Imposter Perfumes part 2

I went to the nearest mall I could find here at the Fort which is market!market!. I am not going all the way to greenhills for this, at least for now. I checked out Criselda's on the first floor and the perfume kiosk at the new wing where you can find Maldita and Folded and Hung.  As I suspected perfumes at 1,800 (Incanto) and 2,300 (F for Fascinating) is just too good to be true. As I said in an earlier post I will be using the Incanto Shine as my experiment bottle. So here are my findings:

1. The cellophane wrapper is thicker than its genuine counterpart. Notice that if you try to carefully unwrap a genuine bottle of perfume its plastic wrapper will easily tear. Also, the glue in a genuine package is very light, almost not noticeable that once you unwrap it you probably cannot put it back. 

2. The bottle itself looked like the real thing! That is what sparked my interest in the first place. Upon closer inspection I realized that there were definitely more air bubbles in the glass compared to the real one. Also, the back part of the bottle where the design is located is a little rougher since the real Incanto bottles feel like nothing is printed on them. (I actually thought that the design was inside the bottle instead of outside and I accidentally scratched a part of the design out.) At least now I know that its actually outside, just printed really well.

3. The serial number will be a dead giveaway for sure. The serial number of the real Incanto is printed in white and the counterfeit ones look exactly the same except the serial number is printed very dark compared to the genuine one that is printed very lightly. Of course, serial numbers are unique to each bottle so if the store is carrying bottles with the same serial numbers just walk away. Remember that the serial number in the bottle should always match the serial number in the box. I doubt counterfeiters will bother trying to match those. One of the Incanto bottles I was looking at in the store had a typo. Instead of 3.4 it said 3,4. What a bunch of stupidheads! The bottle looked totally legit too!

4. Look at the bar code. In the back of the box there is a white rectangular strip wherein a bar code is printed. The fake ones have a sticker, the real one is printed. 

5. Look at the box. In the Incanto Shine box the flowers and dragonfly are made of a glossy type of ink, the fake one= not so glossy

Imposter/Fake/Counterfeit whatever you want to call them apparently do not smell like the real thing or if they do they are either diluted, does not last very long, filled with other chemicals, or all of the above and sometimes plus more. In my opinion buying fake perfume is not the same as buying a fake bag. (I would not recommend buying both) When you buy a fake bag you risk being terribly embarrassed but buying fake perfume makes you risk so much more than that. These perfumes can cause itching, rashes, burns, types of allergic reactions, and possibly other things. These so called original perfumes do not go through the same quality and health control the genuine ones go through. You have to know that these people care much more about money than about you. If I were you I would think twice before buying from stores like this. Is having a designer perfume (which isnt even real) worth that much to you that you need to risk your well being? You can always save up money and buy the real thing even if it takes a long time. In the end, you will have an authentic fragrance and no matter how much you argue with me I know knowing its the real thing will not only make you feel safer, it will make you happier. 

PS I heard from someone today that a place called "Cash and Carry" sells perfume for 1/3 the price but apparently this is a chain grocery sort of like S&R. hmmm... this sounds interesting. I will continue this investigation I promise!

xoxo

nat