For many years around the world and in Poland only recently, Chinese dupes of well-known coloured and care cosmetics are gaining popularity. The price is tempting, of course, but is it really worth buying? It may be better to save for one original product than dozens of cheap fakes.

Ebay and AliExpress

These two sites are the main distributor of cheap counterfeit products from reputable cosmetics companies. But this is not everything they offer – you can find there all possible products from every possible industry. And everything is cheaper, advertising exactly the same benefits. Is it possible that somehow the Chinese have access to cheaper cosmetics, for which we have to pay tens or even hundreds of pounds? Yes and no. The Chinese have access to most commonly used ingredients in cosmetics.. Also, in China you can find the largest cosmetics factories, where the product is created, put into a bottle and then marked with the brand logo. This means that they can also create their own counterparts of the original products, trying to match them in quality and colour, but often using cheaper ingredients. That is why the market is flooded with cheap Chinese products. And buyers really believe they are real – shiny logo and exactly same packaging do their job.

Is it easy to find a fake product?

It depends on time – there are moments, when counterfeit products seem to be the only items in AliExpress. On other occasions, you won’t find them even if you write the exact brand, colour and kind in the search bar. It is possible brands themselves take action against Chinese sellers and all cosmetics disappear from the website for a while. But when they appear, they cover every possible spot, tempting makeup lovers.

It is also worth noting, for example. Kylie Cosmetics counterfeit product won’t be called exactly that – instead company will use completely different name, keeping everything else the same: packaging; colour, description of benefits of using the item.

Differences and threats

Many people attempted to test original cosmetic products and compare them with their Chinese counterparts, or rather dupes – this is the word makeup gurus use on daily basis. When it comes to packaging, it's often hard to see any difference. The bottles have the same shape, the same font is used, and the logo's color does not differ from the original. People who had an opportunity to see and touch the real product might easily notice Chinese packaging is made from cheap plastic and details are not equally as perfect. But most often, differences are noticed in the product itself. Different texture, colour, smell and durability are just a few of the basic factors that distinguish dupes from the original. However by buying Chinese dupe you’re not just risking getting lower coverage or slightly different colour. Chinese counterfeit products try to imitate the original one so well that the ingredient list is literally a "copy-paste" from the original box. So we don't really know what is in Chinese cosmetics. Is it really worth risking your health for a few pennies?