EL SCANDALO | KYLIE COSMETICS JEFFREE STAR AND BECCA COSMETICS

So as of late certain brands have been called out for cutting corners or just not living up to their ethos. We all remember the social media circus that happened when eager customers opened their Kylie lip glosses (in Like, Literally, So Cute) to reveal a splayed, distorted, and let’s face it shitty, wand. In addition and more recently many customers had received empty lipstick tubes when ordering her latest launches. Don’t worry Kylie is not the only culprit and with her company being relatively new one can almost forgive the teething issues (operative word: almost), but Jeffree Star who called Kylie out on her crappy wand had a similar horror story. His new Skin Frosts were released at Drag Con and the people who selected King Tut, the golden highlight, received shattered compacts as boxes of King Tut had fallen on the floor during transport. Jeffree states on Snapchat that he didn’t know about this until it was too late and he was doing what he could to remedy it i.e. offering refunds or a replacement. Then, and this is what shocked me most of all, Becca Cosmetics extended their collaboration with Jaclyn Hill and each item received rave reviews except the eyeshadow palette. It seemed their customers know their shit and they called Becca out on using a different formula to their regular eyeshadows. Becca then admitted that in order to release the eyeshadow palette on time they needed to rush the order and had a different lab make some of the eyeshadow palettes hence the inconsistency. Since this news was released Jaclyn Hill and Becca decided to scrap the eyeshadow palette altogether as it wasn’t up to their usual standards. 

Why am I talking about this? Because it is greed, pure and simple. I believe that Jeffree’s reasons are completely justified, regardless of what you think of him as a person there is nothing he could have done to have stopped the King Tut fiasco from happening. Although, one could argue he should have checked the batches before selling them at Drag Con, but these are busy people and no-one is perfect. On the other hand, Kylie Cosmetics and Becca just wanted to profit from the hype as much as possible before it died down. It seems to me that with the increasing popularity of social media stars and brand collaborations, more focus is shifting to speed and selling out and limited edition everything. They have found a foolproof formula that empties their shelves in minutes and creates a demand like no other, it’s smart and it is the way business works but your reputation should be the most important thing. 

I have heard a lot of people say they respect Becca more for “owning up to it”. Have I gone mad? They didn’t own up to it. They were happy for everyone to think that these eyeshadow palettes were no different from the last, it is because the customer pointed out the flaws and discrepancies that they were backed into a corner and forced to tell the truth. It honestly makes me sick. I know that is harsh and I have no personal vendetta against Becca as a brand, I have tried many of their products and they have all been of sublime quality, but it’s my personal opinion. It is disgusting to try and cheat your customer, to make excuses and justify your actions after the fact. If you care more about money than your actual product then you are in the wrong business. I feel the same about Kylie Cosmetics, they are a newer company and so their reputation isn't as fully formed as Becca's, but again there are no excuses that will make sending a subpar product to your consumers okay. 

Other brands like Charlotte Tilbury work on one product for years, tweaking and perfecting the formula until it is ready to hit the shelves. That is why you pay more money for high end products, because literally years of research and the finest quality ingredients go into it. Not to mention the packaging. Becca have a similar price range so for me there is no excuse, your customer should get what they pay for and yes they did apologise after the fact and scrapped the product, but it’s a little too late in my opinion. 

The reason I am sharing my thoughts with you on this is because I feel very strongly about this. I hate it when innocent people are cheated, I know it is just makeup and it’s not that big of a deal but to me it is. I urge you all to consider this when you are buying a product, don’t get suckered into purchasing something because of the social media hype or “get it while stocks last”. They are all just marketing ploys, do your own research, read as many reviews as you can and if you have the patience wait for the hype to die down a little to minimise disappointment and wasted pennies. The Becca ordeal has left a sour taste in my mouth and this is the reason I haven’t been able to touch the Champagne Face Palette despite the many positive reviews. I just don’t want to support a company that would do something so underhanded. Let me know your thoughts in the comment.  I hope you are well, it is hot as balls where I live right now. So keep hydrated and take care. 

Opinions on the Becca controversy? Do you think the beauty industry is changing?

Love ❤

Kiran

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