It is safe to say the make-up industry has undergone major changes in the last few years. An industry that was once controlled by specific beauty brands is now a more vibrant scene filled with influence from other areas of the entertainment industry. Following the ground-breaking launch of Kylie Cosmetics, a brand owned by Keeping Up with the Kardashians star Kylie Jenner, a demand was created for products from popular television stars and internet influencers.
Chloe Ferry, Kady McDermot, Chloe Lewis and Megan McKenna are all British reality stars with their own make-up ranges. Ranging from £29.95 for a lip-kit from Megan Mckenna’s ‘Mouthy’ range to £12.99 for a matte lipstick from Chloe Lewis’ Beauty range, you do pay a premium for what can be a basic product.
I must admit I jumped onto the Kylie Cosmetics bandwagon, it was hard to resist with such strong advertising and promotion across all my social networking platforms. I was so excited when I bagged myself a Leo lip kit from her first birthday edition. I’m born the day after Kylie and my star-sign is Leo so if there was ever a right time to delve into the world of celebrity beauty, it was then. There is no denying that I love my lipstick, but I often question if the excessive price tag and ridiculous shipping and customs charge are worth the quality I received. We pay for the name, not the product. Kylie could sell her lipsticks for £50 a piece and I don’t doubt that fans across the globe will buy them.
So, when I see celebrity brands appearing now I am sceptical. You can’t blame them for releasing products when the market demand is so strong, but are their products any different from those we can grab from Superdrug for almost half the price? Probably not.
You can’t blame them for releasing products when the market demand is so strong, but are their products any different from those we can grab from Superdrug for almost half the price?
The world of reality-beauty has been interesting to view, last week a twitter row erupted between Kady McDermot, an ex-Love Island star, and Chloe Ferry who is a cast member of Geordie Shore. Chloe publicly accused Kady of copying her products and even branding, Kady replied saying that she was not threatened by the competing brand and even accused Chloe’s management of trying to source the same products. In fairness, the two brands share so many similarities, including a price tag, they have almost merged into one in the minds of many consumers. The question is whether these brands are necessary to the beauty scene. They are a form of self-promotion for the stars of the shows, often their television careers do not pay as well as we would imagine so creating businesses and other forms of income is important for them.
Even though I’ve never spoken or met you. And secondly my tweet wasn’t about you, tbh I don’t see your make up brand as a threat to mine
— Kady McDermott (@kadymcdermottx) October 28, 2017
To me though, they do not bring anything new and exciting to the industry. Kylie created the lip-kit and started the trend that many other companies have adapted. Additionally, Fenty beauty was ground-breaking in terms of beauty equality, but other ranges simply adapt already popular products such as highlighting sticks or liquid lipsticks.
It isn’t that I don’t like the stars, I am openly a reality television addict and am even writing my dissertation on the subject, it is just that I don’t agree with paying a premium that seems undeserved just because they were once on television. The advertising rarely promotes the product, it promotes the name. Chloe Ferry uses herself rather than models in all her promotional pictures on her website which further stresses that people want this product because Chloe made it, not because it is well reviewed or ground-breaking. Maybe if I try the brands I may change my mind, but for now, I am a firm no in the celebrity makeup debate.