There are a billion online beauty shops out there, how are we supposed to trust every single one? We shouldn’t. Buying clothes or toys online are one thing, but beauty products apply directly to your skin so if you purchase from a shady site, you could really harm yourself. Therefore I have researched the best way to spot a fake site, fake products, and get the real products you’re looking for!
The Product:
OMG don’t even get me started on Wish app!!! I really hate when bloggers or Youtubers order a bunch of products from apps like Wish and try them all on for views. I feel like you’re encouraging bad buying behavior and increasing the risk of getting shitty products. My friend at work was telling me about this makeup app (maybe it was Wish, I don’t remember) and how she was buying ELF products for $1 and Ulta makeup for $1 through this app.. I didn’t believe her until she showed me the app.. and you know what I saw? FAKE ASS MAKEUP. It’s like when people sell Kylie Jenner cosmetics on the street corner in Manhattan? Yeah, it’s all counterfeits. That’s why it’s a $1. Think about it – if it’s the real thing, why would they sell it on your app for $1 when they can sell it for $20 or $50 or $100?? The sad thing is unless the product packaging is mind-numbingly obvious, we won’t know the product is fake until we get a bad skin reaction from one.
The online store:
Most legit online stores will market their website really hard and have a bunch of social media accounts connected to it – Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, even Twitter! If the site does not have any of these accounts, I’d doubt it’s authenticity.
Appearance: It’s 2018, you can tell if a site looks really nice or just really shoddy. If the site breaks when you click on certain links, or the ads on the site itself look shady (inappropriate material) I’d say ‘X’ out before you get a virus on your computer.
Contacts: Check the ‘About’ or ‘Contact’ page! Do they have a headquarters address? Or an address at all? Is it just an email address or just a phone number? The more information they provide, the more you can feel safe.
Secure payment: Make sure the beginning of the url says HTTPS when you reach the payment stage of your checkout! Do they take paypal? If the site takes too long to load or they’re asking for too much information (like your social security number or birthday) GET OUT.
Return Policy: If the site says they don’t do ANY returns whatsoever, that’s a huge huge red flag. Why would you want to buy something online that you could not return EVER?Most sellers will have a policy or 30 days to return the product, hopefully a reimbursement of some sort~ Use Amazon’s return policy as a template. They have a basic policy most sellers have online!
Conclusion:
But by far, the most foolproof way to ensure you get the best service, the best conditions and the REAL product is to buy from the official brand shops. Like Sephora.com, UrbanDecay.com, you see what I mean~?
Last thing! Before you buy anywhere, check the reviews. Facebook makeup groups also give great advice of where to buy, Twitter is also a good resource. Or you could just google search the name and type “legit” or “real” or “fake” after it and see what pops up. If people had a great experience buying from there, that’s great news! If not, I wouldn’t even bother browsing their site at all. You don’t wanna lose your hard earned money for scammers.
I hope this helped a little bit for the next time you guys shop online! Be safe! Do you guys have any tips I missed? Lemme know in the comments!!
Until next time,
xoxo, hunnyy