The issue with celebrity beauty brands

Graphic+design+created+by+Aynsleigh+Penland+using+Canvas+Presentation+software

Aynsleigh Penland

Graphic design created by Aynsleigh Penland using Canva’s Presentation software

In the past several years, we’ve seen a huge increase in the number of celebrities releasing their own line of beauty products. While many of these celebrity-owned brands have been major successes, others have been complete flops, or even worse, caused physical harm to consumers. 

When you think of celebrity beauty brands, you probably think of the more popular ones, such as Kylie Cosmetics and Fenty Beauty. However, there are dozens of others that have recently been in the spotlight. From skincare and makeup to hair dye, celebrities have come out with so many interesting products. 

While most celebrities plaster their names on their packaging for everyone to see, others try to keep it subtle. The hair dye brand Good Dye Young is owned by Hayley Williams, the lead singer of the band Paramore. Many people didn’t even realize it was her brand, which led to less biased reviews since consumers didn’t feel obligated to hype up a celebrity. Overall, Good Dye Young is a fairly successful brand. The company’s “About” section on its website states that its goal is to “…create a community around self-expression, color, and happiness about being who you are.” With their products being very well priced at around $19 a bottle, Good Dye Young is a very accessible brand and is available in most beauty supply stores and online.

In the summer of 2022, American model Hailey Bieber released her own skincare line. However, this launch came with plenty of backlashes. In 2018, four years before launching her brand Rhode, Bieber reached out to a clothing company under the same name, asking to buy their company so she could still keep her skincare brand name the same. The company declined, but Bieber went on and released Rhode Skin anyway. Shortly after the launch, Rhode Clothing filed a lawsuit against Bieber, which was not successful and essentially led nowhere. The products she released, however, weren’t without flaws. Most notably, Rhode’s peptide lip treatment caused some serious damage. Complaints were popping up left and right from unhappy customers. On TikTok, many people posted videos of chemical burns on their lips from the lip treatment. The main complaint was that you shouldn’t be paying $16 to get chemical burns. 

Another issue people pointed out was how Bieber wanted her brand to be “accessible” to everyone, but still slapped a hefty price tag on her products. Her cheapest product is the previously mentioned peptide lip treatment, and the most expensive single products are the peptide glazing fluid and the barrier restore cream, both priced at $29. These products aren’t necessarily “expensive,” but it seems a little excessive considering the small amount of product you’d be paying for. Needless to say, there are plenty of other skincare lines that are more affordable and won’t peel the skin off your lips.

While these are only two examples of celebrity beauty products, there are dozens more that have had a huge impact on the beauty industry as a whole. While several of these brands could be just an attempt at getting money, others are produced and advertised with the consumers in mind, which is something that we would love to see more of.