We have been so inundated with influencer brands over the years, but it’s starting to look like they are finally getting the hint.. we are not interested. The makeup and skincare industries are so over saturated with influencer and celebrities product lines it’s ridiculous. Thankfully, Sephora has been removing these influencer lines from their stores over the past year. These celebrities have no involvement in the actual development of the products, just put their name on it, and show up for the launch photoshoot. That is not how you create a successful brand, it’s just sad.
In my opinion, the reason they are not involved in the development process is they don’t have a genuine interest in the industry. It’s no secret that makeup can be extremely lucrative; the profit margins are significant. You can make a product for only a few dollars, and sell it for upwards of $50-$60. The success of Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty, and Jeffree Star Cosmetics were, in my opinion, what kickstarted the cash grab trend we see now. The difference is, those brands filled a void in the market, and genuinely provided something unique to their customers. Now, however that is definitely not the case.
One of the many problems with these celebrity/influencer makeup and skincare companies is, it takes away from the people who have devoted their lives to working in this industry. Let’s look at the Jaclyn Hill situation as a prime example.
Jaclyn Hill was (and to some still is) one of the most influential, and followed people in the beauty community. No one was surprised when she came out with her own makeup line, it was on brand for her, and something she aspired to for years. The problems with began when she started to become known as Jaclyn Shill, and only made content promoting her brand and collabs. However, at the time it was pretty much brushed off because she was a beauty influencer and that is what they do, she just seemed to only do that. It’s one thing to promote the products you use, but when you consistently only promote low quality products you start to lose credibility. Can you really trust a review if you know the person is getting a serious kickback?
Fast forward to launch of Jaclyn Hill Roxanne which was her new jewelry line that no one seemed to like. Reviews were terrible, and she was accused of copying design from other companies. Then, Jaclyn launched her loungewear called Koze, and the internet went nuts.
Koze was an existing loungewear company, established in 2017 by fellow content creator, Kayln. She has a substantial following of over 220k on YouTube, but of course that number pales in comparison to Jaclyn. So, as you can imagine from the launch of Jaclyn’s line Kayln was forced to shut down her company. Punches were thrown by Jaclyn making videos showing that she owns the trademark for the name. There are plenty of articles, and videos devoted to this specific situation I recommend a quick Youtube search if you’re interested in a more detailed explanation.
This brings us to a few days ago when Jaclyn dropped a YouTube video declaring she is not passionate about her companies, and will be closing her brands. *insert record scratch sound* So after all of the drama, completely ignoring Kayln who reached out many times asking Jacyln to just change the name of her company, and parading around her trademark she is closing the company. I cannot imagine how Kayln must feel after hearing that news. What was the point Jaclyn?
Again, that is just an example of how these influencers and celebrities don’t actually care about the products they are putting out there. Please do your research before purchasing from anyone. Chances are you can find the same product, with better quality, from an actual reputable brand.
Until next time,
Sammy
