I was watching Life of Kylie this week and found the exposé on counterfeit cosmetics, in particular black market Kylie Cosmetics, immensely interesting – and disturbing. I then came across a short documentary from Refinery29 where they went to Santee Alley in Downtown Los Angeles’ notorious shopping district. They discovered street markets filled with popular cosmetic products including Kylie Cosmetics, Anastasia Beverly Hills and M.A.C at deeply discounted prices. But remember as the old saying goes, if it seems too good to be true, it usually is…

The video below shares insight into how undercover counterfeit cosmetics busts are carried out and the length companies like Estée Lauder go to in protecting their brand and importantly, us as consumers. Thank goodness they do! Hearing the ingredients used in fake cosmetic products is scary and the dirty, unregulated conditions they’re made in leaves you shuddering at the thought of putting them on your face.

Through seeing this, you realize how careful you need to be about where you buy cosmetics. I’ve never bought beauty or makeup products from a street vendor, but over the years I have got a few things from eBay thinking they were the real deal. After watching this, I would never do it again… you just don’t know where they’re from! Fake beauty products can look almost identical to the real thing, however as the video below shows, the ingredients are very different and potentially dangerous.

Learning about black market beauty products made me more aware of this issue and I had to share it with you too. Counterfeit cosmetics are something we all need to know about. If you’re going to shop outside retail or department stores, it’s important to learn how to tell whether a beauty product is fake.

Have you ever seen counterfeit cosmetics in real life? Did they look authentic? I’d love to hear your thoughts, leave a comment below and I’ll email you back – let’s chat!

Counterfeit Cosmetics From Kylie Cosmetics, M.A.C and more…

I hope this information helps to keep you safe from buying counterfeit cosmetics. Please leave a comment and share your thoughts, I’m interested to chat about this more.

Thank you for joining us at the Friday Faves Link Up! I hope you enjoy connecting with other bloggers, reading their favorite posts of the week, sharing your favorite post and making new friends all over the world. We’re so lucky to be part of this amazing community! Remember, you can share anything in the link up and be sure to visit and say hello to the blogger listed before and after you. Link up’s are all about networking and making wonderful connections, trust me – it’s worth the effort.

Would you like to host the Friday Faves Link Up? Register here and let’s organize a date! It’s a great way to meet people and promote your blog.

<div align="center"><a href="https://stylelixir.com" title="Style Elixir"><img src="http://i1306.photobucket.com/albums/s570/stylelixir/FFFLinkUpButton200x200_zpsab036813.png" alt="Style Elixir" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Join The Link Up Now!