Y’all, fake beauty products are EVERYWHERE on the internet and it’s kinda grossing my out. Just take a quick read through this article or this one and you’ll see where tests are showing all sorts of lead and crazy chemicals coming from counterfeit cosmetics from China. Of course, LipSense isn’t immune from these scammers looking to make a quick buck from the great brand image LipSense has built up!
So how do you protect yourself as a consumer, spot it when you see it, and what can be done about it? I’m breaking it all down in my latest YouTube video below.
https://youtu.be/xQ9OsoudDp0
As we talk about in the video, there are a few common signs of a fake:
1 // The tube is missing easily overlooked, but required markings. The batch number is the most common exclusion.
2 // The font varies slightly on the label and may appear unclear.
3 // The product doesn’t look like the expected color, or has a different consistency, when applied to paper, a mirror, or a plastic transparency. Some tubes even smell sweet like they’ve been flavored with something.
Watched the video and want to see what we’re talking about up-close? Take a look at the tubes below. Can you spot the fake?
This first one’s a bit of a gimme if you watched the video and know why one of these labels is crumpled… but look at the font close-up. Can you spot the difference?
The companies producing these fakes do their best to mimic the real deal. You won’t find many typos – but this one still has a small error in it!
All SeneGence products have a batch number somewhere on them for quality control purposes. So what must it mean when that number is missing?
The tubes look virtually identical here – It’s easy to see why many people assume it’s the real deal!
One color is just a little bit off – but we’ve seen variance in authentic products. The only way to really tell if they’re different colors is to put them on. I do not suggest you try a product you think is fake. The risk is not worth it!
When you open the tube, you may also notice a small difference in the stopper size. It’s virtually indistinguishable without a fake tube and real tube next to each other.
On this fake, there was definitely a quality difference in the applicator. Which one looks more like a $25 product to you?
And lastly, we come to the color match itself. Again, do not try anything you think may be fake on your skin!!! The best place to test a color is on a clear plastic sheet (I use transparencies), a mirror, or thick makeup blending paper; regular paper will work in a pinch, but will absorb some of the liquid which may make a close match more difficult.
Have you come across fake LipSense? How could you tell?
If you think you’ve come across fake LipSense but aren’t 100% sure, email me and I’ll look into it for you!
Curious if this video was approved by SeneGence?
As a distributor of LipSense for almost 5 years, the company during their growth used several off site companies to fulfill containers. Labeling was different depending on location that processed. I had customers questioning all the time why this tube is different from the last tube? If I’m not mistaken the coding is relatively new.
That’s why I intentionally purchased the fake from China – that way, I could confirm it was counterfeit, and not something from one of the third-parties that produced for SeneGence. This tube smells sweet like candy, has a typo in the website, the font on the label isn’t sharp (almost fuzzy), has no batch numbers (and all of mine from the last few years have it), and is a totally different consistency and color than all of the authentic Napa tubes we tested it against.
And you’re absolutely right – there was some variance in the cap size and locations listed on the labels based on which third-party was producing, and some color variance due to changes in pigment availability. The advice I would give anyone is if you’re not sure whether it’s authentic, it’s so easy to just ask whomever you bought it from and avoid buying off Amazon, eBay, and buy/sell/trade groups from people “liquidating” their stock
What about the shadowscence, my seller said she located some stuff no longer available, one was a mystic moss shadowsence which I recently purchased The label on the bottom is actually hand made, in pen, I thought it was because the original was damaged. Underneath in black it says 36998, E282S. There is no number or anything, where yours says Lbwo7.
Hi Teresa, all products have different date codes so I’m not surprised your Shadow has all numbers. Those stickers fall off constantly so also no major red flags there. I haven’t seen counterfeit ShadowSense but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist! A few things I would look for: 1. Was the seal broken? If so, don’t use it. Mystic Moss was discontinued over a year ago so the last thing you’d want is to use someone’s old used product! 2. Is the distributor still active? If you have any issues with the product, an active distributor will take it back.
Generally, I advise against buying “unicorn” discontinued colors unless they’ve been discontinued in the last year or two. Makeup has a shelf life and while Senegence products are good for a few years, you wouldn’t want to buy something much older than that. Even on daily use the products last a while!