Half of the skin care product samples are fake? Are the identification methods of big-name skin care products circulated on the Internet useful?

The most painful thing in this world is not that your express delivery is delayed, but that what you are waiting for is a fake!

In 2021, in response to fans' demands, Dad Review launched a free "Skin Care Product Authenticity Identification" campaign, testing a total of 1,408 orders, of which 380 were suspected to be fakes.

Judging from the numbers, 380 does not seem to be high, and the counterfeit rate is nearly 27%.

But behind this are the broken beautiful expectations of 380 women and the fake operations of 380 unscrupulous businesses. And these 380 businesses are facing millions of consumers.

In addition to the full-size skin care products, technicians found through statistics that 33 of the 69 skin care samples tested were suspected to be fakes. In other words, nearly half of the test samples were fake? !

While we feel bad, we also need to know where the skin care samples on the market come from? How are those fakes made? Are the skin care product testing methods circulated on the Internet reliable? What should we do?

The big-name skincare products are too expensive, and I am afraid of wasting money if they are not suitable for me; when I am traveling on business, the big bottles of skincare products are too heavy to fit into the suitcase...

What to do? Buy a sample.

With a wide variety of products, affordable prices, advance trials, and portability, skin care product samples are taking over a corner of the skin care product market with these advantages. Shopping platforms, WeChat friends purchasing agents, and even offline stores that specialize in selling samples, it is much easier to buy samples.

However, the packaging of sample products generally has the words “not for sale” stated on it. So where do the samples of skin care products we buy come from?

Generally speaking, there are three channels for the flow of authentic samples on the market: distributors, tellers, and overseas samples.

But strictly speaking, these three categories are all informal channels, and some samples do not even have batch numbers, making it difficult for ordinary consumers to distinguish between the real and the fake.

There have been many news reports on the "dark" inside story of skin care product production: cramped toilets, using real bottles to adulterate fake or expired contents.

Therefore, you simply cannot imagine that the skin care products you carefully use on your face are fakes produced in a dirty and messy environment.

Not to mention, when you bought 15 bottles of samples at one time and spent more than 800 yuan, they all turned out to be suspected fakes.

This is a true story that happened to a fan!

The fan said that the merchant claimed that the samples they sold were authorized, so she bought them with confidence. After buying them, she found that the color and smell of the samples were completely different from the authentic ones she had used before.

The technicians used an infrared spectrometer to identify the samples sent by fans, and the result was suspected to be fake! !

Another fan bought four different skin care product samples, and after identification, they were all suspected to be fakes.

Furthermore, many friends purchase products through informal channels, and the brands cannot find authorization information. In addition, there are limited methods for identifying samples, making it even more difficult to protect their rights.

It has to be said that the price of skin care products purchased by a purchasing agent is indeed better than that of the official website or flagship store. However, many friends are always worried after getting the skin care products.

Where there is demand, there is a market. A wave of identification methods for big-name skin care products has gradually spread on the Internet. It can be seen that there are identification methods for multiple brands of skin care products in a certain book.

In summary, the skin care product identification methods circulated on the Internet mainly focus on: product batch number, barcode, printing specifications, outer packaging, bottle, solution color and smell.

Although it is cruel, we still have to debunk the rumors one by one.

Firstly, by looking at the product batch number, barcode, printing, packaging and bottle, at most it can only prove that the bottle is real, but it cannot guarantee that the contents inside are genuine.

On a certain second-hand trading platform, the "recycling business" of bottles of genuine big-brand products can be seen everywhere.

It seems that the method of identifying the authenticity through the packaging and bottle is acceptable, but what about comparing the color and smell of the solution?

Our technicians have also received several bottles of Ya*lan* essence with different solution colors. Although there are differences to the naked eye, after testing with an infrared spectrometer and a gas chromatography-mass spectrometer, it was found that their infrared spectra were exactly the same, which means that their solutions are the same.

Furthermore, some skin care products may have slight differences in smell and viscosity due to different versions or batches, but this does not prevent them from being authentic.

Therefore, it is impossible to distinguish between the true and the false based on one's own sensory experience.

Overall, the safest way for consumers is to purchase skin care products through officially authorized channels.

However, if you buy it from an unofficial authorized channel, we recommend that you identify the authenticity before using it on your face. After all, you should be cautious when using something on your face to avoid losing more than you gain.

Editor | SuSu

Design | Sour

Source: Dad Review