Makeup via the Internet: a buyer’s manual

There’s another convulsion circling through the beauty blogosphere, regarding Bitchslap Cosmetics. Long story short, they were reselling items from Lady Burd and marking them up enormously. Apparently, according to one video I saw, people somehow were under the impression that BSC claimed to have made all of the items themselves. I never purchased items from Bitchslap Cosmetics, nor was I interested in doing so ($16 to $18 for one of those four-color shadow palettes that they call “paint wheels”? $12 for a pigment? And the names…to some, they say “fearless” and “edgy”. To me, they say “look, we found this theme in the gutter, and so we brought it back and cleaned it off a little (but not too much, because we want the grit) and we’re using it! Yayz!”) This all sounds oh so very much like the LimeCrime scenario of last year, and the Ginger + Liz dealio rocking the nail polish blogging world, that I just had to speak up.

There are a few terms everyone should know, a few things everyone should keep in mind, and a few sites everyone should probably bookmark. Let’s define them together, shall we?

Definitions from the supply chain

• Raw materials are things that can be combined to make other things. In the case of makeup, this includes but is not limited to mica, base mix components, pigments, oxides, waxes, and other colorants.
• Finished materials are items that are generally purchased by individual consumers, and used as-is. This includes lipstick, eye shadow, mascara, brushes...you get the idea.

Some raw materials, like mica or pigments, can also be considered finished materials - in that some consumers will buy them and use them as-is. Not all raw materials are finished materials.

• An original manufacturer (sometimes called an "original equipment manufacturer", especially in computer hardware circles) is someone who buys raw materials, combines them, and produces a finished product. Original manufacturers may or may not sell their products directly to consumers.
• A value-added reseller is someone who buys materials, combines them in some way, and then sells those products. Value-added resellers may buy and use raw materials in the creation of their end-sale products, but generally they focus on things that can and do fall into the "finished materials" category.
• A straight reseller is someone who buys materials (primarily or exclusively finished), and sells those products...without doing much, or anything, to add any value.
• A retailer is someone who sells items directly to consumers, as opposed to only selling to other businesses. Not every company that sells a product is a retailer.

Some original manufacturers will sell their finished products directly to end consumers, while others will choose to sell only in lots - so as to leave their business focussed on manufacturing, not split between manufacturing and sales. Similarly, some companies will buy all their finished products from other sources and then focus on individual sales and shipping, and customer fulfilment. Both of these processes, if done properly, can involve a lot of time and effort - which is why some businesses choose to focus only on one or the other. Any of these - an original manufacturer, a value-added reseller, a straight reseller - may or may not be a retailer. That is, they may or may not sell products directly to individual consumers. All sellers, original-manufacturer or resellers of some variety, will include their handling, storage, inventory, labor costs, and a margin for the business' profit in the final price of whatever item they're selling...which only makes sense. Everyone has to eat, everyone deserves to be compensated for their honest efforts.

To me, those last two words are the sticking point: honest efforts. If someone buys micas, oxides, pigments, and a few other things and then combines them, they've done a bit of work. Perhaps they've experimented around with the ingredient levels; or maybe they've followed a broadstroke recipe (x parts base-mix, y parts pigment, z parts mica) and tried various mica-and-pigment combinations to get exactly the colors and finishes they want to sell. Certainly they've done research to find the suppliers for the raw materials. If they're both ethical and intelligent, they've done baseline research into what compounds are beneficial, neutral, or harmful to humans...and have actively avoided harmful ones (and possibly even avoided some neutral or beneficial ones, if they're trying to create vegan items or items for people with higher-than-average chemical sensitivities.) If someone chooses to be a value-added reseller rather than an original manufacturer, they have a different focus for their research: they have to find items at the lowest possible price, and they have to have a plan for combining and / or pricing the items for resale. Again, if they're ethical and intelligent, they will find the safest, highest quality items to sell to their customers. They won't knowingly buy makeup laced with lead or arsenic, nor will they buy items with poor pigmentation or adhesion if they're planning to price them to sell to adults (kids are a bit more forgiving when it comes to how long makeup will stay on. Then again, they also generally do not have credit cards. Though the family pets might, especially Santos L. Halper.) Companies also have to know that consumers will find their sources, and if those sources sell individual items to the general public, they could stand to lose a lot of business if their markup is too egregious or if their finished-product combinations don't provide sufficient value. Makeup kits could be an example of a value-added item, whether sold by the original manufacturer or by value-added resellers: if a given kit contains three eyeshadows, one blush, one lipstick or gloss, two brushes, and a quality container, people will buy it...especially if they can't get the items individually, or if the cost of the individual items is far more than the cost of all the items combined. (This is pretty common not only in makeup, but in many other industries. Think of computers and bundled software.)

Manufacturing items takes time, as does combining finished items in such a way that adds value. It a value-added reseller manufactures a few items - like loose powder eyeshadows - but combines them with brushes or mascaras that they buy elsewhere, then they have a unique offering. Their challenge then is to price it so that people will buy it, and so that they do cover their costs and make a profit. This involves knowing what their customers want and don't want, and combining items in such a way that both sides feel like they've gotten value.

When someone resells product without adding any value, just sells the exact item that they bought somewhere else...well, it isn't the smartest thing in the world; but if that's how they want to run their business, that's their risk to take. They'll either resell it at exactly the same price they paid for it - which means they're not making any profit, so why are they running a business anyway - or they'll mark it up - which means that when their customers do find their source, they could either lose their customer base to their supplier or they're going to have a whole bunch of cheesed-off former customers.

A twofold problem

There's a twofold problem facing the indie makeup world. The first part of the problem lies with the consumer attitude - I'm not sure exactly how it arose - that if a person buys a product from someone who did not make that product themselves, the consumer is getting a product that is somehow inferior. While it is possible to buy handmade products that are an excellent value, and are truly beautiful, it's also quite possible to buy handmade products that are of poor quality, shoddy manufacturing, or simply questionable taste and value. Not everyone has the skill to knit a lace counterpane - and not everyone has the inclination to learn, either. I'm a person of at least average intelligence, but I don't care to learn how to sew my own clothing, let alone spin thread or weave cloth. I am enjoying learning to cook, after a childhood of only learning the absolute basics for survival; and I do know how to change my car's oil, top off the fluids, even jumpstart someone's battery or change my own tire. I'm also now growing my own vegetables, and if local shipping were to break down for a month or three and the grocery shelves were stripped bare, I wouldn't starve. (Maybe the "handmade is better" concept is a figment of the individualist-survivalist mindset that's crept into popular culture, and taken hold as a backlash against rampant capitalism and urbanism?) But if anyone out there thinks I will ever learn to do any sewing more complex than re-attaching a button, or that I'll learn to raise wheat and grind my own flour...you need pick this week to stop sniffing airplane glue.

The second part of the problem is vendors' attitude. Many start out with a business plan that essentially says, "use an edgy marketing angle, get a lot of customers / money, and then maybe think about formulating our own products." This, in and of itself, is not inherently bad. This is how many of companies get started, and how many of them continue. Again - if a company adds actual value, or provides consumers with something they cannot get elsewhere (though striking exclusivity agreements with various manufacturers, for example), they're bringing goods to a marketplace. That's commerce. However, when indie makeup companies look around at their potential customer base, they see people saying that if a person doesn't buy a product from someone who makes it themself, comsumers are getting something that's somehow inferior. This is kind of a load of bullshit, in my opinion (take a look at Regretsy for a whole lot of "handmade" items that are of rather questionable value) - but companies see this, they (or someone in their marketing department) decide to either state or imply that the company makes their own product so that they can actually -=get=- a customer base, and a few months or years later when people find the supplier(s), the house of cards comes tumbling down and people get rather justifiably pissed off. The recent "mineral makeup mutiny", that essentially went around giving special recognition to companies it believed to be making their own products, didn't really help things that much. Like the people who claim that only different-sex couples should be allowed to use the term "marriage" to describe their legal and social contract because different-sex couples are somehow superior, people who claim that only artisanally-formulated makeup should be allowed to call itself "mineral makeup" because artisanally-formulated makeup is somehow superior...is a bit of a wobbly claim.

So with this in mind, how does one keep from being ripped off, or feeling like you've been ripped off? Keep in mind that everyone has their own internal definitions for what is quality, and what is "being ripped off". I know that I could learn to mix my own mineral makeup base mix, buy some colored micas from TKB Trading, and make my own creations for my own use. There's lots of information on their customer forums, where clients share their own recipes free for the taking (for noncommercial use.) I just don't care to spend my time that way. Thus, even if someone is selling Taurus Orion or Capricorn Sea mica combined with a pigment (for opacity) and a base mix (for adhesion), I wouldn't think I was being ripped off it the resulting end product wasn't totally sheer, stayed on as well as anything from one of the major manufacturers (I have very oily lids, and nothing - NOTHING - stays on for long unless I use a primer or a cream shadow base), and wasn't marked up too egregiously. That's me, though. Your mileage can - and will - vary.

Where stuff comes from

If you're new to indie makeup - mineral, or "traditional" cosmetics - you'll want to doublecheck a few places to see if an item is something the vendor made themselves, or something they are reselling. If it's something they're reselling, you may be able to find other vendors who are selling the same item for less. (Note that reselling one item, or even one type of item, does not mean that an indie vendor is reselling everything. Note that color similarities, even exact color duplications, doesn't mean that a vendor is reselling, or even simply rebranding like Estee Lauder does with MAC, Estee Lauder, Bobbi Brown, or their other lines. It does mean that if you do your research, you may be able to find less-expensive substitutes.) To see if your vendor might be a reseller (even a value-added reseller), and thus to know if you might be able to find the items elsewhere for a lower cost, check these sites (which I'll even put in their own post, for quick and easy access.)

• Crown Brush Company (makeup / nail / esthetician brushes)
• Sigma Makeup (makeup and brushes) ...and by the way, I'm in the Sigma Affiliate program, so if you don't mind my earning a tiny percentage on your next purchase from Sigma, just click on my affiliate link: http://www.sigmabeauty.com/?Click=1842. The other link is just a plain vanilla web address to www.sigmabeauty.com.
• Lady Burd (private label cosmetics)
• YourNamePro (private label cosmetics)
• TKB Trading (mica, colorant, pigments, waxes, much else)
• Kosmetech (cosmetics jars, bottles, containers...but also applicators and some brushes)
• Diamond Cosmetics (private label makeup and nail polish)
• Coastal Scents (makeup, micas)
• Nail Gal (they don't sell anything; but they've got a huge gallery of polish and product shots, including several excellent comparisons)

• Do show people any dupes or near-dupes you may find for makeup: nail polish colors, blushes, multipurpose mineral powders, lip colors, what have you. That lets people see alternatives and make better choices: less expensive, available in their country, using a formula that works better for them, a dupe for a now-discontinued product, whatever. They may also be able to avoid purchasing a given product because they already own one or more near-dupes. (Which, in turn, lets them go out and purchase *other* products with the money they didn't spend on that product. Because we're all so very in love with our shiny and sparkly things.)
• Do not claim that a company resells a product unless you can provide nearly-unequivocal proof - that is, something that would stand up in a court of law. If you claim that a company is reselling and they're not - and they lose business - and they can prove that you made false claims - you can get into a hell of a lot of trouble. (You also lose credibility.) Proof - to me - would be side-by-side swatches in at least two lighting conditions from the same angle with the same application, as well as packaging shots where the packaging is both non-generic (that is, not just jars with the company's name on it, or jars with stickers or labels affixed) and identical...and in some cases, lab tests of the two supposedly-identical products. If someone is reselling the four-color paint wheels from Lady Burd, showing the identical packaging and palette containers is a good way to show people that they might be able to find that exact same item - the very same one, not a close duplicate - at other vendors, possibly for less money. (Even if you can provide this kind of proof for things like loose-powder eyeshadows, use the word "dupe" or "substitute". Do not state or even imply that the product is repackaged unless you have proof that they did simply resell the unadulterated mica or pigment - like the receipts showing where the company bought their materials, and something outlining the company's manufacturing process for that product. A single mica mixed with a custom base mix is not repackaging, it's a dupe. Dupes happen quite a lot, both on purpose and accidentally - even among great big companies that are not owned by the same parent company, like Bare Escentuals and MAC or Urban Decay and Stila.)
• Do state your own personal preferences when reviewing of a given product or company. Scrangie is not a huge fan of pink nail polish. Yet she does showcase pinks and reds, and notes any outstanding positive or negative qualities - if the polish was very thin, or if it applies smoothy (especially if it's a frost, which seem prone to streaky application), or if it will last for a long time before chipping. She doesn't slight others for liking pink nail polish, even exclusively. She just prefers other colors of nail polish. Anyone who reads more than one of her reviews will pick this up, because she states it quite straightforwardly. This lets people know: Scrangie doesn't like this pink, but that's because she's less fond of pinks than, say, greens or blues. It's not because of the quality of the polish. Likewise, if you review a green eyeshadow and don't generally like green eyeshadows because they don't work with your coloring (or because you're simply unfond of the color green), state that. That lets readers focus on any pictures of the product, or comments about the consistency, price, longevity, what have you; and raises your credibility in any viewers' eyes. You're essentially trusting them to make judgments based on their own reasons and needs and preferences - not yours. (Any woman who's heard "You would look prettier if you'd lose weight / got more exercise/ wore your hair differently / wore more/less makeup / dress differently" or "You'd be less threatening to men if you didn't use such big words / didn't talk about yourself at all / didn't have so many piercings / didn't talk about liking sex" knows how exasperating, or even hurtful, it is to have someone else's values so casually imposed upon you, even if the speaker truly does want to help...and how often it happens.)
• Do not go around to other peoples' blogs and post helpful comments like "Hey, I've seen those somewhere else before..." or "Did you know that X is a repackager?" You never, ever know someone else's level of knowledge. I had someone do this to me - and not only had I previously been quite aware of the similarities between some of X's items and items from company Z and simply didn't purchase the similar items; but this person kept enthusiastically talking up company Y who - gasp, shock - sold some items that looked identical to items from company Z. The assumption that I was a bit ignorant, coupled with this person's own seeming parallel ignorance, was more than a little ironic and a bit insulting. Having dealt with this particular blogger before, even corresponded with them, I'm 99.98% positive that the person's comments were meant to be truly helpful. But...it still annoyed me.

One last bit...the word "dupe" has acquired a negative connotation. Some beauty blogs use the word "dupe" to imply that something is directly resold or repackaged. The definition of the word has slid, possibly assisted by folks who were on the fringes of the whole Mineral Makeup Mutiny and began automatically assuming that any single duplicate product automatically labelled all a company's products as duplicates, or of being repackaged. A "dupe" is not an automatic indicator of reselling or repackaging - not for that one item, and definitely not for the entire line. When I first began buying BE on Ebay, I also tried products from another mineral makeup supplier: Simply Naturals. Their products were about 75% hit / 25% miss, but there were some good solid dupes for BE colors...and Simply Naturals was a lot less expensive than Bare Escentuals, even at Ebay prices. Within about a year, I found TKB Trading and noticed that Simply Naturals was selling some colors with the same descriptions, and in some cases, even the same names, as colored micas from TKB Trading. However, I also noticed that quite a few of Simply Naturals' colors were not available through TKB Trading - not with the same name, not with a different name. To me, this said that while some of Simply Naturals' products were repackaged from TKB, not all of them were. And it also gave me a solid source of a few BE dupes (Simply Naturals' Blaze is a dupe of BE's Beautiful Lisa; Simply Naturals' Gypsy is a dupe of BE's Here Kitty. The color payoff it the same, the formulas apply the same and last similarly...but I kind of doubt that either company is reselling from the other.)

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