Those of you in my Facebook Group know how much I have been wanting OPI Mad as a Hatter. I have been through a lot lately trying to get my hands on a real bottle of this at a reasonable cost. I refuse to pay the ridiculous prices right now on ebay. I have seen this polish sell for as much as $75 a bottle on there, which is outrageous IMO!
I have recently come across a website who admittedly "makes their own" OPI because they import raw materials from the US and France and sell them as genuine. I placed an order with them before I found this out. But once I did, I opened up a paypal dispute and insisted that they refund my money. I refused their shipment and I have since received a refund. Personally, I will not knowingly support a company who is making counterfeit product. Yeah sure, you can get the same look for less. But when it comes to nail polish, there are lots of harmful ingredients that they could be using. You have no idea what type of quality control they have, and what is in that bottle. Who knows what it could be doing to your health by putting that on your nails. Its not right and its not safe. So beware of companies online selling MAAH. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.
Since then, I saw a listing on ebay for MAAH, Buy it Now for only $18.95 with free shipping. It was a heck of a deal, there were about 30 for sale in the listing, and they all sold out within a few hours. I was leery about this because of the cost, and the fact that is was on ebay. Although I have ordered lots of OPI from ebay, I only ever received fakes one other time. Again, if its too good to be true it probably is. But I ordered one anyways. I also had a swap coming from my friend Jen, she was also sending me MAAH, but a real one. I was looking forward to comparing the two, along with my MAAH mini that I have, to see if they all looked the same or if there was noticeable difference. Both bottles arrived today and there are OBVIOUS differences to them. I took lots of photos for you to compare for yourself.
I have since emailed the ebay seller. He says he will be refunding my money once I ship it back. I have no problem with sending it back. I don't want a fake. I am worried about the other people who ordered from him though. I am sure the other bottles of MAAH are fakes as well, since they came from the same place. I have noticed several people have left the seller positive feedback for the item, so they probably have no idea that they received a fake. Or maybe they do and they don't care. Or perhaps they will be reselling them on ebay for even more money. I hope the seller decides to do something about this.
Onto the photos, I suggest clicking them to see the details up close.
Fake on right. Notice the height difference of the lids? The lid on the right is also crooked.
Fake in middle. Comparison to a genuine OPI on right that I purchased from authorized retailer.
This one I suggest clicking. You can see the difference in color of the glitter. Fake on right. It has RED and GREEN glitter, the genuine has pink and teal. Also look at the print on the bottle. It looks "off" doesn't it?
Close up of the fake bottle. Notice the red and green glitter??
Genuine bottle. Pink and teal glitter.
Comparison again, fake on right. Take a look at the print, its different on the back as well.
The labels are different. The one of the right is an obvious fake.
Tops of the lids, this time the fake is on the left.
Comparison to my mini bottle. Fake on left.
Another close up of the fake.
Close up comparison to the mini. Fake on left.
Close up comparison to the mini, both bottles have the same colored glitter.
Height comparison. Fake on right. Notice how the lid is crooked and higher.
Which one is the fake? The one on the right. Look at that print on the bottle!
Another lid comparison. Fake on right.
Fake on right.
Red and green glitter, dead giveaway.
Pink and teal glitter, genuine.
Genuine.
Fake on right.
Fake on right.
Check out those lids! Fake on right.
Crooked lid. Obvious fake.
Fake on right. Again look at the difference in the lids.
Fake on right.
So, what do you think about this? Do you see the differences? Have you ever come across a counterfeit OPI before? Does it make you more cautious of buying online? What do you think the seller should do to resolve this?
