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Rock The Catwalk wants to help you spot fake MAC cosmetics! Part II of II

As promised, here are pictures of the counterfeit MAC Pro Pans! Let me apologize in advance. I am the worst picture taker but I'll try to point out the details in the text below each image. Note: You can click on each image to magnify.

Can you tell which one is counterfeit?

It's the one on the right! Why? Look at the text on the bottom. I've always seen MAC use thin not thick text. Notice how the letters in "NET WT" are practically touching, where on the left there is space in between each letter.

If you have a Pro Pan that you think is counterfeit and you still have the packaging, take your nail and lightly scratch the surface of packaging. If the scratches are visible, chances are it's not real.

I used my finger nail to scratch both packaging in the same manner. As you can see, the one on the right is clearly fake.

Sorry for the blurry picture but there is not much of a difference that I could tell here. The counterfeits are getting better and better. 

Here are the inserts. The authentic MAC is on the left. Notice how the folds are different.

The counterfeit MAC (right) is cheap and kept cracking and crumbling. What a mess!

The counterfeit MAC (right) has a slight lip in the metal pan towards the top. It's really hard to see if you're not looking for it.

FAKE! Poorly made with flecks of crap mixed in. Buy some of this if you want random bits of metal in your eye.

I peeled both magnets off the bottom of the pans. A sure sign of a counterfeit used to be a ring on the bottom of the pan. Not anymore! Counterfeits are so hard to spot now!

The difference between the authentic (left) and counterfeit (right) appears to be the type of metal. MAC uses some sort of brushed metal while the counterfeit looks like a cheap aluminum. The counterfeit is more reflective.

To the fun part!

I weighed the authentic MAC Pro Pan and it's 3.9 grams. Weights may differ from batch or scale calibration so I would factor in a .3 gram + or - difference at the most.

FAKE! Not only are they stealing your money but gypping you on the amount of product as well!

Be extremely careful who you buy from and be extra careful when purchasing the colors listed here especially if you notice all of these from the same seller! It's one thing to buy counterfeit bags (if you're into that), but who knows what kind of chemicals are used in counterfeit cosmetics. If you are applying these cosmetics to your skin (the biggest organ in the human body), who knows what damage you are doing to yourself. And with no real company to back up this product, if anything happens, you are %^&* out of luck. Please don't support counterfeit cosmetics!

For another post on how to spot fake MAC cosmetics, check out a great guide at http://accidentalbeauty.com/makeup/how-to-spot-fake-mac-cosmetics/. If you know of any other guides, I'd love to read them. Please post them in the comments section below!

I hope this was helpful!

And the winner is...

There won't be a winner of this contest. There will be TWO! After going through all of the entries, I decided to pick two lucky people to win!

The two lucky people are:

Sarah@Glossicious
BeezEye

As a way of saying THANK YOU to everyone that entered, I would like to offer my blog followers a PRIVATE promo code to use at Rock The Catwalk for 10% off your total purchase. Please, PLEASE do not share this code publicly. Rock The Catwalk is still a small and private - but growing :) - company so we can only afford to send these codes to our followers and supporters.

Promo code: BLOG10

This code will expire tomorrow evening, August 15 at 11:59 PM EST.

Note that once you enter this code at checkout the price will AUTOMATICALLY adjust. So for example if the original price of an item is $12, the $12 will be replaced with $10.80 (instead of $12 crossed out and new price next it).

I will be contacting the two winners shortly.

Thank you all for entering and stay tuned for another contest next week! :)

xoxo

- Linda

Win a MAC Eyeshadow Quad in Shadowy Lady!

MAC Eye Shadow x 4 in Shadowy Lady

This Eye Shadow Quad contains 4 eyeshadow colors in Lightful, Smudged Violet, Deep Truth, and Shadowy Lady and is brand new in original retail box!

Rules:

Follow this blog.
Follow @RockTheCatwalk on Twitter.
Help promote http://www.rock-the-catwalk.com/
Reply to this post!

Extra points for effort and creativity!

Contest open to anyone.

Winner will be chosen on August 14, 2010!

Good luck everyone!

Rock The Catwalk wants to help you spot fake MAC cosmetics! Part I of II

If you see the below MAC Pro Pan colors with the following batch numbers, PLEASE BE CAREFUL. Note that MAC have made these colors and batch code combinations, so if you've purchased them from a reliable source, such as MAC or Rock The Catwalk, then you're safe. If not, please inspect them thoroughly and compare them to an actual MAC Pro Pan if available.

MAC Black Tied B19
MAC Carbon A59
MAC Charcoal Brown B89
MAC Forgery B29
MAC Goldenrod AC7
MAC Hepcat A69
MAC Humid A98
MAC Idil Eyes A78 (the label actual misspells "Idol Eyes", heh)
MAC Juxt A88
MAC Nehru A18
MAC Passionate A68
MAC Purple Haze A39
MAC Quarry A39
MAC Saddle B18
MAC Sunny Spot A88
MAC Swish AC8
MAC Tilt A19
MAC Vanilla A28
MAC Vibrant Grape A58

How can I tell these are fake? The outer packaging feels different than the authentic packaging. The thickness is slightly off and the material feels smoother than it should. As far as the eyeshadow colors go, some are close, and I mean REALLY REALLY close. For instance, the counterfeit Black Tied almost looks identical to the authentic in certain lighting but authentic Black Tied has more specks of shimmer in it. Counterfeit Nehru is completely off and looks like Carbon should but authentic Nehru is more of a blue black. Counterfeit Vanilla looks more pinkish beige while the authentic is a pale ivory with a very slight hint of peach.

I will try to post pictures by this weekend to compare authentic vs. counterfeit MAC Pro Pans.

NEEDED: YouTube Beauty Reviewers for NYX Cosmetics

Rock The Catwalk is looking for experienced reviewers to record a review and tutorial using NYX cosmetics. Products that we'll send you may include makeup palettes, lipsticks, lip glosses, eyeliners, eye shadows, pigments, etc.

Requirements:

** High Quality videos - It is important that your videos be high quality so that colors, swatches, and products used can be seen clearly by your viewing audience. **

Strong communication and tutorial skills - Great personality is a must! We are looking for organized, fun, friendly and interesting people! Please have at least 2 tutorials on your channel so we can see examples of your work. :)

It's alright if you don't have a lot of subscribers! We'll help promote you! Please send a link to a video of your work that we can use for consideration.

We may not be able to reply to each of you but will keep all of the information on file in case new opportunities come up.

Thank you!

Update: Keep your posts coming! Reviewers will be contacted on or before August 20, 2010.