Anyone who loves their makeup will know that it's one hell of an expensive hobby. It's a bit like those 'collector magazines', you know the ones where the first issue is 99p but then if you want to build the entire replica model of the Bluebell Railway, you have to shell out £12 for every other issue. Just replace the train spotting with makeup.
We cut our teeth on £2 Miss Sporty face powder in Boots, before being lured to the Selfridge's Beauty Hall and thinking nothing of shelling out £40 on a foundation. But now the beauty industry is bigger than ever in the UK (beauty sales hit an all time high of £4 billion in 2016) it's almost impossible to keep up with the new releases.
[instagram ]https://www.instagram.com/p/BRQ_AVYh6ww/?taken-by=makeuprevolution&hl=en[/instagram]That's where brands like Makeup Revolution have been savvy. By realising that makeup was becoming much more trend lead they launched their affordable line in 2014, offering fashionable products in packaging that looked like their more expensive counterparts. However, earlier this month, one blogger called them out on their latest release saying it's an exact copy, and now Kat Von D who founded her own cosmetics line in 2008 has joined the debate.
Taking to Instagram, Kat posted a picture of her Shade & Light Eyeshadow palette which has been a cult favourite since its release, alongside Makeup Revolution's Ultra Eye Contour Light and Shade palette.
And she did not hold back with her caption:
"Hey @makeuprevolution - I don't remember the tails being this heavy when I first got this coat. 😒 👎 #cheapass #bootleg #comeupwithyourownshit #lazyfucks #morelikemakeupripoff"
Many of her followers were quick to support Kat and her brand in the comments:
"All that Brand do is knock off other brands tbh. I'm surprised it's taken this long for a brand/someone to call them out! 🙌🏼 like yeah, fab that they have a low price point but so many of their products are blatant rip offs. It's all well and good having dupes, that's always gonna happen, but imagine putting a lot of work and time in to something like Kat does, to have a brand come out with near the exact same thing 5 minutes later? Of course you'd be pissed! 😂"
"You go Kat! Finally someone calling MIT out on their BS. Your products will forever be better 😘"
"This isn't a dupe it's a copy ... I think the whole idea of taking high end palettes and copying them down to the pan layout is a bit much. 😳"
But others came to the defence of Makeup Revolution and explained that at £37 Kat's palette is just too expensive to justify, compared to the £8 price tag of Makeup Revolution.
"But surely you underhand that people can't actually afford some of your products, and may want to have a dupe so that they can experiment with the shades in a different way?"
"It must be very frustrating to see your work somewhere else, but if the culture were the same 10 years ago, I'm sure you would have bought cheap duplications of a cool makeup brand when you were the age of the target audience. We'd buy your stuff if we could."
"I absolutely love her but i'm 100% team revolution on this! they make products i can actually afford and making a dupe for a product i wish i could afford? of course i'm going to buy it!"
Kat's Instagram follows blogger Angela (Beauty by the Bunny) post about Makeup Revolution's new Renaissance lipsticks, entitled 'Why I won't be duped - have Makeup Revolution gone too far?'
[instagram ]https://www.instagram.com/p/BRQeF2IApkt/?taken-by=makeuprevolution&hl=en[/instagram]In the post, Angela voiced her opinion that the brand ripped off Charlotte Tilbury's lipstick packaging, with everything from the rose gold colour to the vertical ridges.
[instagram ]https://www.instagram.com/p/BRQJm-6Fhhe/?taken-by=ctilburymakeup&hl=en[/instagram]"Now this is far from being the first time that Makeup Revolution or Freedom have copied a higher end brand and I have no doubt that it won't be the last either. This is their business. They look at what the big boys (and girls) are doing and they copy it – sometimes it may be the shades they dupe, other times it is the whole package – from the concept to the shades and the packaging. Would you not be angry if you owned a brand and worked really hard on producing a product you were proud of for someone to come along and totally rip it off? I know that I would." Beauty by the Bunny.
Clearly Angela struck a chord because a lot of people were quick to come forward and agree with her opinion:
But others came to Makeup Revolution's defence and defended their reason for shopping from them:
And as one reader pointed out, this is similar to the fashion industry 'duping' designer outfits for the high street.
However, Makeup Revolution aren't the only ones with very similar lipstick packaging to Charlotte Tilbury, take Joan Collins Timeless Beauty lipstick which launched in 2014:
[instagram ]https://www.instagram.com/p/BRLoYRCh7Vt/?taken-by=joancollinstimelessbeauty&hl=en[/instagram]Apart from the rose gold colour Estée Lauder's lipsticks way back in 1970 were pretty similar as well:
We reached out to Makeup Revolution for comment and they responded with the below:
"At Makeup Revolution we passionately believe that amazing quality makeup should be available to all, not elitist or based on your ability to pay. We believe every diversity, age, and background should be catered for with fast, trend led and quality beauty products. Our products are produced to the highest possible standard for an accessible and affordable price, with no testing on animals.
"Revolution is recognised as a global leader in Fast Beauty, and one of the fastest growing makeup brands in the world. We are based in UK, and most fundamentally different, we listen to what our consumers want. We have a very happy customer base that has spread across the world.
"Dupes are a recognised and celebrated part of the fashion and beauty industry, and consumers love them.
High street fashion stores will soon be filled with inspiration from LFW for instance and are constantly looking for inspiration from the catwalk. We never knowingly infringe any design copyright or patent. "
Let us know your thoughts @Cosmopolitauk.
We have reached out to Makeup Revolution for further comment following Kat Von D's post.
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