The beauty industry is a clever beast – they know we all want to look our very best, so for that reason, prices of some of the best products are high. Of course, we’ll pay it if we can, because that’s the price of beauty. Having said that, if you could find a bargain, you’d take it and run, right?

The thing is, the fake beauty product industry know this fact very well, and they’re quite happy to cash in your search for a beauty bargain. The word ‘fake’ gives the topic of this chat away – you only have to search online for a Kylie Lip Kit, Urban Decay Naked palette, KKW Beauty contouring kit, and you’ll find the originals, right next to a product that looks exactly the same, but for some reason the price is way lower.

That should give the game away, right? You would think so, but so many people still purchase the cheaper version, and somehow expect premium quality.

Purchasing counterfeit beauty products isn’t only damaging to the brand who makes them, but it’s also possibly dangerous for your health. Let’s throw the big names to one side for a second, because whether they make their dollars or not isn’t that important to us, what is important is our overall health and wellbeing. Original products are made with premium ingredients, and these are tested to ensure safety and quality. Fake products don’t go through that same high intensity process, so who knows what is actually contained inside them?

A couple of years ago there was a flood of fake Kylie Lip Kits on the market, which certainly seemed too good to be true. That proved to be the case when customers started complaining about tingling and numbness to their lips – nothing to do with the promised plumping effect. If you have an allergy to any of the ingredients, how are you supposed to know to avoid said product if you don’t know what is contained within it? You can’t. This is what makes fake products dangerous. There is no testing process, and no regulations to govern them.

So, how can you avoid picking up a fake? There are a few things to look out for.

• Price – If it seems too good to be true, and it’s not Black Friday or part of the New Year sales, it’s very likely to be a fake
• A lack of ingredients listed on the packaging – Original products are required to list their ingredients on the back of the packaging, to ensure transparency for customers. A fake product doesn’t have to do this, and if it does, it’s likely to be a rather sketchy/thrown together affair
• The packaging just looks ‘off’ – The printed packaging is likely to look very similar to the original, but if you look closely, the printing isn’t quite as HD – a marker of a fake
• Made in China/Taiwan/some other random country – Check to see if there is a ‘made in …’ comment on the back
• A lack of brand information – If you can’t see the official brand information on the packaging or the product of Kylie Cosmetics, Urban Decay, KKW Beauty, etc, there’s something off

Spotting a fake is really about being very careful and examining the product before any money crosses hands. The biggest indicator? The price – there is no such thing as that much of a bargain in the beauty world!