Jeffree Star Lipstick - Real vs Fake

I have a lot of Jeffree Star's Velour Liquid Lipsticks. All of them, in fact (I know, I know, I'm a terrible person with no morals etc). But there was a period in time where if you didn't grab a new Jeffree release the moment it was available for sale, you missed out. Luckily, either the hype has died down due to his controversies this year, or he really has been working to make more units available for launches. Either way, I could not get hold of Gemini, and I wanted it BADLY!

Gemini was released in the summer, and I was unable to get it on the first release and following restock. So I took myself off to eBay to find one. I didn't think it'd be a problem, I'm pretty good at spotting fakes and I have bought one Jeffree Star product from eBay previously that had been real. I was wrong!

I paid £19.99 for Gemini, a terracotta red matte liquid lipstick. It arrived in a couple of days and I was so mad to find out that it was a fake! I mean, I paid more than retail price for this lipstick, I (wrongly) assumed it would be genuine! Now I have a genuine Gemini bought from Jeffree's website, I've taken some comparison picturess in the hope that this will help other people to spot counterfeit products.

Firstly, let's look at the boxes they come in;

Left: Genuine, Right: Fake

Left: Genuine, Right: Fake

Left: Genuine, Right: Fake

Left: Genuine, Right: Fake

Left: Genuine, Right: Fake

Left: Genuine, Right: Fake

At first glance, they appear to be almost identical. The boxes are the same shade of pink, with the metallic JS logo on the front. The writing on the front and sides is identically worded in white lettering. The writing is slightly closer together on the fake one, but the font and colour are the same, and I haven't spotted any differences in spellings - feel free to correct me though!

You can see that the stickers with the shade names are completely different, with the genuine sticker sealing the box closed. The fake has a small colour coordinated sticker with two stars and the shade name. However, if I remember correctly, this is how the lipsticks originally came labelled in the past,

There is also a serial number on the bottom of the real box, with nothing on the fake.

Left: Genuine, Right: Fake

Again, the tubes look almost identical. If you look closely though, you can see that the colours differ slightly and that the tube on the fake product is slightly taller than the genuine one. It's hard to tell from these pictures, but the counterfeit products have a darker shade of pink on the packaging.

Left: Genuine, Right: Fake

The genuine lipstick has a sticker on the bottom with the shade name, this counterfeit one has nothing on the bottom. Here are some comparison swatches. I swatched them on my arms, and have had no reaction to the fake lipstick, but that does not mean that they don't contain dangerous ingredients, and because of this there's no way I'm risking a lip swatch!

The genuine product is at the top, and the fake underneath. You can see that the fake is darker and more of a brick red than terracotta, but the shade match isn't completely off so I can see how easily people can be duped by these fake items!

Now, the counterfeit lipstick I received may not be identical to another counterfeit produced and sold by someone else, so these are just a guideline. In general, the easiest way to tell a fake Jeffree Star liquid lipstick from a real one, is by the wand. 

Left: Fake, Right: Genuine

The doe foot wand on a Jeffree Star lipstick is quite distinctive (unfortunately, my camera didn't want to focus on it). The doe foot should look a little "fluffy" and have a curve to it, this is to help the wand cover the curves in your lips effortlessly, and the doe foot should be flexible. The wand in a genuine Jeffree Star liquid lipstick is clear, not white.

The wand on this fake product is white, and has a long, flat doe foot applicator. the inner part of the lid is white, where it should be pink and this particular lipstick should have a ""root beer float" (or cat pee as some like to describe it!) scent. A fake will not be scented. Not all of the liquid lipsticks in this range are scented, but if you check the official Jeffree Star Cosmetics website it should say on the shade description if it is scented or not.

I have definitely learned my lesson about buying from eBay, and I hope this blog helps others out! If you're in doubt, message the seller and ask for proof of purchase. Or better still, buy direct from Jeffree Star Cosmetics, Beautylish or one of his other official stockists. A list can be found at https://jeffreestarcosmetics.com/pages/faq. Currently the only UK stockist is Beauty Bay who currently have a huge selection of shades in stock and offer next day delivery for those of us who have a serious makeup addiction and no patience!