What separates real from fakes? And how can you buy authentic K-Beauty products with confidence? Here’s how:

How To Tell The Difference Between Real And Fake Skincare

Is The Price Too Good To Be True?

This one is pretty simple.

The product price set by the brand (the retail price) is what it is. If you find the product at way below retail price, it’s worth asking yourself if you’ve found the deal of the century, or if it’s just a plain fake.

Of course there are other legitimate reasons why a product might be well priced – it might be being discontinued, heavily discounted because its nearing its expiry date or any other myriad of reasons like the shade is unpopular. But this is nevertheless one of the signs to look out for.

Examine The Seller

It’s always tempting to look for deals on marketplace platforms, cheap offline stores or even markets. But this is not a great way to guarantee a real product.

Especially when it comes to some of the marketplace platforms, they are known to pool their stock together, so even if one seller is selling authentic products, if they become mixed with fakes, you could get unlucky.

If you can’t buy directly from the brand, buy from an authorised retailer (like Style Story).

We pride ourselves on being the only Australian K-Beauty retailer with a full-time team based in South Korea. Our Seoul team deals directly with the Korean brands and is always keeping an eye out for the next big thing in K-Beauty.

Proper Presentation

Whether you’re shopping online or offline, one of the easiest ways to tell between real and fake skincare products is to check the packaging and labelling.

Are there spelling errors? Differences in the packaging? Faded printing? Wonky stickers and labels?

These are a few of the tell-tale signs that you might not be shopping the real deal.

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So My Skincare Products Are Fake. So What?

Fair question.

Fake products can range in quality, with decent ones maybe getting close to what they’re trying to replicate.

It’s all in the branding – but not how you might think. While it’s easy to be cynical about big brand names, these brands usually take the importance of protecting their reputation seriously. This means having oversight on their entire manufacturing process, proper quality control and passing regulatory tests to ensure they’re safe for sale.

For fakes, a big part of the draw is capturing the experience of that brand at a much cheaper price. Therefore, it’s in the interests of fake skincare manufacturers to squeeze out every cent of profit, which means they’ll cheap out on making the product as much as possible. Quality control and product safety take a backseat, because fake manufacturers don’t need to worry about their reputation.

At best, this might mean the ingredients aren’t the same quality. At worst, the ingredients could be completely different, and potentially harmful for you.

Which product would you trust on your skin?

Wait, I Love Buying Dupes. Should I Be Worried?

Of course not!

The widely accepted definition of “dupes” within the skincare community are skincare products that have similar ingredients to more expensive options.

In fact, a way that a lot of K-Beauty fans get started with Korean skincare is through searching for dupes of skincare grails.

If you love hunting for great dupes, keep at it! Dupes are not fake products – just similar ones, from different brands.  

Have you ever wondered “Did I get a fake K-Beauty product?’ Let us know your experience in the comments section below.

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