REVIEW: Differentiating Between AUTHENTIC and FAKE Chanel Fragrance

Hi All, today I will be doing a review on AUTHENTIC vs FAKE Chanel Fragrances. 

As a disclaimer, I DO NOT claim to be an expert in authenticating Chanel fragrances. These are all based on my own research and personal experience. 

Please take a look at pictures of this No 5 Chanel Perfume that I bought off Ebay. 

Just by looking at the BOX itself, everything actually looks pretty good. I even received this item BRAND NEW, with the clear plastic wrap on it. BUT, it is actually a FAKE. surprise! 

Now, let's look at the perfume bottle. I have circled some of the issues with the bottle. 

INDICATOR #1 OF A FAKE PERFUME: 

Take a look at the base of this bottle. It is uneven. on the authentic, it should be symmetrical on both ends. 

The cap is LOOSE. I am unable to show this on the photo, but the cap comes right off and does not snap onto the bottle. 

I can't say much about the smell because I haven't smelled the No5 prior to this, but I will do a better review once I get a bottle of the authentic. 

INDICATOR #2 OF A FAKE PERFUME: 

 The font size is off. There is no (®) after Chanel. The circle is also sloppy and again, uneven. What's even worse.. it is a STICKER... 

INDICATOR #3 OF A FAKE PERFUME: 

Look at how sloppy this glue residue is. Additionally, the backside of this sheet should reflect and say Chanel on it. But this one does not. 

INDICATOR #4 OF A FAKE PERFUME: 

If the price is too good to be true, then it probably is. Although I do believe that sometimes one may come across really good deals, unless you are unable to authenticate the perfume, you are at a risk of purchasing a fake. I paid $38 for this fake. The authentic retails for $135. 

The seller listed it as authentic and had many positive feedbacks so I thought it was okay. I received a refund for this product, and decided to do a review on this product because not a lot of people seem to know how to authenticate. 

Note that the seller told me he got it from a supplier and seemed to not know that the perfume was fake. He said he would talk to his supplier about this. Honestly, I do not know how true this is, but IMO if he's selling these perfumes for $38, this means they were purchased in bulk for a much lower price. He would not list them at $38 if he is not profiting off of them. Thus, I have a reason to believe the seller does know it is fake, and only those who really know if it is authentic or not have left negative feedbacks for the seller. 

AUTHENTIC VS FAKE COMPARISON 

Below are some photos of an Authentic Platinum Egoiste Cologne vs the Fake No 5 Perfume I received. Although these are two different fragrances, there are still some similarities that can be found between the two to distinguish that the NO 5 is a fake.

In terms of font size and everything, I can't spot any differences, so the box really had me fooled. 

Subtle difference between the back of the box, but when I first got it, I didn't put much notice into it since it was pretty similar. 

Bottom of the box. This is where there are seemingly more differences. The font sizes inside of the two rectangular boxes are different. The box sizes are different. The bar codes are placed differently. Again, I didn't put much notice into it since I figured they were both two different fragrances and thought they were just designed differently. 

Picture comparisons of the bottles. 

They did pretty good on the fake. If you compare the "N" on No 5 with an authentic one, there should be a huge difference in font size. I have an authentic bottle coming to me soon, so I plan to do another review. 

I looked up many different types of Chanel Perfumes and all bottoms of the bottles have fonts ETCHED onto it. 

Notice the differences on the authentic that says Chanel ® vs the fake that says Chanel Inc. 

This is the major giveaway. 

This is a bit hard to tell, but the platinum has a more symmetrical base, whereas the no5 does not. 

Below are some additional photos of AUTHENTIC CHANEL FRAGRANCES

 
Platinum Egoiste box and Egoiste box. Both are pretty much the same except for different numbers on the bar code as well as the numbers on the bottom right and left corners.

On authentic boxes, there is some sort of serial number etched onto the box. Refer to the 2nd photo of the No 5 at the beginning of my post. The No5 box does not have any numbers etched on. 

In conclusion, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, Authenticate ANY AND ALL FRAGRANCES before buying them online. If they are too good to be true, they most likely are. 

This is not just a simple matter of buying real vs fake. It is more of a skin concern. When you buy a bottle of authentic Chanel perfume, you know and trust that the ingredient label is correct on the back of the box. But when you buy a fake like this, they are merely copying the list of ingredients onto the box to make it look the same. But are the ingredients really the same? Additionally, where are these products being made? Is the product even safe on your skin??? There are SO many safety concerns due to the unknown origins of the fakes. 

DO NOT RISK IT. 

I wasn't asked to return the fake perfume I received. I do not intend to spray it on my skin. Perhaps I will use it as a room freshener. 

Sometimes, good deals just come about and maybe you will be lucky and get an authentic bottle at a cheap price. I will not rule this possibility out. I have seen tester fragrances being sold at a cheap price. These are meant to be demos at stores but probably do not end up being used and are sold online. 

For these, I have seen words such as "DEMONSTRATOR" or "TESTER" and "NOT FOR SALE" ETCHED onto these bottles. That is one way to know it is authentic. 

As I have mentioned, I have some authentic NO5 perfumes coming to me, and will post an updated review on the difference between authentic and fake. 

Hope this helps.