There has been a LOT of talk in the online community about fake chakra stones. The fear is much more real than I realized (or I would have written this blog post much sooner!).
The first thing to do is relax. Take a deep breath and smile. You’ve come to the right place and I promise you, it is way easier than you think to avoid fake Crystals.
As a side note, I want to mention that I use the terms ‘Crystals’ and ‘stones’ interchangeably in this article as many Crystal Healers do.
Crystals operate on higher vibrational frequencies up toward love and light (if you want to regularly learn more about them AND receive a FREE introductory guide to how and why Crystals work, consider signing up for my newsletter by clicking here).
So with that in mind, let’s let go of fear. We can shop smart and make informed purchases without bringing fear into it at all, even when we goof up.
If you have ever purchased a fake Crystal only to find out later, that is OKAY- it says NOTHING about you or how awesome you are (hint: you’re pretty awesome). Take it as a learning experience and move forward by avoiding that seller. Keep it if you want, no big deal! If the fake one no longer brings you joy, gift it to someone else (you can be honest that it no longer resonates with you but there may be someone who would adore it as an artistic expression of a Crystal).
Take a moment (and a breath!).
I’ll say it again- FAKE.
Notice the feelings it brings up in you. Fear? Doubt? Unworthiness? Poser? You are not the Crystal. Real or fake. You do not need to identify with it. You are an eternal spiritual being having a temporary human experience and you enjoy working with Crystals to raise your vibrational frequency. Wonderful! Me too! When we disconnect from identifying with things that otherwise bring us fear (thereby lowing our vibrational frequency), we can look through a more objective lens and make more informed decisions. After all, fear puts the brain and body in ‘fight or flight’ mode and research shows us that we do not learn as easily or retain the information as well as when we are not in that mode. So let’s all exit the ‘fight or flight’ mode subconsciously brought on by the fear associated with the term, ‘fake’, and move into the realm of love and learning. Smiling is AMAZING, give it a try- hooray for learning! (I know, I’m a super nerd)
That all being said, let’s learn more about what the term ‘fake crystal’ actually means…
I did a poll recently on Instagram asking my 44k+ followers what the term, ‘fake crystal’, means to them. Here’s what most people said:
Whoa. That’s a long list! But I completely understand and these ARE accurate concerns to learn more about. Fortunately, most are actually easier to dispel that you might think.
Buy from a reputable seller. This would be someone who is not a new seller. Someone who has plenty of positive reviews, followers, and experience. Someone who will easily answer your Crystal questions/concerns or help you find the answer. chakra stones
Opt for raw/rough stones. You can literally see the growth structures in rough/raw Crystals and stones which are a huge determining factor in identification. Tumbled and polished are a whole different scenario. The Moh’s hardness scale (discussed later in this post) does not work as well on tumbled/polished crystals and stones and it is nearly impossible to determine whether a tumbled/polished stone is dyed.
‘Crystal’ actually refers to the extremely organized atomic growth structures- many things are genuine crystals such as snowflakes and salt (but these are very fragile and wouldn’t make good impersonations in my opinion). chakra stones
The only actual Crystals the average person (since most Crystal sellers are actual people, not huge corporations) can MAKE or GROW in their home are potassium alum or borax Crystals (to my knowledge). Have you ever made them? Search for the diy on youtube and try it yourself. It’s a fun little project BUT the end result is a very specific Crystal formation that is often EXTREMELY fragile. I honestly doubt it could even survive shipping, let alone be a reasonable impersonation (it would definitely not have the same chemical composition as the real thing). That being said, this would be a dishonest practice to sell homemade crystals as, for example, Quartz. Become familiar with potassium alum and borax Crystals and their unique crystalline formation by doing the diy yourself and comparing the end result to other Crystals in your collection.
Growing or making Crystals at home beyond the methods I mentioned above is just not something that is happening. No one is growing Quartz Crystals in their home (to my knowledge! What a feat that would be!)
There are some Crystals and stones that are ALWAYS glass because that’s just what they are and they do not form naturally ever- goldstone, cats eye, and opalite (different than Opal) ARE NOT Crystals or stones and are most commonly made of glass (or occasionally plastic). Obsidian is black volcanic glass created by the Earth but colored Obsidian (often seen as blue or green) is simply dyed, manmade glass. chakra stones
This leads me to the Moh’s Hardness Scale. Everything has a hardness that rates on this scale from 1 (talc) to 10 (diamonds). Glass is a 5.5, your fingernail is a 2/2.5,plastic is 3-4, borax crystals are 2.5, Quartz is a 7. The concept behind the hardness scale is that any object higher on the scale can scratch any surface that is lower. For example, Quartz can scratch both plastic and glass but neither can scratch the Quartz.
This doesn’t work as well with tumbled or polished stones because you would need to potentially scratch some of the finish off and damage the stone. Another reason to stick with raw/rough Crystals and stones. chakra stones
Another consideration that applies to glass and plastic is the price (cheaper is not better), location of the seller (for some reason, much of the polished stones from China are glass), and whether the crystal is even realistic to have been made from these mediums. Creating a raw/rough Crystal from glass is unrealistic (consider how glass is formed) and could be spotted pretty easily as such. Crystals are like rocks- they have imperfections, sharp edges, and a variety of textures. Glass is more uniform (hence the use of glass when impersonating a polished Fluorite tower, for example).
