What is a counterfeit product?
A counterfeit product either mimics certain characteristics of the original product, such as packaging, shape, or name, or replicates the entire base product, in which case it is called an "Illegal Identical Copy."
What are the most imitated products in the cosmetics industry?
Whether it's skincare, perfumes, or makeup, any product that achieves significant success with consumers is quickly imitated. Day creams, lipsticks, mascaras, foundations, eyeshadows, blushes, deodorants, perfumes, brushes—no product is safe from being copied.
Wake-up don’t fake up?:
An alert about counterfeit products was issued in England in May 2014 following an investigation by the PIPCU (Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit), during which a container carrying more than 4,700 counterfeit versions of MAC products was discovered. These included foundations, lipsticks, eyebrow pencils, bronzers, and eyeshadows.
Following this investigation, the alarm was raised about counterfeit products, which are increasingly present in the international market and on online sales platforms. Tests revealed the presence of questionable, even harmful, ingredients in the seized cosmetics, including arsenic, mercury, lead, and traces of rat excrement.
"Many people are unaware of the real dangers counterfeit beauty products pose to their health. Beauty products are meant to enhance your features, but counterfeits can have the opposite effect. That's why the 'Wake-up don’t fake up' campaign was launched to address this issue. Our general rule: if it seems too good to be true, it probably is!" said Commissioner Maria Woodall.
Are there economic consequences to using these products?
Counterfeiting gained significant momentum on the global market in the 1980s. The cause? Globalization and new trade exchanges between developing countries and the West. Today, counterfeiting affects every industry. Its annual turnover grew from $5.5 billion in 1982 to over $500 billion in 2005, which is 7% of global trade, and now accounts for more than 10% of the global perfumery and cosmetics market.
The first victim: LUXURY! The rise of this market over the past fifteen years has been accompanied by an explosion in counterfeiting, although it also increasingly affects mass-market products.
Are these products dangerous for our health?
Unregulated products made in unhygienic environments with highly questionable ingredients like arsenic, mercury, or lead are a dangerous cocktail, promising a variety of side effects. After thorough testing, health services have listed, in order of increasing severity, the effects of using such products, which can not only irritate the skin but also damage the user’s overall health.
Exposure to these components can lead to allergies of varying degrees of severity, bacterial infections, burns, various inflammations, the development or worsening of asthma, migraines, and in extreme cases, poisoning due to the penetration of toxic substances into the bloodstream. This is without even considering the potential risks of chronic health problems such as hypertension or infertility.
Original or fake—how can you tell?
In the world of counterfeiting, everything is designed to make counterfeit products pass off as branded goods. This makes spotting a fake extremely difficult, if not impossible, for the untrained eye. However, some details can help us detect counterfeits…
Price:
A MAC or Yves Saint Laurent product sold at one-sixth of its original price? You can be sure it's a counterfeit.
Point of sale (markets, shady websites):
Expensive products like Urban Decay, MAC, or Too Faced being sold at market stalls or on sketchy websites? Something is definitely off! These high-end brands have their own strict distribution channels and merchandising standards. It’s highly unlikely, if not impossible, to find them in places that don't meet these criteria.
Product presentation:
The general appearance and certain details such as the name, reference, finish, weight, or even the container of the product can often point to a counterfeit. From the packaging to the product itself, the details rarely lie. Additionally, many rights holders include holograms, control numbers, or other security measures on their products, which can help determine their authenticity. Some counterfeit product packaging rarely displays the manufacturer or importer’s address. Others even feature spelling mistakes, which should raise red flags!
Product quality:
Even if some packaging might be shockingly perfect in its reproduction, replicating the actual product is not as easy. Check online for swatches of the products you're interested in if you’ve never tested them before, and compare the product in-store during your purchase. Often, the color, texture, and finish of counterfeits differ from the original product.
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