[UPDATED 2016.12.25] How to spot Fake Holika Holika Aloe 99% Soothing Gel

Well, I have to admit at first about how I can be so fool not to suspicious about the price of this Holika Holika Aloe 99% Soothing Gel. It was like crazy cheap, 70% from the original retail price at Mall Taman Anggrek counter. I once bought this there and the price is like 208k for 2 product (Soothing Gel and Shower Gel). Normally, the price will be 208k for 1 bottle each. So yeah, I was a stupid foo to be misguided by cheap price. 

So here I am to redeem myself, to tell you how to spot the fake stuff of this product. I love this product so much anyway, it makes my skin very hydrated and smooth, so no matter how judgemental I am in here, it's solely for you who was confused or even unconsciously fooled by the seller who sell the fake items or even didn't know if there is the original one.

For the person who already own the original one, it will be very easy to spot the fake one. But when I receive this, I don't even have the real product on my hand on that moment. So how do I spot it?

A. The appearance of the bottle (front side)

1. Color

The bottle color is almost the same but different in so many reason. You can see here the left one have yellowish and darker aloe vera green but the right one is oddly green. Like, it's not very natural green. 

2. Font

ALOE font on the left one is thinner and the right one is.... You can see it by yourself.

3. Do you see anything odd from here? It's not about the filling inside (I have use the left one and almost finish). If you can see it, you are a champion! If not, let me give you a hint. It's on the bottom...

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It's the Bottle CAP! The left one can be opened from the front and the right one? It can be opened from the other side.

B. The appearance of the bottle (back side)

1. Label Sticker

See how its look similar but different? The color might be shown so similar in this photo, but I can assure you more difference later after this. Sticker position is bit different but it might human error or is it?! Is it human error?! Or is it solely just fake product who failed to replicate the original one?!!! 

2. CAP!! 

Can you see the seal on the right side just like I told you before? Yes it can be opened from the backside while the left one can be opened from the front side. Quite a different huh. Not many people will spot this since it's only a cap, but did you know why this cap position matter? That's to know which is fake and original. Thanks God the fake product manufacture didn't notice this or all the fake product will look exactly the same!!!!

[*UPDATE 1: i saw an advertisement of this product and the direction of the bottle cap opened the same side with fake one!!!! So dangerous!! How to spot the big difference leaves to the label sticker only now! I will find out about this soon for the sake of it!! ToT]

[*UPDATE 2: the cap position is the real deal! The original one can be opened from the front side of the bottle and the fake is from the back side. OH YEAH!! I was right about this!!!] 

[*UPDATE 3 2016.12.25: I just bought another new Holika Holika Aloe Soothing Gel and the cap position for the bottle is now reversed. So the cap position can't be used to differentiate the fake and the original ones!]

C. In depth Label Sticker reading.

I decide to read the label since the fake one seems to be legitly similar with the orginal one, but what I found here, might be will understood by those who read Hangul.

1. Spelling Mistake

I can read Hangul if you want to know. I read it like a kindergarten student. But as you can see, there are some mistake that I point out here. 

Left : 수딩 젤 (read: suding jel / soothing gel)

Right : 수덩 젤 (read: sudong jel / ???)

Did you get my point here? How come the spelling mistake could be on the label? The answer is only one: it's FAKE! Totally FAKE! I believe how famous korean brand like Holika Holika have their proof read before product release. Gotcha!!

Other spelling mistake become pointless since they cannot get the product name right. You can see it by yourself on the picture on the findings.

Additional info: it's such an eyesore to read the fake one since they don't put spaces on each word. It's just attached from one word to another word. Gahhhhhh

2. The most crucial one is EXPIRED DATE.

You can see when will it expired on the left bottle, but you can barely see the expired date on the right one. It's full of dotted font but I just unable to read it without the force. 

3. And if you see there's a white sentence on the left one is 출원번호 means Application Number (I predict it's the government license of the cosmetic product like we have in Indonesia >> refer to BPOM, correct me if I'm wrong about this). I can see how the fake product manufacture don't think it's necessary or not.

D. Liquid Fragrant, Consistency and Absorption

1. Fragrant

From the moment I open the cap of the fake one, I smell something fishy. It's not the same fragrant with the one that I use regularly. It's kinda hard to prove it here, but trust me, it's so different. The fake one it's like you put 20% volume of the original formula and put the rest with unknown ingredient gel.

2. Consitency & Absorption

When I pour it from the bottle, I knew exactly the difference. The left one liquid is easily separated from the bottle and the right one, I need to separate it with a little bit force. Why is it happened? Because the consistency of the original gel is supposedly smooth like water so it can be easily absorbed by the skin. While the liquid consitency of the fake one is like a slimy water, it has a lot of water and it won't absorb to the skin. It just stay there. So weird. When I touch the original one, it feels like I'm touching water and the jelly stick to my finger.. The fake one is like half cooked konyaku jelly consistency. The jelly won't sticking to my finger skin unless I press it down to the paper. 

*I use paper for the absorption test.*

(note: I am not expert on this, but the test is based on what I felt on my skin and seen on the paper)

So with all of the prove that I collect, I hope you can get a little bit of 'enlightment' to spot which is original and the fake one. 

The other thing that concern me is, the price of Aloe Vera that Holika Holika counter sell is like realy overprice. At Holika Holika Korea Website, the retail price is 5,900 won (+/- Rp 71,000) and the retail price on Mall Taman Anggrek is Rp. 208,000. It's like 300% more expensive. What a rip off!! 

*crying on the corner and pouting about why I didn't born in Korea* 😂😂😂😂😂

That's why there will be fake product of the Korean brand (especially for the Aloe Vera product) not only for Holika Holika brand, but also The Face Shop whom also have Aloe Vera 99% gel product.

Thanks for reading until this point. I hope you find this helpful. Don't forget to leave comment if you ever experience with fake products or you suspicious with some product that you don't know wether it's fake or not, let me know on the comment. See you again :)