Cosmetics market: True or false, hard to predict!

Counterfeit cosmetics are a danger to women, but in today's market, counterfeit cosmetics are sold a lot.

After the discovery of a batch of cosmetics worth up to 11 billion VND of TS Vietnam Natural Company Limited being of unknown origin, which is being investigated by Hanoi City Police, public opinion has become even more confused. Many famous cosmetic brands suspected of being counterfeit but being sold at real prices are making consumers feel like they are falling into a maze.

After the cosmetic shipment of Thien Nhien TS Co., Ltd. was discovered and seized, many women were quite confused. Tens of thousands of cosmetic and functional food products were labeled as originating from Korea and New Zealand but could not present invoices and documents, making people skeptical.

Many people said that they spent a lot of money to buy cosmetics of famous brands, but they did not know whether they were real or fake, or fake goods labeled as real or not. Because there have been many cases of fake cosmetics production that were discovered and arrested, such as the case of Nguyen Van Thanh, residing in Can Tho, who bought floating ingredients and mixed them together to produce fake acne creams and skin creams of famous brands to sell at cheap prices.

Cosmetics with very famous Korean labels were seized by Quang Ninh Customs.

There was a case of cosmetics produced in Lang Son but when sold, they were labeled as made in Korea. The biggest concern is that cosmetics of many famous brands are produced in China but when imported to Vietnam, they will be labeled as made in France, the US, Japan, Korea... to be sold at high prices. Not long ago, consumers were "shocked" when they spent a long time buying fake imported high-end whitening creams such as Body Whitening Sasaki Snail Cream (made in Japan) and Body Whitening Hikato (made in Korea).

When Ho Chi Minh City Police inspected Phu Thinh Cosmetics Trading Production Company Limited (District 6) and discovered the technology to fake the above two types of cosmetics, consumers were horrified. This company mixed and cooked raw powders bought from the market, then poured them into stainless steel pots to cool and poured them into plastic boxes, packaged, and labeled them as skin whitening cream. Then, workers used hair dryers to press the film, creating a new, complete product to bring to market.

Counterfeiting methods are increasingly sophisticated in terms of design, model, and scent, leading to consumers being easily deceived. Quang Ninh Province Customs recently seized a large shipment of cosmetics labeled as originating from Korea, but the owner could not present invoices or documents to prove their origin. If this shipment is not stopped, when it enters the country, its price will be "inflated" and many women will lose money. So, in the cosmetics market, which products are genuine?

This question is difficult for women when the Market Management Department of Ho Chi Minh City said that in the number of inspections of violations in cosmetics business and production, fake brands accounted for 50%, poor quality goods accounted for 22%, fake designs and origins accounted for 17%, and the rest were imported goods without invoices or documents proving their origin.

From this figure, it can be seen that a part of Ho Chi Minh City consumers are using cosmetics every day that are not fake, counterfeit or low quality.

A walk around the cosmetics stores in Hanoi shows that the “sidewalk” cosmetics with famous brands sold at cheap prices are all fake branded goods. No one knows where they come from, but with affordable prices they are still widely consumed. Even cosmetics displayed in luxury stores, consumers do not know if they are genuine because the sellers do not show documents proving their origin to customers.

In a large cosmetics store on Hang Trong Street, lipsticks, powders, foundations, lotions, shampoos, hair dyes, etc. are not cheap. However, no one dares to guarantee that they are “genuine” products because the technology of imitating brands has reached a high level. Cosmetics with famous brands are often advertised and used by many women but are not necessarily genuine.

According to Mr. Luu Bach Chien, Team Leader of Team 2, Hanoi Market Management Department, in 2017, no production or sale of fake cosmetics was discovered in Hoan Kiem district. Through inspection in the last 6 months of 2017, Market Management Team No. 2 discovered 33 establishments selling foreign-made cosmetics without invoices or documents proving their origin, and confiscated 10,212 smuggled cosmetic products. Among the 33 establishments, the business area in Dong Xuan market discovered and confiscated the most smuggled cosmetics.

Typically, the inspection of stall 66A1 found 430 cosmetic products of various types of unknown origin; the inspection at number 9 Dong Xuan alley of Ms. Ta Thi Them found 1,180 cosmetic products of unknown origin... Through the inspection, many cosmetics were labeled as being produced in France, Japan, Germany... but were actually made in China.

A large amount of cosmetics are currently being sold online under the label of "hand-carried" goods and are being traded freely. The Hanoi Market Management Department has not been able to control cosmetics sold online, so people are still freely trading goods of unknown origin. The end of the year is when smuggled and counterfeit goods are brought to warehouses and yards, so it is thought that the Hanoi Market Management force needs to increase inspections to detect and prevent them in time./.

According to VOV