Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Mizon Snail Recovery Gel Cream Review: Real vs. Fake

First of all, I'm not gonna explain in detail why I'm not grossed out by snail extract. When it comes to skin care, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. I needed some time to get over my own fear, but there really isn't anything creepy about it. Now I can't live without snail products. I bought the real one from "Royal Wellness" on Amazon Germany for about 12 Euros (~16 US$) and the possibly fake one from "ideaseller_kr" on eBay (South Korea) for 6 US$. I'm not saying it definitely must be fake, I'm just strongly assuming. There can be fake products on Amazon too, I did receive fake Missha Perfect Cover BB Creams No. 21 and No. 23 from Amazon UK back in April. It always depends on the individual seller if the products are genuine or not.

1. Package:

From color tones to writings, the packages appear to be identical. It was very hard though to pull the silver Mizon Sticker off of the fake one (right), I had to destroy the sticker to open the carton. The real one (left) opened easily.

2. Tube:

The real one (left) has sharper edges on the top, while the fake one (right) has quite round edges and a slightly smaller tube. I have compared both tubes to photographs on www.mizon.co.kr and http://en.koreadepart.com,  realizing that the edges are in fact sharp and not round. There are also differences in colors, as the fake one has a darker pink color and the writings are darker and more visible. [Don't get confused by the big white sticker on the left tube, it's the address of the Amazon seller I bought it from.] They don't have the same caps either, but you can only tell by observing closely.

3. Texture:
Left (real) and right (fake). The texture seems to be very much the same. You can barely tell the difference by looking at and touching it. Both are made of some kind of translucent, water based gel consistency. They feel sticky at first, but absorb quickly and thoroughly, leaving no sticky or oily residue whatsoever. 

4. Scent:
The real one has a little bit of an artificial smell to it, it reminds me of glue. Some people say it smells like plastic. However, the smell disappears right after applying it, so no worries. The fake one has no particular scent, no matter how long I sniffed.

5. Effect:
I've been using the real one as the last step of my skin care routine, applying it after my cleanser, toner, serum or moisturizer and eye cream. It keeps my skin hydrated during day or night. Since I have combination skin (dry spots, oily t-zone), I can tell it works well on both, making my skin firmer and smoother than it was a few weeks ago. I mainly use it to treat breakouts and red spots. It makes fresh breakouts vanish incredibly fast (in a few hours up to 1-2days), but it also heals and brightens older scars and redness if you use it for a longer period of time. I'm not sure if it reduces wrinkles and  fine lines though, I do have fine lines around my under eye area and I haven't noticed any significant improvements. As I've received the fake one today, I can't say anything about the effects yet. Maybe I will update this in a couple of days.

6 comments:

  1. have you tried the fake one yet?

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    1. yes, i tried it for a couple of days. i didn't notice any effects at all, good or bad, so i gave up.

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  2. It's crazy how they make fake products, like who has the time??
    www.pinkivorys.blogspot.com

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  3. Hello, because this is an old post, do we know how an original mizon recovery gel cream looks like now? I ordered one from eBay and i would like to know how to recognize if its real or fake..

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    1. yes please! can somebody tell us how to tell the difference between fake one and original, because packaging could be changed.

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