I love eBay and I have over 300 “stars” to prove it. I get all sorts of things from eBay from my 2 year strong vacuum to tea and more. eBay is also where all the discontinued products from our favorite stores go to be bought. I should have seen this coming but alas I didn’t. I spotted a Urban Decay Naked from a seller for just $30 plus free shipping, I figured what could go wrong. But alas, I got burned. As the saying goes, If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

At first quick glace, it looks like I got exactly what I wanted. The scratches on the plastic film are normal since legitimate Nakeds also get scratches.

but if we flip it:

poor printer quality (click to expand)

can’t distinguish between the shades? its fake (click to expand)

Look at that lack of printer quality. I have bought a real Naked once where it was overprinted (i.e. too much ink). That’s fine for normal naked products, because Urban Decay will let a product pass with a bit too much ink, but fading/bad ink is not acceptable.

What if the Urban Decay Naked you have is really old, well ask yourself “Can you distinguish between the shades?” I can barely tell the difference between darkhorse and hustle, and smog looks like a black blob. Absent are the vibrant colors in the package that POP.

Now Lets open it.

The colors are not uniform when you flash it? Its fake (click to Expand)

Take a photo of your package. Any weird discolorations on the colors? Yeah its, fake.

No nice ombre on the brush? No bold lettering? Its fake

They still can not get the brush right. If your brush does not match how the brush looks like on the back of the package, then its fake. Its supposed to be ombre going from light to black but if the ombre is not really a ombre but just mostly a whitened tip brush, you have a fake. Your font should also be bold gold lettering, if its just gold lettering but not bold, its fake.

If you decide to apply it, the quality is horrible. Are the eyeshadow highlypigmented? Do you need the brush or feel like your finger is better? If you need to use your finger tip or a sponge tip applicator, its fake. Do your eyeshadows lack glitter? Mines does and yours will too if its fake.

Spotting past fake Nakeds used to be much easier, this is how they used to produce them:

via Don’t Stop Buying

Initially they were missing the purple encasing with the primer. You should never buy a Naked whose description says its missing a primer. Those were the initial fake Naked products. (Please note that before the Urban Decay Naked Palette was relaunched, it had dual- ended 24/7 pencil, now it has has the Good Karma Brush. BUT both products still come in the same transparent packaging, and have the travel- sized Primer Potion.)

Mines look more like the original only to show that they are making the fake products better and better. Other signs:

 Fake is printed on (mines is printed on). Real one has a sticker.

Real Ones have serial numbers (mines did not).

 
The right one is real, left one is fake. BUYER BEWARE: mines looked like the right one but when I opened it, it had the purple handle like the fake left.

My fake upgraded version:

My fake “upgraded” primer

Mines had the font like the real right one (note the star in the middle), BUT had the purple handle like the fake one and also lacked a sticker on the bottom)

Circular magnets? Fake. Real ones are square (mines was circular).

Fake says Made in Germany. Real one always say “Assembled in Dominican Republic”. Mines says Made in Germany.

Last 5 images (besides my ‘upgraded’ primer photo are from Zaneta Camuika, which is a must read. Mines is a slightly more “upgraded version” than hers (they made the primer more realistic) but alas its a fake. Fellow beauty bloggers have complained of having the fake primer/actual packaging being switched out for a real one, but actual palette is fake as that is the most expensive piece. This could be the case of a seller buying a real one, running out, then buying a fake one only to realize its fake, and then switching the fake into the real packaging to a unaware bystander.

My biggest mistake?
Don’t ever buy Urban Decay Naked from a seller who is selling a high quantity at a low price.
If its one item where it appears the seller is reselling a gift (ie. only item they are selling, maybe from the ex boyfriend), you have a better chance of getting a real one than the seller selling 10+ units of Naked at $35.
Remember that Urban Decay has contracts with stores. These contracts forbids selling the product below $50 unless its a store-exclusive sale (ie Sephora’s 20% friends and Family sale). Unless its stolen merchandise, chances are that its fake.

The fake versions are getting even better, too bad its at the cost of the consumer.

xoxo,
Emmy