These days it’s become common to shop online for just about anything. Online shopping is so convenient—no traveling, no crowds, no pressure—no wonder almost everyone does it.
While ordering online is so much easier than driving to the mall, looking for a parking spot, walking to the shop, and then searching through shelves of products, there’s one big downside to it: counterfeits.
Back then, knockoffs were sold mostly on shady street corners; and people who buy them pretty much know they aren’t getting the real deal. Now, the online marketplace is swarming with fakes; and it’s becoming a big threat to consumers’ health and safety.
All kinds of counterfeit products can be bought online, even on major e-commerce sites, said a US Government Accountability Office report. And why not when it’s very easy to sign-up for an account on third-party sites like Lazada and Shopee, even Amazon and Walmart.com?
To be clear, e-commerce sites do have a vetting process and guidelines for screening products and/or sellers on their platforms. It’s just that the volume of fakes flooding the market has gotten so massive so rapidly that these companies almost couldn’t keep up.
But of course, some profit from this and are determined to “perfect their craft.” After all, some people knowingly buy “Class A” knockoffs of designer items, like shoes or clothes. It’s when we think we’re ordering an authentic product but end up getting a fake that it gets dangerous, especially when it comes to food, health, hygiene, and personal items.
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Why hair-building fibers are different from your usual volumisers
In our previous blog, we discussed why it’s important that you know how to tell the real Toppik products from the knockoffs. It’s because there have been reports of counterfeit products circulating around Southeast Asia, mostly from online shopping apps like Lazada and Shopee.
We can’t stress it enough: your safety is our concern, which is why we caution against these potentially harmful fakes. Hair-building fibers’ side effects are the result of low-grade ingredients and cheap materials that counterfeiters use to dupe consumers.
While “special offers” priced drastically lower than the suggested retail price are quite tempting, you’re putting your health at risk when you give in to these “promos.” Many counterfeiters market these fake Toppik products as an “OEM original,” but there’s no such thing.
Authentic Toppik Hair-Building Fibers are manufactured by Church & Dwight straight out from its US factory. They can be bought from authorised distributors, including Aremyhair, which have been thoroughly evaluated by the product makers.
Original Toppik Hair-Building Fibers went through careful R&D and strict quality controls to ensure the users’ safety. Not only that, Church & Dwight is an established company that’s built a good reputation since 1846. So, it’s in their best interest to keep the brand’s credibility intact.
Know more:
Church & Dwight, makers of trusted household name ARM & HAMMER
It’s easy to spot the difference when you’re actually looking at the product. It’s when you’re ordering online that things get tricky. When buying from unauthorised distributors, you have no way of knowing if they can be trusted at all.
However, most fakes have telltale signs, such as poorly printed labels and low-quality packaging. For instance, original Toppik products come in sleek, smooth containers while knockoffs come in containers with a grainy and uneven look. Note too that they’re tightly sealed for your protection, but NOT not shrink-wrapped in plastic like the counterfeits.
More importantly, original Toppik Hair-Building Fibers are made from 99.9% pure keratin protein while fakes use cheap synthetic materials. Several of these ingredients are not even human-grade and could cause irritation, scalp damage, even long-term medical complications.
To prevent such dangers, we at Aremyhair have prepared the matrix below.
REAL TOPPIK | FAKE PRODUCT | |
Product Origin | directly made and imported from US | marketed as “OEM original” |
Product Distribution | authorised dealers, including Aremyhair | third-party sellers/e-commerce sites |
Packaging | bottle not wrapped in plastic | bottle wrapped in plastic |
Front Label | written in English, French, and Spanish; font is smaller | written in English only; font is bigger |
Back Label | description is long, font size is big, words are compacted | description is short, font size is big, words are spaced far apart |
Manufacturing Info | Church & Dwight Co., Inc. | DIST. By Toppik INC. |
Protective seal | thick seal, firmly secured | thin and flimsy, easily removable |
Density (based on water experiment) | sinks to the bottom; no air pockets | floats on the surface; has air pockets |
Solubility (based on water experiment) | does not clump up when mixed with water | clumps up when mixed with water |
Effectiveness (based on water experiment) | evenly coats the skin | does not coat the skin; leaves residue |
Learn more:
How to use Toppik products and get the best results
Based on Aremyhair’s testing and experiment, the fake products act like oil when mixed with water, which is a sign of low density and poor manufacturing quality.
Authentic Toppik Hair-Building Fibers have a high density, which means it stays on your scalp even when you sweat. Fakes become lumpy and runny. These don’t bind with your natural hair, and easily come off when you sweat.
We’re encouraging everyone to be very mindful of the products you buy online, especially when they’re used in close contact with any part of the face and body.
We understand that different people have different budget concerns, which is why Toppik Hair-Building Fibers come in four sizes sold and various price points: Travel, Regular, Economy, and Giant.
PHOTO SOURCE: www.toppik.com
Remember: if it feels too good to be true, then it probably is! Share this blog with your friends and loved ones, so they too can identify the real deal from the knockoffs.