Thomas Nelson
Thomas Nelson
February 22, 2021 ·  4 min read

6 Ways To Spot A Fake Salt Lamp

While it may not always be obvious, there are a few easy ways to tell if your Himalayan salt lamp is a fake.

Since we first published our review on the health benefits of owning a Himalayan pink salt lamp, these little beauties have quickly become our favorite natural health gadget of all time. And with their rise in popularity, sales of Himalayan pink salt lamps have been booming! Unfortunately, this increase in demand has also created a perfect opportunity for less-than-honest individuals to profit by selling cheaply manufactured salt lamp counterfeits. While it may not always be obvious, there are a few easy ways to tell if your Himalayan salt lamp is a fake.

How to identify a fake salt lamp

Read on to learn the seven signs to look out for and make sure that you’re getting what you paid for – a genuine Himalayan pink salt lamp with all of the health benefits that come with it!

Your Himalayan Pink Salt Lamp Is Very Bright

Himalayan salt crystals typically range in color from medium pink to dark orange. Also, because the salt is full of various different minerals, light emanating from the lamp will be muted and uneven. For these reasons, the average salt lamp emits only a soft warm glow. If your lamp is small but gives off enough light to fully illuminate the room that it is placed in, this is a fairly good sign that your Himalayan salt lamp is a fake.

Your Lamp Has A White Crystal, But It Wasn’t Too Expensive

As previously stated, Himalayan salt crystals usually display a warm pinkish or orange hue. While white Himalayan salt does exist, it is rare and highly sought after. Thus genuine white Himalayan salt lamps will be much more expensive than the common colored varieties.

If you find a lamp which sports a white salt crystal, but the price isn’t significantly higher than other Himalayan pink salt lamps, this another sure sign that the product isn’t genuine Himalayan pink salt.

It Handles Moisture Exceptionally Well

Himalayan pink salt lamps cleanse the air around them by absorbing moisture and any attached airborne particulate then evaporating pure water pack out into the surrounding environment. This process is called hygroscopy and is responsible for one of the most common problems inherent to genuine Himalayan pink salt lamps – sweating.

So if you live in a particularly moist region and your lamp has never done it, this is a pretty good sign that your Himalayan pink salt lamp is a fake.

Your Himalayan Pink Salt Lamp Is Extremely Durable

Another big problem inherent to genuine Himalayan pink salt lamps is that they tend to be rather fragile. In fact, it is not uncommon for lamps to be damaged during shipping due to poor packaging or improper handling. Accidentally dropping or bumping your HPS lamp into another solid object is a sure fire way to ding or chip away pieces of the salt crystal. If you’ve done either of these things (or anything else that would otherwise damage a fragile chunk of Himalayan pink salt) and your lamp held up exceptionally well, this is another good sign that it may be a fake.

The Manufacturer or Supplier Has a Poor Return Policy

Suppliers of genuine Himalayan pink salt products understand that Himalayan pink salt is a fragile material. As such, genuine HPS salt lamp vendors usually offer flexible and convenient return policies. If you’re about to purchase a new lamp and the supplier is super strict about returns, buyer beware! If they are selling counterfeit Himalayan salt lamps, it’s highly likely that they’re hoping you won’t discover the truth until it’s too late to return the product.

As previously stated, in some cases real Himalayan pink salt lamps don’t even survive the shipping process due to the fragile nature of the materials! So even if they are selling genuine HPS salt lamps, you should still be wary of any merchant who isn’t flexible about refunds or exchanges.

The Salt Crystal’s Country of Origin Isn’t Pakistan

Real Himalayan pink salt is obtained from deep underground in the mines of Khewra, Pakistan. Khewra is located on the western edge of the Himalayan mountains and it is the only place where true Himalayan pink salt is found. So if you aren’t sure about the authenticity of your lamp, you can always inquire about the salt crystal’s country of origin to determine if your lamp is a fake or the real deal.

(Just remember that some manufacturers may list country of origin as where the lamp was assembled, so be sure to specify.)