I’m a Skinfluencer who has Worked Paid With MCoBeauty. Here’s why I’m no Longer Featuring Them on my Socials
& A Note About “Duping” Culture
In the end of the day, doing the right thing doesn’t need to come from passion or burning desire- it just simply needs to happen.
That’s how I feel about the MCoBeauty situation.
I’ve worked with them multiple times over the years in a paid and organic capacity, and have been using their products for well over a decade.
I’ve regularly candidly spoken to the team about feedback concerns, their treatment of creators and their duping, etc etc.
I’ve come to the conclusion, if I’m in the Aussie beauty industry and I’m not backing innovation, small businesses and “right” ways of creating, what am I doing?
Should you Stop Buying MCoBeauty?
A Note on Social Exhaustion
That is completely up to you.
I’m not going to weigh in on your purchasing decisions.
Who’s more evil? Amazon or MCoBeauty? I still buy things from Amazon- who famously has awful working conditions.
Not to be the “I do this bad thing so this other bad thing doesn’t matter!” person.
I just genuinely think there is no moral or correct consumption under capitalism, so tend to feel very lax about purchasing decisions in general.
A bit lazy? Probably. I’m doing my best to be candid and honest here.
Kmart copies large designers.
Tarte, Elf, Sportsgirl, almost every cosmetic brand copied Charlotte Tilbury’s glow wands, we often purchase products not even aware we are ripping off small designers and creators.
Copy cat cosmetics. Taken from Google
Again, that doesn’t make it ok, but it makes it reality.
Consumers are exhausted and feel disconnected.
It’s hard to get someone to care about their eyebrow gel when rent is $900/week.
Ultimately, shaming the consumer is inefficient - honestly.
You can’t get people to care about things that don’t affect them directly- We can however put the pressure on brands as people in the industry.
Therefore, from a place of privilege, I’m able to take a stance in the areas of things I feel able to change, and this is simply one of those things.
Dupe Culture
“There Needs to be Another Name for What They’re Doing”
I was having a wonderful conversation with a team of cosmetic formulators- who are bringing me along to the ASCC event “The Impact of dupes on our Industry” in the coming weeks.
I’ll be sure to do a write up on that when it happens!
I really resonated with what they said (I’m paraphrasing their words)
“Is what they’re offering really a dupe?
Dupes used to be so special, via word of mouth almost- it was never advertised as such, and the packaging was often worlds apart,
but there was a common understanding that what’s inside was performance wise, equivalent, and that was special.”
So, are MCoBeauty really offering dupes? Or is this a case of copy cat cosmetics? Considering performance and ingredient list- it doesn’t fall into the Dupe category.
“The product ingredient lists are often worlds apart-
It’s often just a packaging dupe, betting on the fact that people purchasing them haven’t tried the high end versions to accurately compare”
Shockingly, CEO Shelly admitted this quite boldly in the ABC article that has the beauty world in a frenzy.
Noted from the ABC article:
MCoBeauty's founder Ms Sullivan said the company decided not to bother fighting the Chemcorp case because 2000Hour wasn't selling well.
"In fact, we still have 20,000 units in our warehouse," she said.
"We didn't want to fight. It wasn't a great product."
Is the conclusion there that MCoBeauty copied a product, producing something that “wasn’t a great product” by their own works? A bit icky.
Exhaustion is Around the Corner & MCoBeauty Knows it
What comes up must come down, and consumers and beauty bloggers alike are asking for the tackiness to stop.
I saw MCoBeauty asking the ABC to stop cutting and recutting their story, as consumers were exhausted hearing about it.
I did find this comment deeply ironic, when they repeatedly didn’t listen to the requests of the brands (small and big) that they’ve copied.
What makes brands like that dupe, like ELF, so much less offensive?
Sam [by the counter] draws a helpful distinction between a Dupe, Troll (or copy cat cosmetic), alternative and an original might look like.
Why Isn’t MCoBeauty Being Viewed the Same way we see Fake Designer Bags?
Perhaps their audience- Over 50% of their TikTok audience is in the 18-24 range (stats via modash)
MCoBeauty creates many kid-friendly cosmetics- in both budget & design.
Image taken from the ABC article showing packaging consistent with kid & tween brands
Perhaps the cost of living crisis as mentioned by Claire Bridgett in her ABC interview.
Perhaps marketing. Perhaps a fad that’s short lived.
My Conclusion
Let’s get our terms straight.
Simply, MCoBeauty isn’t duping anymore, they’re creating copy-cat cosmetics and are getting very tacky.
The halt on innovation in the brand gave many previous supporters and consumers whiplash.
Churning out hundreds of new SKUs this year, with no slowing down in sight- Content creators, myself included, are urging MCoBeauty to be more considerate with their launches and consider the effect they’re having on the Australian beauty space.
There are affordable and innovative products on the market that I’m looking forward to highlighting more and more, that aren’t from MCoBeauty.