4.25.2013

How to Spot a Fake: theBalm's Nude ‘tude

Consider this post a PSA of sorts. It's obvious that you need to practice caution with eBay purchases, BUT (BIG BUT!), I guess I still give people too much credit. You'd think after my Wet n Wild Spring Forward hunt I would know better than to turn to eBay... I'd heard of people selling counterfeit Urban Decay NAKED palettes, but I hadn't seen anything on theBalm Nude ‘tude palette. Well look who got played!


The real palette is on top, the knockoff below.

I was pretty excited I won this palette for $18.49, which is half of the regular price. The description was vague so I figured some girl in Ohio just didn't want it anymore. Ha! I should have been way more skeptical. The knockoff has a cool, blueish hue, whereas the real one is very warm and brown. The real palette is also thinner and shorter than the knockoff.


The knockoff is actually really impressive, though you can immediately see how blurred and dull the printing is, especially with the photos of the shadow colors.


theBalm Nude ‘tude eyeshadow palette comes in two versions: Naughty and Nice. The only difference being the background images (if they're real), however a lot more is different with these two. The shape of the brush slots vary, with the real one being rectangular, and knockoff much more rounded. The width, length, and color of the ribbon is also inconsistent. Plus, the knockoff is unraveling (lol).


The logo is also quite different! Aside from the illegible "cosmetics" below "theBalm," the real logo has magenta lips.


The brushes are totally different. The real brush has the actual logo printed in pink, whereas the knockoff couldn't even match the typeface and it's purple. The length of the real brush is much shorter than the knockoff and the bristles are much longer and rounded on the shadow side. And now to the shadow comparison:


In the pan some of the colors are pretty close, albeit duller, but when swatched it's a totally different story! They're extremely chalky, have almost zero pigmentation and the fallout is out of control. They also kind of stain? Terrible.


Of course it's difficult to see all of these differences online, especially when sellers use other people's photos of the real product. My advice is to buy the real thing online at theBalm's website, on HauteLook where it's offered at 50% off ($18!!), or at Walgreens locations with a Look Boutique like I did. Luckily, I received a full refund thanks to eBay's Buyer Protection and now I have this spare, completely useless palette... If you do risk it and buy from eBay, hopefully this post will help you spot if it's a fake.

UPDATE: theBalm is back on HauteLook today (6/20/14) through Monday (6/23/14) 8AM Pacific! Get this palette for 50% off - only $18!

41 comments:

  1. Oh wow those swatches are so bad :-O I have never bought make-up from ebay before and after this I am pretty sure I never will, lol.

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    1. I know! I couldn't believe how terrible the quality was especially compared to all the work that went into the packaging. It's probably in your best interest to go elsewhere for makeup! Although, I have to admit I've gotten some discontinued Wet n Wild stuff that is real... Seems like the higher end stuff is riskier.

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  2. It really shows you do have to be careful about what you buy over ebay. The swatches are horrible, not very pigmented at all. I did love this post as it showed how big a difference there is between the real thing and a fake. Great post x
    http://kahneee.blogspot.com/

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    1. Thanks! I'm glad you found it useful. If nothing else I hope no one else gets suckered into buying a fake. The scariest part is not know what's in the shadows themselves. Eek!

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    2. I feel so horrible!!! wasted money like crazy for both this palette and the naked 2 bought them from ebay thinking yay am getting them way less!!! dont get them out of hautelook alot youtubers are telling their subbies to go get them a fake pallete they themselves don't know about them but we do thanks to you... your blog is brilliant

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  3. Wow, srsly?! I am shocked! Who goes out of their way to dupe an eyeshadow palette of all things?! Ain't nobody got tiiime for that!

    Sry you got played girl =(. But on the bright side, you were able to let us all know =). And this WAS a pretty interesting read! Cute blog lovely lady<3.


    Jo
    www.thelittledandy.com

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    1. Haha, thanks! It was a definite bummer but I'm glad it happened. Someone at theBalm actually reached out to me because of this post, too.

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  4. Hey. New follower here- really like your blog!
    If you report this to eBay you can get a refund of the money. Show them the photos too. It's happened to me before, I reported it and a few days later they emailed to say they had issues a refund. Yay! :)

    Check out my blog? everyoneshouldsparkle.blogdpot.co.uk

    Xx

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  5. Oh my! I was googling Nude Tude swatches and saw this! What a shame, but so glad you didn't lose your money. It's probably fake from Amazon as well, but what do you think of sites such as Feelunique and Bath and Unwind for TheBalm products?
    My Beauty Junction

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    1. Honestly, I'm super skeptical of most small-time retailers when it comes to mid-range/high-end makeup, but those look like they're both legitimate businesses. I'm not too familiar them personally, though... Amazon is definitely NOT a good route, I've read a lot of reviews where people got no help from Amazon once they realized their product was counterfeit. So terrible! I'm definitely thankful for eBay's Buyer Protection! :)

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  6. Gah!! I wish I had seen this before I bought one on ebay. I definitely got a fake. Thanks for posting this, I was pretty sure it was fake just by looking at it, and swatching it, and then i found this post and now I am positive. Now to get my money back, oh and get the actual palette.

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    1. I'm so glad this was helpful for you! But, yes, it's a total bummer you ended up with a fake. If you're not able to find the real deal locally and you want to save a little, you can always wait for it to pop up on HauteLook! If you need an invite, feel free to use my referral link: http://bit.ly/119MRTf

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    2. It was extremely helpful! I just got the actual palette through nordstrom online (free shipping too!!) I am just so glad that I found your post, cause if I hadn't I probably would have just told myself I was being paranoid and kept the fake. The difference in the quality of eyeshadow is stark!

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  7. Just bought another one from a different Ebay seller for my daughter and was so surprised when I compared the two. The first one which was for myself was the fake. Sure wish I had found your blog before I purchased the first one. It's a shame that there's always someone out there trying to scam folks. Haven't even used the palette because the swatches were so bad. Thought there must of been alot of hype when it comes to the quality of the shadows. But now after seeing the real thing I know they are as good as everyone says. Still waiting to hear back from the seller, I may not get my money back but at least I left a negative feedback stating the product was a knock off. Thanks for the info.

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    1. I'm so sorry to hear this happened to you! Do you think it's too late to try and involve eBay? You never know, it doesn't hurt to try at least... Their buyer protection is what helped me resolve my problem super fast. At any rate, I'm at least glad you found this post useful. Hopefully these people will be stopped!

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    2. I just bought my and I am looking at the pictures and I see the other pictures of the pallet that I have purchased and they look just the same omg and I send a message to the person who I purchased my pallet and she says that it real omg and I tod her if I can do a return and she said yes so I am just waiting to get it and send it back

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    3. I just bought my and I am looking at the pictures and I see the other pictures of the pallet that I have purchased and they look just the same omg and I send a message to the person who I purchased my pallet and she says that it real omg and I tod her if I can do a return and she said yes so I am just waiting to get it and send it back

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    4. Ugh, it's so horrible when the people lie and try to claim the product is real when it clearly isn't! I really hope it gets resolved and you get your money back!!

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  8. Well the seller refunded my money. I had left them a message stating that I was going to report them to Ebay. I also left feedback stating that I had received a knock off to hopefully warn other buyers. They said they would not purposely sell anyone a knock off. Sure would like to believe that! Now I'm very leery about buying any other makeup off of ebay, sad thing is I purchased a couple of small items a few days ago before I knew there was such a thing as makeup knock offs. Sure hope the others are the real deals. Thanks for the helpful information.

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    1. I've bought some lower end stuff, like limited edition or discontinued drugstore makeup on eBay without any issues, so you should be ok. It seems to be the higher end stuff that gets faked.

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  9. Thank you for posting this! I'm sad to say i got played too, i bought it a few weeks ago on ebay and it arrived today, i had my doubts and your post definately confirmed my suspicions. Im so dissappointed because i was so excited to use it. I contacted the seller and im waiting for the reply.

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    1. Ugh! Sorry this happened to you! You definitely need to notify eBay of counterfeit item, they're on your side and will be able to get you your money back. There's some good news though, theBalm is currently on HauteLook and you can get this palette and a bunch of their other great makeup for 50% off! Hopefully you see this in time to take advantage-their stuff gets pulled Monday morning, but they come back every few months.

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    2. I notified ebay and the seller hasn't replied back. Thank you for letting me know about HauteLook, i'll be sure to check when it comes back because sadly I didnt see the message in time. Thank you for everything!

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    3. Aw, bummer! Their stuff has been listed on HauteLook twice since I wrote this post back in April, so hopefully it won't be too long till the next event. I hope everything works out with eBay!

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  10. I just bought a fake one on purpose. It was sold in a shop at the mall. I knew it was fake because its cheap and they look suspicious. The reason why I bought it is because they don't sell the original ones anywhere, and besides, the swatches are not like yours. It is quite good actually. But even so, I was hoping maybe miraculously, it could be the real thing. But nahh.. anyway thankyou :)

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    1. Well, as long as the shadows work! I'm not against inexpensive makeup as long as the quality is good. My palette was just awful though! Where are you located if you don't mind me asking? Is there no way for you to order it online (if you did want the real deal)?

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  12. Wow. This makes me feel like a complete idiot. I saw a "cheap" deal on ebay for this nude'tude palette for $26 and I got so excited! So I went ahead and purchased it. I was so excited when I got it in the mail and almost immediately began trying some eye shadow looks out. Unfortunately, I soon found the colors to have literally zero pigmentation, not to mention they wouldn't even blend slightly on my skin. Now I do have slightly tanner skin, so I thought for a while--no, hoped is more like it--that perhaps it was just my skin tone that was causing this lack of luster with the colors. Then I came across this blog, and my fears and doubts became reality, I definitely do have a fake palette. :( Thanks for opening my eyes. I'm never buying makeup from there again.

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    1. That's awful, I'm so sorry you got fooled! Those low prices are definitely alluring but it's so risky... You should totally reach out to eBay because their buyer's protection kicked in for me and I was able to get a refund.

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  13. I just bought a fake one. This is the second fake palette that I bought on ebay (Never again!). The one in the pictures was real though !

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  14. I was thinking of buying this and the lorac pro and unzipped from amazon, definitely not anymore.. I'd rather do the 5hr bus rude to the USA to pick it up lol

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    1. aaaaaand of course this is under my boyfriends google + looool

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  15. Bought mine from overstock.com. Definitely real and 100% authentic. It sells for $21.99 and I received it in 2 days. They sell a lot of The Balm cosmetics on overstock. Kohl's just started carrying the brand, but they still sell it at the original price of $36. Great post, BTW. I'm glad I read this blog before ordering it, too.

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  16. I don't think there are as many fakes on Amazon, and their return policy is probably better (I've never had to return anything yet). I bought three things from there and saved photos of the authentic boxes and packaging to my computer just in case.

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  17. Don't buy anything from Wish.com. They scam ad well. I also got taken on this pallette, Naked 2 &3. Wish I had seen this before. Thank you for posting.

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  18. Thanks for your great post and info!!!
    I also noticed the name difference for the original is "Seductive", and "Schitzo" for the fake!

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  19. ATTENTION FAKE LORAC ON EBAY! LADYS BEWARE OF FAKE LORAC COUTURE SHINE LIPSTICKS? I ORDERED A LORAC COUTORE SHINE LIPSTICK IN RETRO AND IT IS FAKE! SMELLS LIKE VANILLA, SEMMS LIKE ITS HOME MADE, PROBABLY MADE WITH VASILINE AND WHO KNOWS WHAT ELS. I HAVE USED RETRO BEFORE AND WHAT I GOT FROM EBAY WAS NOT THE COLOR RETRO EVEN THOUGH IT SAYS RETRO! IT'S VERY GREESY AND FADES AWAY VERY QUICKLY! IM NOW TRYIN TO GET MY MONEY BACK! I HAVE CALL THE SELLERS WHO ARE LOCATED IN CALIFORNIA AND TOLD THEM MY SITUATION BUT HUNG UP ON ME!

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  20. I have no problem when a company pieces together a palette to look like another brand. We've seen dupes, not counterfeit but actual dupes, to many high-end palettes. They sell, and 7/10 times I've read reviews saying they are even better than the original (UD's naked palettes are famous for dupes and knockoff/counterfeit products). It makes more sense to me if they just would market them as dupes rather than claiming their real.

    This is why when I order from a seller from China, or what not, I read everything and expect little.

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Thanks for commenting! I always love hearing from readers! ♥