Is skincare in Accra a scam?

God, in His infinite wisdom, created varied people with different skin types and tones; fair, brunette, olive, and dark. Within these are oily, dry, sensitive, normal, and sometimes a combination of dry and oily skin.

Every individual who cares about their appearance has, in one way or another, invested in skincare to have flawless, glowing skin.

Some factors that influence the beauty products people generally go for are advertisements on television, social media influencers, word of mouth, recommendations, and dermatologist advice, among others.

Is getting the right skincare product important? And how do you know the product you intend to use on your skin is indeed the right one, made by the manufacturer with your skin tone and type in mind?

With the influx of skincare products on the market, there have been concerns about the originality of beauty products, even from trusted outlets in Ghana.

Aside from daily banter and rants, one thing people on X, formerly known as Twitter, are known for is giving recommendations from personal experiences, and one such recommendation is for skincare products.

Lately, the Vaseline Cocoa Radiant Vitalizing Body Gel Oil has been one of the top products recommended by tweeps. People have come out to testify about how good this product is and its impact on the skin. Surprisingly, the reviews have led to a shortage in some outlets in Accra, after people who saw the good results also wanted to try it.

Intrigued by the product, I decided to get one for myself. As someone who always wants to verify information before taking action, I placed calls and sent messages to beauty product outlets in Accra. I also conducted my research on prices and reviews.

What I found not only shocked me but brought a thousand and one questions swimming through my head. Vaseline struck gold with their body gel oil product and, just like every good product, there are imitations.

I found about 15 varied designs of the product on the Instagram pages of top beauty product outlets in Ghana, each with different prices. Puzzled, I decided to visit the Vaseline website and scan through their catalog for the product design, and there it was: the Cocoa Radiant Body Gel Oil in all its glory and original design. I further compared the 15 designs and styles of the products on the pages of beauty outlets with the original product from Vaseline, and the differences were as clear as daylight.

Imagine the shock on my face after I decided to probe further for the Vaseline Vitamin B3 Body Oil which was also recommended by tweeps in the manufacturer’s catalog and affiliated outlets like Walmart only to realize there is no such thing as a Vaseline Vitamin B3 Body Oil product by Unilever yet this product is all over the market and Instagram pages of beauty product vendors from both Ghana and Nigeria.

The question is where these products came from and how all these imitations infiltrated the market.

In an interesting review on X, one tweep mentioned that, instead of achieving a chocolate caramel skin, he was gradually turning coal from using the product. He added pictures of the product, which were extremely different from what Vaseline had on their site.

I delved deeper to find a product on the Accra skincare market with the exact design as the one on the Vaseline website and found only one skincare shop in Accra with the exact product and details. I placed an order with this shop, and when the product arrived, it had the same design as seen on the website and included a QR code. After scanning the QR code, I was directed to the homepage of the Vaseline website.

The dangers of counterfeit products are numerous, and could cause severe damage if care is not taken and if the market is not regulated. Just like the netizen who lamented the adverse effects of the imitated product on his skin, you may also experience similar issues if you buy just any product from anywhere without researching.

A chocolate and caramel skin is worth achieving, but you must do your due diligence before purchasing from any vendor or beauty outlet.