Amazon, and the seller was banned, as they had other complaints. But like banned posters here on the boards..all they have to do is register with a new name from another IP address.

Many sellers scoop up old and dated product and sell it as new first quality.

Like handbags and such, I avoid anyone but a reputable seller. I agree authorized is the way to go.

TY · ‎03-10-2010

You are talking about two different things though: items that are gray market and items that are counterfeit or fake.

I've never seen high end department store brands of color cosmetics at Canadian Costco stores, they carry the Borghese line which is made for Costco.

I don't buy makeup off of the U.S. Amazon or the Canadian Amazon either so I could care less what they sell. Same with Ebay.

I buy skin care and makeup at Winners in Canada and also TJ Maxx and Marshall's in the U.S. (all 3 stores are owned by the same parent company) and I don't care if they are gray market or not. What I've noticed is that I've seen U.S. brands without the french language on the original packaging like Physicians Formula or Olay brands that were made for the overseas market like the E.U. or south east asia in the Canadian Winners stores.

BabyYoda · ‎03-09-2010

Just like designer handbags being counterfeit, now we are seeing more skincare and makeup brand names counterfeit out there. I saw counterfeit makeup at a flea market and perfume. I didn't buy any but you could see the names but the packaging was off. The prices were about 40% cheaper. I only shop where I know the retailer is well known.

tototwo · ‎03-09-2010

A few months ago, GMA did a story on counterfeit cosmetics being sold on Ebay and Amazon, among others. They purchased identical MAC cosmetics from a dept store and a few websites and had them all tested at a lab. Even tho the cosmetics purchased on websites had the same packaging, brushes, etc., the product inside was not the same as the one purchased at the dept store.

I quit buying my skin care and cosmetics from Ebay.

* A woman is like a tea bag. You can't tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water. *
- Eleanor Roosevelt

Mrsq2022 · ‎03-10-2010

@shoekitty wrote:
@Danielle46

I think there is a big difference between an authorized dealer and counterfeit merchandise in this case.

I don't think Costco would sell counterfeit merchandise.Knowingly, anyway. I bought Sisley from Costco years ago, and I did call them about it. Because the cost was almost less than half. That is a huge chunk of change, about 200 less! They said the product was absolutely first quality, from Sisley. But I failed to ask if they were authorized. Come to think of it, maybe not because Sisley usually sells only to 3 high end dept stores I know of. I do know the mark up is over 600% with commissions to their sales people included.

I do agree about counterfiet merchandise. I have received 2 Perricone products in the past from Amazon. The thing is, I was lucky I was a Perricone user already. If not, I would have failed to detect that the color and the smell were way off, and the consistancy was so different. I talked to Amazon, and the seller was banned, as they had other complaints. But like banned posters here on the boards..all they have to do is register with a new name from another IP address.

Many sellers scoop up old and dated product and sell it as new first quality.
Like handbags and such, I avoid anyone but a reputable seller. I agree authorized is the way to go.

I agree with you both about Costco and Amazon. The markup on cosmetics is one of the highest retail markups. So distributers like Quality King can buy the products at the lowest wholesale price availanle and resell to Costo, who doesn't markup the products nearly as much. I think the YSL suit was about repackaged (not counterfeit) Opium but YSL alleged that it was counterfeit? Or maybe Quality King got a batch of counterfeit...they normally don't deal in counterfeit goods but I suppose anyone can get duped if not buying direct.

HappyDaze · ‎06-13-2012

I know Costco would not risk selling fake products or purchasing products from some odd dealer (i.e. not directly from the manufacturer). I will still buy my cosemetics from them as they are good prices and good CS.

I remember when you weren't suppose to buy salon hair products from anyplace but authorized dealers which, of course, were salons, but now you can buy them everywhere, including Target, Fred Meyer, etc. Vets do the same thing with some of the stuff they sell, like supplements, shampoos, etc. You can get them online for sometimes half the price they charge but they try to tell you there is no guarantee they are the real thing. Well, I buy mine from places like Drs. Foster and Smith and have for many years now and I know they are the real deal.