Yes, FAKE MAC BRUSHES abound on s

I started getting into makeup last year. Midlife crisis thing. So, I heard the MAC brushes were "da bomb" and thought to get some. I knew zip about what they were really like or should look like, but, hey, when an okay seller says they're M.A.C and they've got lots of great feedback, I was naively trusting.Turns out my batch of MAC brushes are all fakies. Mine were clearly better than some of the more overt fakes out there that don't attempt to even look the part: They came in the plastic sleeve. They had the black, not shimmery handles. They had the "Japan" pressed (no coloring) into the handle. They had the MAC with the ### per brush. There was a bar code on the sleeve.How I could tell they were fake, considering mine had the handle color, metal color, shape, lettering that all looked right in the okay picture and in real life? How to tell they were fake since I"d never used a real MAC or even SEEN one live?Well, this might help. Look for the difference or quality in:1. Smell2. The type of barcode sticker 3. The lettering of the "MAC ###"4. Softness level5. Deepness of black color on handleNOTE: The smell is different. I bought a REAL MAC BRUSH at the MAC COSMETICS STORE to geplete my "collection" and brought it home for geparison. Dang. It smelled different, FELT different (much softer), and then I came online and searched for "fake MAC brushes" and found out that I was not the only one duped.LOOK FOR THIS:The real MAC brush had the sticker incorporated into the sleeve. The ones I bought had the sticker STUCK onto the sleeve (not part of the sleeve, but a white sticker stuck on it.The real MAC brush had a pleasant wood smell. The fake one did not.The real MAC brush's identification lettering (the MAC ###) felt noticeably different than the fake one's. Do this: Run the pad of your index finger along the lettering. Now, run your nail on it, back and forth. The real one has a slight noticeableness to it, but it's not indented. It doesn't make a sound when you rub your nail. Just rubbing on wood sound. ~ The fake on has the MAC ### carved into it, so that when you rub your nail on it, it makes a noticeable scraping sound due to the indented number and letters. (If you're Hispanic, think of the "guiro" percussion instrument. Real MAC brushes aren't guiros. This fake one is a mini-one.)I also found the black color of the real one more intense, deeper, less reflective than the fake ones. (Some guides here say look for "shimmer". I would call it depth in my fakes. No real shimmer, per se, but definitely not as black and matte. Maybe that is shimmer. level, but maybe this clarifies a bit.)I had been worried about my Dec 2007 MAC brush okay purchase because they didn't feel that super soft that the reviews I'd heard had led me to expect. I also noticed huge shedding issues. I mean, lots of hairs left behind on my face. (That was a tip-off, natch). It says something about how crappy my previous make-up brushes were, that these fakes did a better job then my cheapo drugstore brushes. Still, I'm afraid to wash them and watch them fall aprart.I just bit the bullet and bought several real MAC brushes (ouch!) and can't wait to use them. Advice: don't buy ANY ANY ANY MAC brushes or cosmetics online. Just save up for the real ones and play it safe with your face and wallet. (If you really trust the seller and the price is not really a "bargain," it may be real, but why risk it on an "investment" product like brushes that you want to last you for years and years doing a good job?)More Advice: Research everything before buying on okay, especially those super bargains. I was naive and didn't think about fakes. Now, I know. Do a google or okay guide search for whatever you're buying and save yourself the hassle of regret. I paid 80 bucks for brushes I'll be tossing under my sink as "only emergency backups." I could have had two real MAC brushes for that.If it's on okay and it's cheap: Assume it's fake.