Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Urban Decay Naked Palette: Real vs. Fake

When Marianne told me she'd bought the Urban Decay Naked2 palette 60% off on a flash sale site*, I was excited for her. That was a DEAL, especially considering how often sites like Ulta list Urban Decay as an excluded brand when it comes for code. (You can still use sites like Ebates, though, and get cash back. Sephora is currently offering 8% back on eBates purchases.)

When Marianne's palette arrived, she mentioned that the mirror was loose and kind of wonky. I was concerned, but didn't think much about it until another friend (who'd also bought the discounted version) mentioned that she suspected they'd been sent a fake version. FAKE. MAKEUP. Yes, this exists. Pretty much any popular product is faked these days and makeup is one of them. This is just crazy to me, but it happens. 

So, when I visited Marianne in Knoxville last weekend I brought my palette with me so we could compare them. First, a side-by-side:

Real on the top, counterfeit on the bottom

 
You can see that they're slightly different colors and the font is a little different. But not much! The biggest tell was weight: 

I'm heavy! And real.
Wussy lightweight fake.

The real palette is slightly bigger and much heavier and more substantial. The brush was also different. The real one was longer, both the bristles and the handle. And, you can see in that the font on the colors is a bit different:

Real brush, left. Fake brush right. 

 At first glance the colors looked pretty similar: 

Real on top, fake on bottom.

But in the fake version the pans are only half-full (which I found very offensive. Those cheap bastards!)


And the texture is different. Marianne said that the shadows in my version were softer:



The overall construction of the fake was shoddy. The mirror in the fake is thin and warped and the palette itself is badly made: 
Real on top, fake on bottom. 
Oh! And finally, the real deal should come packaged with a mini lip gloss, like this:


If it doesn't you've probably bought a fake. The best way to avoid buying fake makeup is to avoid buying it on places like eBay, or on any site offering it deeply discounted. Also, if you buy on Amazon, make sure the seller is Urban Decay or Sephora. Not to say that some of the other Amazon sellers aren't selling the real deal, but some aren't. Basically, if the price seems too good to be true, it probably is. 

Marianne is (obviously) sending hers back, even though she said the shadows were pretty good, because with counterfeit products you have no idea what's actually in them. If a company is shady enough to produce a counterfeit, they're shady enough to use cheap/harmful ingredients in the actual product. (Don't go putting lead in your eyes, is all I'm saying.)

So, what do you guys think? Have you ever bought a product that was fake? 


*Marianne bought the counterfeit through a site called Sharing Spree, who works with outside vendors. They have offered her a full refund. 

42 comments:

  1. I think I tried to buy a fake Naked palette off of ebay a couple of months ago. I say "think," because the price was just really too good to be true, and the seller was in Belgium. Sketchy, I know.

    I waited about two months for my purchase to arrive (I read on various websites that shipping from Belgium could take up to ten weeks), but when I one day randomly checked the seller's info only to discover that he/she was no longer a registered ebay member, I immediately filed a case and was refunded my money. Waaa Waaaa- no fake UD for me.

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  2. I once unwittingly bought some fake benefit concealer from ebay. It had such a dreadful smell, I could tell it was fake as soon as I opened the compact. it went straight into the trash. Lesson learned.

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  3. wow, thanks for the post. I never knew fake cosmetics exist. Well, I know there are counterfeits but thought they were limited to designer's purses. I buy cosmetics from ebay quite often. Now I have to be more careful.

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  4. I never knew fake ones existed either. Thanks for the information!

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  5. Who knew??? Pretty impressive knockoff, considering. At least to the naked eye (har har har ...)

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  6. It is a good fake, until you see the real thing. The real shadows are much more highly pigmented, a little goes a long way.

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  7. How lame. I am always nervous about buying beauty/personal products from third parties because of this very thing. It's like Canal St -- the perfumes and such are so tempting until you stop to think about it for too long. I get the passion of chasing a deal though. Glad they gave Marianne a full refund! Think they contacted other buyers? Prolly not.

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  8. Whoa! That is ridiculous! So glad you're getting a refund.
    I once ordered a large set of make-up brushes off eBay and they arrived with MAC logos on them. SO obviously fake but I didn't really care. They did the job and weren't advertised as MAC but the seller ended up disappearing on eBay and I got a notification that I may have been sold counterfeit goods.
    Damn shame people are getting away with this crap.

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  9. If you're on a budget and considering either the Urban Decay Naked or Naked 2 palettes, I would strongly suggest buying wholesale. With all the counterfeits floating around, it's easy to be duped. One sure way of recognizing a fake is that it doesn't come with any of the extras. For example, the original Naked palette comes with the mini Primer Potion while the Naked 2 palette comes with the mini Lip Junkie lip gloss. If either palette doesn't come with either of these extras, you know automatically that it's a counterfeit. Counterfeits may sell for cheaper, but they're not as pigmented, and the colors don't last as long. And I for one don't feel comfortable spending my REAL money on something counterfeit. However, you can find either of these palettes wholesale for less than $20 USD, and yes, they're the REAL DEAL. I got the original Naked palette for $16.90 USD at http://www.voguemagic.com/urban-decay-naked-palette-full-edition.html and the Naked 2 palette for $16.80 USD at http://www.dhgate.com/new-makeup-12-colors-palette-naked-2-eyeshadow/p-ff808081399451740139af422af76145.html. Keep in mind that these items ship internationally, and it takes a heck of a long time to arrive, but it's definitely worth the wait. So if you don't mind the wait or the risk (especially for international shipping, as a myriad of things can go wrong), then I strongly suggest going wholesale. And the good thing is that both of these sites provide secure payment options, and I'm sure there are other wholesale sites out there, but these were the cheapest, and the products are the REAL DEAL!

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    1. nope they're just really well-done counterfeits. the newer 'improved' fakes come with lip junkie and primer potion as well.

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    2. Yeah, the first site you link is being sued by Chanel for counterfeiting, so I doubt the UD is real.

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  10. So disappointing - I thought I got a real one too but judging from this, it's fake. :( Should have known better!!!

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  11. I bought UD Naked Palette from xxradiationxx on ebay and when I contacted him, he said "no problem, send it back. I'll give you a refund" I told him I was going to damage it so he couldn't resell it, I did and then he was surprised. Only refunded my purchase price, not shipping also, as I had stated. I contacted ebay about him, they refunded the rest and flagged him as selling counterfeit goods. I will post this wherever I can in an effort to slow these people down. He claims he was not aware it was fake, but I have my doubts

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  12. I just received a fake Urban Decay Wallpaper palette in the mail. The only reason I bothered ordering off of Ebay, is that the palette isn't made anymore and I really wanted it. Well, there was white glue crust on the mirror, and the colors were completely off! Also, the little metal squares that held the eyeshadow, were just shoved in there and had sharp edges. It was one of the BETTER knock offs I've seen, but it was still really easy to tell. So I blew up the seller on Ebay with bad reviews and got my money back. I should of known better when I sent my paypal and it said it sent to Russia.

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  13. wow i almost bought a naked 2 on ebay for $35 & before i clicked buy, i decided to see if counterfeit pallets even existed. glad i didnt risk it, i would much rather spend $15 more & know that its the real thing by just picking up the real deal from utla. not to mention i wont have to wait weeks and weeks for it to come in the mail!!

    thanks for the post & comments :) helped me a ton!

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  14. Be aware that the fake ones can also come in the plastic case with the eyeshadow primer or the lip gloss.

    I bought both palettes on ebay from JakieMakeup for $111 total with free shipping. I thought it was a great deal. When I got the tracking info email, I saw that the item originated in China and not California like the auction stated. I emailed the seller to ask about that, she said they were real.

    When they arrived, at first I was relieved because mine came with the primer and lipgloss. But when I took them out of the plastic package and opened them - omg. It was blatantly obvious that they were fakes.
    Even without seeing a real palette in person, or having one to compare it with, it was a pitiful attempt at a forgery. They should be embarrassed for making that so badly.

    Sent it back for a refund (but I had to file a claim to get it because she wouldn't accept returns)

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  15. i never knew they exsited:( iys my firsttt high end purchase got it for 35 on ebay and its fake :( ...neverrr again .i had to convince myself to get it :/ making a vid on this soon

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  16. Thank you sooo much, I just realized my palette is fake :(

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  17. So glad you posted this! So many girls are selling them on instagram claiming they're real! Pissed me off!

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  18. The naked palettes aren't that expensive for how long they last and the pigment. I pretty much go with the mantra that if the make up is on Ebay it's fake. Real high end cosmetic sellers are few and far between.

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  19. I hate to burst your bubble, but you should check out the urban decay website before spreading false information, the real naked 2 palette looks like this http://m.urbandecay.com/urban-decay/eye-makeup/naked2-palette/282.html. Without the lipgloss and with the white ends on the brushes.

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    1. If you'll read the description on the page you linked, you'd see that it's described as coming with a mini lip gloss. And, my brush tips were white when I bought it, but when it's covered with eye shadow it darkens. The info we presented is accurate.

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    2. I'm talking about the bigger brush. It also has white ends. Maybe you bought a fake one too.

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    3. Nope, I ordered mine directly from Urban Decay.

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    4. Wait, I see your confusion! If you check the date of this entry you'll see it's almost a year old. UD has changed the brush slightly and does change up the extra item the palette comes packaged with. This entry was accurate as of Feb 2013.

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    5. I bought my palettes (all three NAKED) from UD on March 23, 2015- so no confusion about dates here...
      It's important to know what UD is doing now. They do have theirs in boxes now too. The real box is nearly an inch larger than the palette where the fake fits more snuggly into its box. The real brushes are light brown that fades to white whereas the fakes are deep brown and look dipped in beach, they don't really fade. The product printing on the fake brush has too much ink, it's not delicate, fine writing like on the real brush. Finally, although UD is now putting the four pod potion sampler into the box, the fakes have this written on the back but is often advertised as 'already removed' when really it's missing. Also, the potion "sin" is often misspelled as "sim" on the back of the fake box.
      There's a lot of fakes out there but to keep up with them, we have to keep up with what the actual manufacturer's doing as well. There ARE legit sellers on sites like ebay but they get limited due to the bad ones out there. They know they're up against counterfeits so if you're looking for a deal, simply ask for more pics or even a proof of purchase. Legit sellers will be more than happy to help in any way they can.

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    6. I bought my naked pallet directly from ulta & it didn't some with a primer or a lip gloss

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    7. This entry is three years old! The packaging has changed.

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  20. My friend just brought one over from HK and I thought it would be alright since I paid $40 for it but it seems to be a fake *sigh* I'm so done with living in a place that doesn't have sephora

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  21. I bought a fake just recently, from AliExpess. Not a very happy camper:/

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  22. Well, I just learned something new. Thanks for the write up. I used to buy Redken All Soft online until I read the story of what happened to someone that was sold fakes. Her hair fell out.

    Ulta recently had one of the previous pallets on sale but I have so much eye shadow to use up that I passed up the deal. I'd rather just buy all my stuff through them because of the rewards program. So even if I spend more, I get points that = dollars.

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  23. Hi,
    I bought Naked 2 from Beauty Bay (in April 2014) and was puzzled if I received authentic one, because it came with 4 primer potions and not lip gloss. I sent email to the customer service of Urban Decay and they approved it I received authentic palette! Hope this is helpful info.

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  24. Thanks for the comparison. Whew! There are lots of imitations in the market today, so it’s really hard to choose which one is real or which is fake.
    xo,
    ~Pauline @Kallony

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  25. I was just at a Sephora in my local mall and none of the palettes they had in Stock had anything extra. They are similar to all the counterfeit boxes I've been told to watch out for. I left the store and didn't buy. Just FYI.

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    1. This blog post is more than a year old, so please keep in mind that Urban Decay changes the promos. The Naked2 palette isn't new anymore so they're probably not combining it with extras. If Sephora is selling it, it's not fake.

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  26. Purchased a discounted palette from a sight called Accessory Bargains. Upon receiving it I knew it was fake because of the shabby packaging and the case itself was coming unglued! I let them know that I didnt appreciate a fake palette and requested a refund. They never wrote back, just sent me a link to their Returns page. This happened several times. They only offer store credit and since I suspect most of their greatly reduced makeup items are counterfeit, I didn't want anything. So, a waste of $32 but a lesson well learned.

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  27. I recently purchased one from eBay for only 6.99 (pounds) and it seemed too good to be true! So I ordered it and it came within 3 days. I didn't know it was fake until I looked more into fake cosmetics and realised it is fake. I was gutted even though it was only 6.99. It was indeed a very good fake. The eyeshadows were identical to the real one but the biggest giveaway was the weight as I went to my local supplier of the pallets and held the real one and it was much, much heavier. I also noticed that mine didn't have a serial number whereas the real one did. I have tried to find the seller again but I cannot find him\her anymore. All in all I will probably want to pay the extra, at best, 20 pounds for a real one. The eyeshadows on mine are very pigmented though so I will continue to use them.

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  28. Just bit it myself. Purchased a fake and didn't know it until my daughter pointed it out and it was a Christmas gift for her. I feel like an idiot. Lesson learned!!!!! Purchased from Ebay and the gal was only selling one not a whole bunch so I thought it would be real. I see today on Accessory Bargains they have a sale going right now for all palettes being on sale....buyers beware

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  29. This post is pretty old, so if you buy a pallette from sephora without any extras, that doesn't mean it is counterfeit

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  30. My mom was shopping at the mall the other day, and some man said he was a Sears representative selling the Naked 2 palette for $30 since the company was going bankrupt. My mother knows I love makeup and bought the palette without thinking twice, only to find out from another person working at the mall that it was a fake. It was heartbreaking to see my mother question and blame herself for not knowing the difference between a real and fake palette. All she wanted to do was make her daughter's day :( why do people who sell and makes fakes even exist?!

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  31. My mom heard of this woman in our area - I don't know her name but I don't want to invade privacy anyways - who sells makeup like this for CHEAP. I'm talking $15 for a Naked palette. My mom knew I wanted the 3 so she got that one, along with all the other Naked palettes for herself from this woman since you know, $15 man. Well I already had the Smoky palette that I got from Ulta back in October for my birthday, so I swatched some of the shadows from it next to ones from her $15 Smoky. You could so tell they were different! The pigmentation and quality of them were so different! "Dirtysweet" is supposed to be a golden shimmery shade, but my mom's looked like a sheer highlight shade; and "Smolder" is a deep purple that looks almost black on my skin, but my mom's was lighter and more purple-toned. Also Dirtysweet in her palette was creamy? Mine isn't, it's powdery and not messy, where hers was falling off my finger and arm as I was swatching it. I'm going to keep the 3 she bought me and I'm going to see if I can make it work until I can get the real thing, and then I'll give it away to someone who doesn't mind that it's not legit. Also she sold my mom a couple brush sets from UD that say "Naked 3" on the tin, and there's 12 mini brushes in there. But apparently UD have never had a 12 pc mini brush set? It's such a disappointment that people sell these like "Oh yeah this is the real deal!"

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