Quote: Originally Posted by
mjreynolds32 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I purchased several of the "factory blem" lipsticks from them. They seemed too good to be true, and in my case they were.
All of the color name labels were removed, but the odd thing was that they left a white paper behind where they were torn off. It seems almost impossible for a real Mac label to tear off in this way.
The packaging on the bullets all had subtle differences from lipstick to lipstick - the metal ring in the center was a different width on one, one actual lipstick was slightly wider and the plastic that held it in was slightly wider too, and there were smudges in the glitter on the plastic case of one that made it look as though it were sprayed on rather than molded in.
None of the lipsticks I received had a classic Mac vanilla scent - one was very fruity and the others didn't have much fragrance other than a slight sweet hint of something almost floral.
I also purchased a Mac lip glass in the color Jealous from an old limited edition collection. The box it came with had a Korean label on it and it smelled really terrible - it had a very strong scent kind of like the old tubes of plastic balloons that I got as a kid had. The color was seperated and I had to really mix it with the lip wand to get it to combine the shimmer and the gloss. I thought it would be nice to use as a color shift but it was really goopy and sticky and in the end unuseable due to the bad smell.
I can't imagine Mac wanting a product like this available for purchase still. If I had bought it from a blog sale I might think it was just rancid from age and that it had been opened, but between the Korean labels and the weird seperation issues I don't think it was real. If I would've saved the money I could've had two real lipsticks from the CCO or even the Mac website. I won't buy from ACW again, and if I had realized they didn't even provide a phone number for customer service issues I would never have bought from them at all.
Isn't this the case, in general, of any brand's "factory blems"? It is listed clearly on their website these all have some sort of issue to them, they can't promise anything because of that. Those items in that sale category aren't indicative of the rest of the items on their website. I'm not saying everything is for sure legit etc, but I don't personally feel anybody has a "right" to complain about factory blems when it is clear as crystal what you're knowingly getting into before buying them. The Korean label is weird though. Did you end up contacting them about that/did they say anything back?
My own experience with ACW:
I've bought stuff from them 3 times. The first was a large order, containing a lot of UD eyeshadows, some old limited edition mini cheek stains by Tarte, and several Nars lip glosses. The second order was kind of small, another couple glosses by Nars and something else I don't remember... and then my last order was from December last year, and I ordered some Edward Bess products.
I have never had an issue with any products I picked, as far as being authentic. Everything was in new condition, nothing funny about them, and they were all products I was familiar with. I did end up throwing the cheek stains away after a few months, but it was because they weren't very pigmented and kind of greasy. But that was an issue with Tarte, before they reformulated the product, and I knew how old they were when I decided to buy them because I know when those stains were released. I knew before buying them I was chancing it on those, they didn't have good product reviews. It was one of those "I have to see for myself....they're SO cheap anyways" moments.
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My Edward Bess products were brand new, in box, and nothing wrong with them. The Nars products were all perfect, as well as the UD eye shadow sets. I did end up giving the UD away to a family member though, turns out I don't actually wear most of the wild colors in them and I liked looking at it more than using it, lol, it needed a new home. I don't buy anything that says it is "unboxed" though. It needs to be in the original box, in new condition for me. And I always google image search the product to read reviews/see what it looks like to make sure it matches what I see on their webpage.
I've never had any issues with them, nothing wrong with or missing/damaged in an order. I get my confirmation emails promptly, and my order a few days later. I've never had to contact the people running it, so I can't vouch for that area. I also like to wait for their sales before buying from them. They have good 20-30% off promo codes a lot.
The only thing I'm not happy with is they got rid of payment through Amazon checkout. My first two orders they had that, but the third I had to pay through them/their website. Seemed to go fine so far as I can tell. This third order happened in the middle of their re-vamped site. My password etc still works for my account with them.
I don't really get the obsession with people's mac lemmings, I just don't get the hype. But I've looked at, and considered buying, a few mac products from ACW... it doesn't seem like the prices are that good of a steal compared to just buying through mac etc. I guess if it is limited and sold out...but I'd still not personally buy a limited product from an unknown source with the amount of fake goods by that brand going around. Mac seems to be one of the worst ones for fakes. It isn't worth it to save a couple dollars. I look for better deals money wise, like a 26$ Nars lip gloss for 15$, and a 60$ Edward Bess face compact for 37$... mostly items still in production in stores, I'm just too cheap to pay so much unless I LOVE it already. I've never received anything close to being expired from ACW. Even the Tarte cheek stains that were greasy and melt-y weren't expired, just bad to begin with from the get-go by Tarte.
There is (or at least there used to be) a lot of hits online about ACW, and most were pretty positive. I looked around the web for weeks before buying from them. Just be careful, don't buy factory blemished items, compare prices.