Before you start reading, I thought I’d just say a HUGE thank you to everyone who nominated me for the Company Style Blogger Awards! The shortlist will be revealed on Friday, so I am really excited! *Fingers Crossed* Anyway, I saw a tweet that MUA (Make-Up Academy) had ‘copied’ a top nail polish brand’s, Essie, packaging. I didn’t think it would be exactly the same, but I was wrong. MUA have completely taken the Essie bottle design and made it to their own. You might think that it’s not that big a deal, but I was shocked. They haven’t just taken the Essie design, they’ve also taken MAC’s highlighter ‘swirl’ design, as well as Clinique’s Chubby Stick design. Take a look…
Essie Bottles: As you can see the glass bottles both have the imprinted brand name, which shows you straight away that they have almost copied the product packaging. There is also a rectangle around the brand name, which is the same on both, as well as the lid being white as well. I think this is definitely ‘copied’, and I think it’s a bit ridiculous as Essie are far better quality, and to take a higher end brand’s design choice, is not on.
MAC Highlighter:The swirls in the two highlighters are very similar. Although they may not be the same, MUA have definitely taken the idea of which MAC released last year, which shows that they have taken the concept once again.
Clinique Chubby Sticks: This is the one which I am actually shocked by. The packaging is pretty much identical. The ends are both metallic, the writing is both metallic (I do admit that the MUA writing is different style), and the pencil applicator is the same shape and style. The colour choice is also very similar too.
It is not just the three above of which MUA have taken ‘inspiration’ from, it is also the Urban Decay Naked palette of which MUA have taken the same colours and put them into there palette the ‘Undressed’, which has the same meaning in the name? Naked and Undressed?! Now, I do understand that brands want to let their customers have the ‘best over the rest’, with MUA trying to make everything cheaper, but I do feel that they have made things a bit too similar. Most of their stuff has been taken from other brands, and I am starting to feel that they are just like every other brand. They are not unique any more, and I think that should change. I’m not saying that they’re products are bad, as I have tried and tested them, and they are quite good for the price, but not only are MUA taking ideas they haven’t been on the right track for a long time now. Early this year, their site was down due to so many people browsing their stock, which lead to problem with customers orders. The Customer Service team tweeted and Facebook-ed rude tweets which offended many customers, which they deleted shortly after. After this and now seeing what MUA are actually producing, my thoughts have changed with the brand. I don’t want people to read this and just see ‘HATE HATE HATE’, I want people to recognise what brands really are, and I also do realise that MUA are not the only brand that take inspiration from others, for example the Chubby Stick has been changed to suit other brands too.
Should we buying their products just because they are cheap, or should we buy it because the brand is friendly, and has a unique ethic? Make sure to leave your thoughts in a comment below…
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17 Comments
[…] ← MUA Make-Up: Rip Offs? […]
From the perspective of a cruelty-free shopper, MUA’s shameless duping is a god send. Essie, MAC and Clinique are all animal testing brands, so without the dupes there’d be no alternative for those purchasing consciously. I think the packaging similarities are more to create mental connections for the consumer with those high-end products – so you see the chubby-stick looking packaging and you realise that that product is meant to be a budget version of the chubby-stick.
Not that I think that makes it okay – especially as it might trick people who aren’t as brand concious as others – but I do think that these dupes are a good thing.
Great post, tollydolly! Lots of people won’t have thought about this and you raise some great points!
-Mandy
http://www.bunnybeautiful.co.uk
This is a very true point. I am glad you enjoyed this post 🙂 xx
To be honest, I don’t like such blatant ripping off but I think for a lot of young women, ethics of a brand can’t always be their first consideration when they’re on a budget. It’s like how it’s often the case that products that are cruelty-free/natural/vegan/etc. are usually priced at the higher end (although I think as these are becoming more important to people, cheaper alternatives are becoming more widely available). Also, it’s not entirely dissimilar to high street clothing stores copying (sometimes almost exactly) pieces from the catwalk.
My real issue with MUA is more their treatment of customers and failure to deal with problems professionally, rather than them offering outrageously obvious dupes :p
I absolutely understand, but I still think it is un-original. 🙂
Hmmm I don’t think I like this. It’s as though they believe that by copying the better brands packaging, it will somehow trick the customer into thinking it’s a similar standard.
xxx
http://www.maisy-meow.blogspot.co.uk
I didn’t think about that! That is a very good point!
Of all the brands I’ve ever con across, MUA is the one I dislike the most. Yes it’s cheap but it’s not original and I don’t believe in the quality of the products and definitely dislike that they are copying the design of popular beauty products. It’s dishonest frankly, so I’m glad to see you posting about this! Good luck for Friday x
Thanks so much 🙂 Yes, I totally agree, it’s not what they should be about. MUA is just trying to stick with the crowd making things cheap. 🙂 xx
My opinion is buy the original products! They’re expensive for a reason in the sense they work and most of the time they’re quality. Brands who produce copy products for half the price may be able to package it like the original but I doubt it’s of as high quality. Great post lovely!
Emma x
http://beautyandrags.blogspot.co.uk/
Same, I think MUA need to get back on track with what they’re brand is about. Like the Artiste pallette, that was unique. 🙂 Thanks Emma x
Nah! The reason the high end products are expensive is not because they are necessarily better in many cases, but because they have huge scale, high-profile advertising campaigns with A list superstars/supermodels to finance, as well as their beauty consultants’ wages, training and uniforms (where relevant) and the money it will cost for them to have counters in departments stores worldwide. Cheaper brands have none of these major expenses to fork out for as they sell their products on small, simple, unmanned displays and without glossy adverts. Beyond that, the products are much the same. Believe me, I’ve tried both ends of the scale and many mid-price ranges too and the high-end ones rarely function better, and often not as well as low cost products. It’s just a massive marketing ploy to get you to pay for their name and publicity!
I love that they offer alternatives to more expensive products, I think that’s what the highstreets about and they still have plenty of their own unique products. As for the chubby sticks it seems most brands seems to have their own version which all look pretty much the same.
As a product as long as their are five differences they can copy as much as they like. it doesnt even matter how minute these changes are as long as there are 5 theres nothing the company can do about it. The name, sizes, colour names on bottles all those things can be counted as differences. If a company really wants to persue it, mua would literally have to take everything off the shelf while it was looked at. Its the same in clothing stores the amount of stuff that is made and taken off the shelf and destroyed before it gets to be sold is crazy. These things obviously have those different changes otherwise they wouldnt even be able to sell them. MUA is a discount brand for high end goods. I think they do a good job of providing cheap products for those on a budget, no matter how cheeky their packaging seems!!
Yes, I understand this, but I still don’t think it is right.
I knew about the highlighter & chubby sticks but this Essie nail polish bottle is new and quite displeasing. MUA should try to have their own brand identity. I really liked their previous nail polish bottles.
Yes, that is what I think. They need to make some products of their own.
Thanks Shang 🙂 x