How to Authenticate

How to Authenticate

CAN YOU TELL WHAT is FAKE?
Counterfeiters and their crimes are pretty close to an art form. With prices dropping in imaging hardware, it easier and a lot more affordable for some bootlegger to boils up their fragrances, in their basement. Digital technology has come of age to change everything’s we have taken for granted. You don’t need a rocket scientist to come up with a knockoff from their basement. Technology is cheap and easily available. Most average not so savvy consumer may never no the difference between genuine and bootleg regardless of where the product is purchased from.

Counterfeiting is a global problem; an estimated 10% of goods being produced and sold every year are attributed to counterfeits. But then again with almost everything being fake, take a walk down Rodeo Drive, or tinsel town Hollywood and Sunset Boulevard and you tell me what is fake. We still have Marilyn and Elvis walking up and down the Boulevard. How do you tell? What then is consider fake, copies, bootleg, knockoffs and so on.

There are no quick fixes. There are labs, that test for authenticity, but for the average consumer is just not cost effective. Proper test required skilled and proper conditions, the cost would probably cost many time more than the perfume itself if properly done. An average test cannot really authenticate the perfume, it may satisfy your quest but not necessary the true results. Unless you are prepare to pay mega bucks, to get it done right, you are better off sticking to a particular range of perfume that you are familiar with.

zDerma.com has warranty against fakes, knockoffs or bootlegs.

HEALTH RISKS
Counterfeit perfume or any personal hygiene toiletries are not manufacture to manufacturer guidelines and the usual international safety standards. Allergic reactions may occur to people with sensitive skin and could also stain garments if the ph is too high.

Expired PERFUME, Improper Storage
Perfume has a shelf-life just like your corner drugstore medicine. The expiration date is usually visible. The shelf-live periods also depends on storage temperature, humidity, light, length of storage and a range of elements can affect the validity of the perfume expired dates if not properly stored.

How did you end up with them
They could have come from auction houses, out of business inventory, and the list goes on. These typically end up in auctions, and usually bought by another stores or sold at street vendors, discount shops, auction sites, your neighborhood perfume store, who knows, it could be just about anywhere, even at unsuspecting reputable department stores. Don’t forget, the supply chain in today business is global. The prices could be expensive, that do not mean genuine, once again take walk down chick Melrose or Rodeo and you tell me what is real, a good indication of prima facie businesses.

Perfume Authenticity Checklist:

a) Confirm Reputable Source of Supply, which can be pretty difficult, even Department stores have problem trying to pin point the supply chain. You can verify the delivery has come from a reputable seller, that carries a healthy dose of inventory, thus, helps ensure they are not fly-by-night operators

b) Cellophane Wrapping. Check for overall quality, look and feel, Thickness and clarity. The texture of the cellophane, do not feels right, either it is too hard or too soft. Premium quality products usually have the packaging well thought out, in terms of “quality feel”. Make sure the cellophane is not just a repackage, which could look flawless.

c) Cellophane Sealing. Counterfeiters had become so sophisticated, that the untrained eyes can hardly detect most repackaging. Check for signs of excessive glue and especially use of any sticky tape is a good idea, if the manufacturer does not use shrink-wrap.

d) Outer Box. Check for overall quality of material used thickness, Color, fold marks and edges. A premium quality perfume usually comes in nice and thick materials, that’s not to say thin is fake. One good way to check the materials is tearing the box, good quality packaging materials do not tear as easy and also the materials do not break up on the tear.

e) Printing. Check for correct information printed on box. Size, Country of Origin, misspellings, logo, and trademarks. Check the style of printing and embossing if applicable. Checking of printing is important, fakes usually has misspelled words or similar sounding words and are usually sold by streets vendor. A knockoff could have all the right spelling and logo, trade marks down to the seams but the product is not genuine. You can find knockoff in just about all industry. The only way then is that you have use the product before or are very familiar with it. This is a tough problem, if thieves can counterfeit currencies, than make a perfume knockoff is a breeze.

f) Batch Number – Check for a number. It is a good idea to check for factory bar coding. A lot of times you may be able to track the origin. That is not to say if you have a different bar coding the product is fake. Due to international commerce, a lot of manufacturers have slightly different bar coding for different countries where the product is distribute for sale. But you may be able to find that out if needed.

g) Inner Box. Check overall quality of material used – color, fit and size. The premium product will have some extra packaging material stuff in and are usually nice to the feel and is the appropriate to the product.

h) Bottle Shape. Check overall quality - height – width – basic shape and design. Check to confirm that bottle look exactly like the box, check for descriptions on the box for matches on the bottle as well as the volume describe.

i) Bottle Glass. Check overall quality, thickness, clarity, molding marks, air bubbles within the glass. This again comes back to the problem of knockoff, the quality is almost as good if not better than the manufacturer, they are times that given two bottles, the manufacturer could not tell them apart, until you open it up and really do some comparisons

j) Cap, this is where you should pay attention to the color, shape and molding marks. Inferior moldings will show up on the inside of the cap. Check the inside of the cap for imperfections.

k) Sprayer Head, usually feels sticking, spray is uneven or just won’t spray at all. The materials of the spray head are also a good indication of bootlegs products. The quality of the disposable material is usually inferior. Check overall quality, color, materials, fit, smoothness and ease of operation.

l) Sprayer Inner Tube attention to interior materials use, size and fit is usually overlook, not intentionally but mainly because of cost and profit margin. Here is another good place to start. Check quality, thickness, fit, length and color.

m) Main Bottle Label. The main label is really hard to distinguish the difference of a high quality knockoff. With the sophistications in imaging and printing, your 10-year can do just the same, with the right equipment. If you can spot the label discrepancies, than you can probably pick up that bottle of perfume off the back of someone pickup truck. You should still check the quality of printing, size, positioning and look for embossing if applicable.

n) Bottom Label, is another placing to check, quality of printing, size correct and proper information.

o) Bar Code is on all products check to make you have them. Check number, size and scan ability. There may be variations of bar coding by manufacturers that have international operations. A different bar code do not necessary mean fake, but a good start. You may have to check with manufacturers origin.

p) Fragrance Color is important. You can tell if the ph is improper by the density of the product. Check for residue at bottom, murkiness, floaters and consistency of color. Shake it, color should not change unless suppose to.

r) Fragrance Oiliness is usually presence in bootleg product. More than usual the oiliness then to lingers. Check for excessive oily feel. Check for coagulation around caps, tube or foreign object that is in contact.

s) Fragrance Smell is probably the most difficult, unless you know your product pretty well. Check for pungent or unusual fragrance notes that just seem unacceptable. Not really a good indicator because of the variations and different appeals.

t) Fragrance lasting time is another factor. Now that you got through the smell test, lets see how long it is going to last. Test number of hours your perfume is lasting. You should get a got several hours depending on how, where, when, temperature, altitude, locations like humidity and so on. The average rule-of-thumbs should last at least 2 to 3 hours.

u) Skin Reactions is another sign to watch for. Skin reactions need not necessary means fake, if could mean the product might have expired shelf-life. But keep an eye out just in case it’s a lemon. Watch for itchiness, blemishes and rashes.

Bottom line, Stick with the product that you're comfortable with.

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