We live in a world where people have fake hair, fake boobs, fake lashes, fake tans, fake nails, you name it and likely there is a fake for it, including fake products of all kinds.

There used to be a time in the not so distant past, like the 1980s, where you could spot fake luxury brands from a mile away. Rolex was labeled Rolox and the weight, or lack thereof, was the dead giveaway. Prada was Prado. The LV pattern on Louis Vuitton was upside down. And the Gucci "G"'s were flipped. I used to consider myself a connoisseur on fake luxury products and how to identify them as well as how to pick out the 1:1 exact replica, but these days, even I get stumped.

I have seen many Hermes belts with serial numbers, super authentic looking orange boxes with certificates of authenticity and perfect, I mean perfect, replication. The only give away would be the quality of the leather, but unless you are loaning out your Hermes, no one would know.

The linings and stitching of luxury purses used to be where you'd find a flaw, but now even the copycats have mastered the whole package. Again usually you can tell a phony by the quality of the leather but you generally wouldn't know it unless you had been in the presence of the real deal. The eye can convince you it is a real Chanel bag, but the hand will tell you the truth.

I recently got bamboozled on an eBay order. I know it is generally buyer beware on eBay, but I do consider myself a highly educated consumer. I had been looking for a Limited Addition Barbour coat that was only made for one season. I finally found it. I twirled with excitement and pressed "Buy It Now". The address from where it originated was listed as California, but when it didn't come right away I checked the tracking and it was being shipped from Beijing. Red flag number 1, but I still was optimistic that there was a Chinese lady selling her size UK14 Barbour. When it finally arrived, it was inauthentic looking Barbour packaging and tags and even had the Limited Addition Pin on the collar. The fabric and fit were not authentic and I realized I had been taken. Sigh.

I am an Amazon Prime customer and you can ask my UPS driver how frequently I order. I pride myself on finding great deals and have made a sport out of saving on Prime, until recently. I have been using the same three beauty products for ages and know the effects by heart. Well, I thought I would save a buck by ordering them on Prime and low and behold, they made my eyelashes fall out. Yup. After doing a few consumer tests I discovered that they were fake products and they had an adverse effect on me. I filed a complaint and returned them, but it will take a while for my eyelashes to grow back along with my pride.

Fake products have evolved from luxury brands all the way down to mascara. At this time of year when everyone is shopping for the holidays, do your due diligence and research a product's authenticity. Don't be like me. Keep your eyelashes.