Counterfeit Products? Thanks, But No Thanks

 

By Elizabeth Enajeroh

No doubt that make up sales is big business. On a trip to any of the big markets or beauty shops on a good day, you will find many beauty products, piled high, ready to be sold. This is all good.  Many women simply walk to these vendors and buy their favorite beauty brands, without confirming if they are getting genuine or counterfeited products. This is what bothers tw, which is why we are lending our voice to the Say No To Counterfeiting campaign, which has two of our local make up brands in the forefront.

If buying these counterfeit products didn’t have consequences, then maybe we could ignore the practice, but the consequences are so severe that we have to talk about them.

Counterfeiters are thieves because they steal the market share and intellectual property of the brands they copy, while depriving many who genuinely feed off these brands, like workers and distributors, of their income.

Secondly, using counterfeit products can cause serious damage to your skin and your health, because you cannot vouch for the ingredients used in them.

To help with better buying decisions, and protect you from falling victim of counterfeit products, we have identified four tips that work:

• Buy your cosmetics directly from the brands or trusted retailers: Many beauty brands now have shops where you can directly purchase their producers, and there are also several trusted online and physical beauty retailers from whom you can buy.

• Use your senses to assess the product before you buy: For all your staple beauty products, you should know how they smell, look and feel. Assess the product, if it doesn’t smell, look or feel right, don’t buy it.

• If you see any scratch card details, use it: Its often silver, scratch it and text the code to the phone number provided to verify the authenticity of the product.

• If you buy a counterfeit product, take it back: Save your receipt and return the product for a refund if you find it is counterfeit. That will deter retailers from stocking counterfeit products

• Buy original products in your budget range: Most brands have lines to suit all pockets so don’t let price make you buy counterfeit.

Counterfeiting of beauty products is harmful, not only to the beauty companies, but to your health too! So, the next time someone offers to sell you a counterfeit product, you need to tell them “Thanks, But No Thanks!”