When it comes to beauty, is imitation the sincerest form of flattery?
With so many beauty brands on the market, it’s not surprising for one brand to remind yourself of another. Whether its packaging or the shade range, it’s nothing new to see similarities between or even among beauty brands.
However, given the similarities, one couldn’t help but wonder if they are merely a coincidence, an inspiration, or a blatant imitation. This begs the question - where do we draw the line between inspiration and imitation?
Case in point, I was on Shopee recently when I stumbled upon a makeup brand named Kimuse. It caught my eye because their packaging instantly reminded me of another brand. What brand, you might ask? Well, see for yourself.
Out of curiosity, I looked closely into the brand and their products, and even purchased a few, which led me to the discovery that the issue goes beyond the packaging. Okay, so it’s obvious that they’re copying NARS. To be fair, though, not all of their products are reminiscent of NARS. Now, what exactly did they copy from NARS? Allow me to enumerate.
They copied the NARS typography.
They copied the box layout.
They copied the packaging of the NARS Blush, Powermatte Lip Pigment, and Radiant Creamy Concealer.
They went for very similar product names - NARS Powermatte Lip Pigment and Kimuse Powerful Matte Pigment Lip, and NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer and Kimuse Fresh Creamy Concealer.
Now while this isn’t really a review, I tried swatching the Kimuse products and I’m not going to lie, they’re really pigmented. However, one of the products doesn’t even come with a list of ingredients. Also, their concealer and liquid lipstick both have quite strong chemical scents. If you’re wondering, the products are made in China.
(left swatch - Kimuse, right swatch - NARS)
Anyway, back to question of whether a brand is inspired by or imitates another brand. As consumers, we get to draw the line between inspiration and imitation. In this case, it’s pretty clear that it’s the latter. Yes, it’s sad that they’re imitating a brand, but what’s sadder is that it represents a missed opportunity.
I say missed opportunity because an imitation shows the lack of imagination and creativity. It shows laziness. Brands who imitate miss the opportunity to create their own space in the beauty industry, or any other industry for that matter.
It is one thing to be inspired by something; it is a completely different thing to imitate what we see. After all, when we’re inspired by someone or something, we want to do what they’re doing, not how they’re doing it.
