So what's with MAC at Target?

So you may or may not know that Target Australia was selling MAC Cosmetics at 40% off their normal retail recommended price. I mean, who doesn't love a bargain?! Sounds too good to be true right? Yes, it is indeed so! I found out today about an article which was written by many online newspapers like SMH and The Age (a link is posted down below of this post). I wanted to be one of the first to write about this but no doubt that probably a majority of Australian Beauty Bloggers will be doing the same shortly.

I wanted to wait until there was an official comfirmation before writing this controversal post that has been circulating the whole Australian Beauty Bloggers Community and has everyone sitting on the edge of their seats waiting for a definite answer. I'm so glad there's finally some closure and that there's also legal action taken upon this.

Many Australian bloggers questioned the authencity of the MAC products being sold at Target. At first when I heard that MAC was going to be sold at Target I was like... "That's weird, maybe it's discontinued or old/excess stock." I went to a few Target stores around my area to check it out.  Below is the image I saw when I got the catalogue in the mail.

This was the advertised MAC products from the Target Catalogue in late August last month. Notice how there's no MAC logo's? Target said that this was cause of copyright. If it was cause of copyright and if they were authentic why would they not display the MAC logo so distinctively? Why are other products like L'Oreal and Maybelline displayed? Dodgy. 

The 'MAC' Stands at Target. Same scenario with the logos. Where are they?!

I love how it is depicted as 100% Authentic Cosmetics... another dodgy way to convince a customer. 

I had a first hand look of the products myself. 

The prices listed in the catalogue are as follows:

• Studio Fix powder plus foundation - $29 (Normally $52~)
• Blush Powder - $24 (Normally $39~)
• Lipglass - $21 (Normally $40~)
• Eye Kohl Pencil - $19 (Normally $30~) 
• Lipstick - $21 (Normally $36)
• Eyeshadow - $19 (Normally $33)

The prices are a rough idea. I tried to remember the prices off by heart.



To the undeceiving eye, yes the products look genuine but being a huge MAC fanatic and also one that owns many MAC products AND to the fact that I've mistakenly owned a fake MAC before (cousin purchased as a gift and gave to me) as well as the numerous articles about comparisons of fake MAC's (way before the whole Target issue - such a long sentence...) I knew instantly that these we're anywhere near genuine.

There was no testers and obviously no display of the MAC logo anywhere either on catalogue or stands. As the layout of the products were poorly displayed, it did not depict MAC's prestigious brand so glamorously.

You'd expect a high end product like MAC to be presented as if it was presented nicely and polished just like how you would see it at a MAC store or counter at David Jones or Myer. Target just threw together this stand where Bloom Cosmetics was previously sold and obviously was not really appealing.

Anywho, I questioned the obvious "Why would a large company like Target sell counterfeit products?" Yes, it's definitely too good to be true and the thing that annoys me the most is that some people (especially on the Target Australia facebook page) were happy knowing that these were knockoffs or that MAC is just like any other brand and just has a 'MAC' logo on it.

It annoys me so so much because a large brand (especially being the brand I highly favor as well as use often everyday) is being badly presented by people who claim that their just cheap products being labelled or that their quality (depicted by the products sold at Target) is being poorly portrayed. Not only that, many were oblivious to the comparisons and claimed that they look and work like the real thing.

But hey, stop there. I know everyone has their thoughts about MAC when it was sold at Target. I know to my extent that I would not purchase it (especially after reading numerous comparison articles and the obvious signs of the missing signature vanilla scent MAC has with their lipsticks as well as the stickers and colour of their font and size)

Here's some images taken from Little Deniseland's Blog (which I'm a proud follower of!) she compared the packaging of a MAC blush she purchased. You can read more about her post here

The Left is the Authentic MAC and the Right is the Fake. 

You can read more about her MAC lipstick post (purchased from Target) as well here! 

Anyways, this extract taken from MAC Australia's website says it all.

M·A·C Cosmetics has conducted extensive testing in our US laboratories and found that M·A·C marked products that were, until recently, being sold at Target Australia are counterfeit. We notified Target Australia and they have withdrawn the products from their shelves and website. We cannot guarantee the quality or safety of products not purchased from an authorized retailer of M·A·C Cosmetics. Target Australia is not an authorized retailer of M·A·C Cosmetics and we did not supply any M·A·C products to Target Australia. We urge our customers to shop at our authorized retailers to ensure the M·A·C Cosmetics products they buy are authentic and meet the quality and safety standards that we promise.

In Australia, our authorized retailers are M·A·C freestanding stores, www.maccosmetics.com.au, M·A·C Pro stores, MYER and David Jones or call our customer care line on toll free at 1800 613 828.

M·A·C Cosmetics is committed to providing the highest quality, on-trend products to our consumers around the globe. We take this responsibility very seriously and are unwavering in our commitment to provide consumers with products that meet our quality and safety standards.

To add to this, you really don't know what chemicals are being added to this 'replicas' little do you know that this may damage your skin permanently. You may be saving money but it is priceless and sometimes irreversible to see the damage that has been done to your skin with these products. At least you know when you pay for an authentic product you are always welcome to exchange or refund the product and also know not be exposed to any unknown or unsafe chemicals that may lie in these fakes.

You can read more about the MAC Fakes being sold at Target here. What are your thoughts on this issue and did you purchase any MAC products from Target?

Love, J 

*Disclaimer: Images were taken from TheBeauteBuzz as well as Little Deniseland's blog.