/r/IndieMakeupAndMore Blacklisted Brands

After spending over a year going nuts over indies, I've had a really fun experience but like all things, there were bad experiences as well. I often chat with people from /r/IndieMakeupAndMore about make up and people often let me know what brands they blacklist. Occasionally, there's also threads where people list out their blacklisted companies:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Indiemakeupandmore/comments/2drhq2/brands_you_blacklist_and_why/

https://www.reddit.com/r/imamdiscussion/comments/37ag8d/blacklisted_companies/

https://www.surveymonkey.com/results/SM-R8HK9HP8/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Indiemakeupandmore/comments/29twk0/controversial_brandsbusinesses_what_do_you_think/

I previously resisted posting this blacklist on my blog since it's compiled from many different sources, so it's not exactly my writing. I've contacted as many people as I can remember to ask their permission to blog this, though many prefer to remain anonymous. Why do they choose to remain anonymous? It's often because:

a) They're brand owners and that's how they know something shady is going on, but they can't afford to look like they're trashing another brand because it's unprofessional

b) Some of these brands are known to harass negative reviewers and they rather avoid the drama

This list is constantly updated, so if you have brands you'd like to add, feel free to let me know in a comment or via reddit (/u/eraser_dust). 

CREDITS

Many thanks to Pretty Trvialities for helping me fact check and updating me on the issues that popped up before I got into indies. I'm also extremely grateful to @maquillage_savant, who further helped me update this list & do comparison swatches to confirm repackaging. She's a wealth of information and does lots of swatches of various brands, including TKB Trading's micas!

Huge thanks to Phyrra and @beautyscamreport for helping out with the list too!

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER:

People choose to blacklist for whatever reason. Someone's reason for blacklisting may not be the same as yours. For example, some people get really annoyed by owners who "spam" reddit with promotions and think that's enough reason to blacklist the company. Some people may not agree. I personally still shop from some of the stores on this list (Haus of Gloi, Aromaleigh, Fyrinnae), so it's really up to you. To make it easier for you to decide, I've split the list up into different reasons for blacklisting. 

I've included links to evidence as often as I can, unless there's so many that a simple google search (eg. "Geek Chic fingerprints") will turn up too many results. 

For stock fragrances and repackaged colours, it's often hard to provide definitive proof unless you're a brand owner who own lots of the same stock fragrances and unblended micas, and recognize the similarities. Fortunately, a lot of people, including brand owners do discuss the issue of repackaging. Sometimes, a scent like pumpkin latte is very common and many brand owners will do various versions of it and that's hardly evidence of repackaging. However, if the shop contains many complex scents with identical notes to many stock fragrance notes, there's a pattern and it's highly likely that repackaging has occurred. 

Some people who are new to indies may not be familiar with stock fragrances and repackaged micas. A stock fragrance is a fragrance from mainstream suppliers such as BrambleBerry, Crafter's Choice, etc. All you have to do is mixed them with oil and they're ready to wear (or be sold) as perfumes. I've discussed my issues with stock fragrances here. 

Repackaged micas are basically micas you buy from suppliers like TKB Trading for cheap, and sell at a heavily marked up price in a new packaging. With a good primer, you can immediately use these micas as eyeshadows. Here are swatches of some micas. Obviously, I rather not pay $3-6 for 3g of "eyeshadow" when I can buy the same "eyeshadow" from TKB trading at $1.50 for 6g. 

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Owner Ethics:

• Alchimia Apothecary (sold an oil she knew was going wrong, goes snarky on anyone who dares bring up any less than glowing review. Often trashes other brands on reddit, also throwaway accounts seem fond of harassing her negative reviewers & defending her products)
• Portland Black Lipstick Company (they will not send you your stuff until you message them about it. When you do message them, they send you a stock message they send everyone, and then send out your goods)
• Aromaleigh (previously sold eyeshadows containing [unsafe] [ingredients] that caused one woman to suffer chemical burns, known for terrible customer service, the owner went berserk on bloggers...they have a good CS rep now and there haven't been any public complaints since 2010, but a few bloggers have experienced private intimidation for less than glowing reviews, and the owner also approached the IMAM mods trying to get a user banned for a negative review. Further discussion and screenshots on this blog post. It's 2018 and she blamed my 2015 review for losing her sales and sent her fans my way.)
• Victorian Disco Cosmetics (owner keeps lying about sending items when she hasn't. People have not gotten their orders since May 2014, yet she was still holding sales and showing off her hauls on IMAM)
• Sugar and Spite Bathery (owner used to own several other brands, each time, she got big then closed and ran off with people's money)
• Sixteen92 ([implied] [so] [many] times her bath products are made from scratch, turns out they're from a base. Even sold an unscented base at the same marked up price as her scented ones. The confession only came after people were looking at stores and identifying which ones use bases)
• Pretty Zombie (deliberately naming themselves like My Pretty Zombie to steal customers) 
• Debaucherous Bath (used to name themselves Haus of Haunt to mooch off the popularity of Haunt & Haus of Gloi, terrible CS & TAT, items arrive in terrible shape) 
• OHWTO (bullying bloggers & not replying to emails)
• Beauty Bohemia (stole swatch pictures from bloggers without giving them credit, made up impossible lies to cover it up as an "honest mistake")
• Lime Crime (tons of photo theft, repackaging scandal, general sketchiness)
• Lumikki (disappeared without sending anything for long periods, not responsive)
• Mon Ennui (many many terrible experience from people from inaccurate swatches, owner calling bad reviewers crazy, threatening to close the store and not sending existing orders unless people make more orders, etc. This blog has some screenshots documenting the craziness)
• Black Rose Minerals - Quite possibly gone fraudulent; not shipping/refunding 
• Star Crushed Minerals (fingerprints inside jars, lying about product size and sharing private information & making crazy accounts to defend themselves on reddit)
• Oslo Cosmetics (packages missing items and she refuses to replace them, also spams IMAM with ads, steals photos of random models and claims they're wearing her products when they're not)
• Hello Waffle (unprofessional behaviour, got her fans from facebook to brigade a thread, supported VDC but dropped her like a rock after it's clear how unpopular VDC was [summary here], keeps passive aggressively guilting for any negative reviews)
• Flawlessyou (not sending products and really crappy behaviour)
• Jeffree Star (racism, owner harassing anyone who disagrees with him, loads of drama)
• LovelyKittenLuxuries (not sending products)
• Notoriously Morbid (I'm personally still deciding on this. Guilting customers over destashing, attempting to blame USPS for something that's most likely their fault, trying to guilt a customer for a legitimate complaint and one of the owners later liked a post calling that customer a "bitch")
• Pretty & Polished (refuses to answer emails unless called out in public. Package went missing, claims to have resent a replacement, can't produce any tracking/customs info)
• Moi Minerals (doesn't ship out within stated TAT and goes uncommunicative) 
• Mentality Polish (deliberately selling toxic polish and responded to customers by refusing to issue refund & cutting off communications from stockists)
• Southern Comforts (this is totally my personal issue used a throwaway to request for my blacklist, then tried to stir up drama against me in public and sent out an altered version of the conversation that conveniently omitted her trashing other brands). Also used another account to shill her own brand and published our personal conversations. Summary of the drama here.
• Celestial Colors Cosmetics (deliberately branding themselves to look like another brand, screenshots here)
• Etsy Give Me Glow (bullying competitors and customers, attempted to get a competitor's instagram account deleted by accusing her of being the account of a blogger, responds rudely to customer service complaints and deletes the comments)
• Beauty Bar Baby (attempted to get a competitor's instagram account deleted by accusing her of being the account of a blogger)
• Baby Doll Beauty (misleading people on product sizes, tried to get a beauty blogger's and a competitor's instagram accounts deleted, [lots] [of] [matches] with TKB Trading's micas)
• JD Glow (admitted creating smelly highlighters thanks to pressing with an old rag and then deleted the comments, terrible customer service, [so] [many] [colours] [matched] [with] TKB Trading's micas)
• Kheimistrii (possible plagiarism from Haus of Gloi)
• The Velvet Rabbit ([lots] [of] [photo] [theft])
• Iconic Cosmetics (photo theft)

Hygiene issues:

• Ophelia's Apothecary (not knowing what she sent me as part of her "shipping refund", not sending my order until I reminded her to and made a 2nd order, unhygienic containers, etc. Product quality was also poor)
• Detrivore (fingerprints inside jars, not sending out orders like VDC - now operated by Shiro) 
• Siren Song (potential hygiene issues)
• Geek Chic (fingerprints inside jars, mouldy lipstick)
• Concrete Minerals (fingerprints inside jars)
• The All Natural Face (bad quality products, hygiene issues)
• Glitter Sniffer (selling eyeshadows with not safe for eyes soap dyes)
• Emily Whitcher/Project Unrefined (tons of photo theft, poor hygiene, please view comment below by Covet Lady to view more blog posts about this)
• Smash Cosmetics (mold on products)
• Korpse Kosmetics (selling non-cosmetic ingredients for cosmetic purposes, not using gloves until someone pointed out fingerprints in jars)
• Insomnia Cosmetics (mold, which the owner lied about and claimed was wax)
• Fierce Magenta (no preservatives, lipsticks turn rancid within 6 months)
• Jazzy Glitter (frequently posts videos of glitter being mixed without gloves)
• Kae Q (mold on products, no explanation how it happened but she was open about it)
• Preen Cosmetics (fibers on products. Immediately during launch too)
• Haus of Gloi (I'm personally still deciding on this since I've never had issues before and haven't heard this happening to anyone else bugs in products)
• Corvus Cosmetics (workspace is possibly her bedroom...copy of the pic in case it gets deleted)
• Star Crushed Minerals (fingerprints inside jars)
• Frostaholics (hair in and on products in their promotional pictures)
• Aromaleigh (previously sold eyeshadows containing [unsafe] [ingredients], known for terrible customer service, the owner went berserk on bloggers and actually said something along the lines of, "I'm the CEO, I shouldn't have to deal this!"...they have a good CS rep now and there haven't been any complaints since 2010, but the owner's still the same person)
• JD Glow (admitted creating smelly highlighters thanks to pressing with an old rag and then deleted the comments, terrible customer service, [so] [many] [colours] [matched] [with] TKB Trading's micas)

Stock Scents/Bases

• Whisper Sisters (formerly 13 Gypsies, stock scents and history of scamming people on perfume forums. Tried them out personally before I know and the oils are..weird. like they're almost gooey)
• Black Violet (tons of stock scents, finally admitted to using pre-made bases for her bath products after being called out, refuse to clarify what other products that haven't been called out yet are made of pre-made bases as well. Quick google search of her ingredient lists will show many, many companies with identical ingredient lists for the same product, as well as companies selling the bases)
• Queen Bee Apothecary and related brands (only uses stock bases and stock scents)
• Ten Digit Creations (most likely stock bases and scents, responds to customer questions very unprofessionally)
• Purplecat Creatives (lied about using stock bases)
• Bunny Butts (premade bases, stock scents)
• Blue Water Fragrances (stock scents)
• Addictive Cosmetics (incomplete ingredient lists and bad products)
• Bow and Arrow (stock scents)
• Poesie Perfume (body lotion is a base, body whip too, and so's the shower gel)

Questionable Formulas/Repackaging:

• Glamour Doll Eyes (eyeshadows do not contain bases & they have crazy fans that harass people who give less than stellar reviews)
• Siren Cosmetics (iffy ingredients lists, a lot are repackaged)
• Impulse Cosmetics (swatches on the site are edited so you'll never get the colors you're expecting, stole pictures from Fyrinnae)
• Comet Vomit (not knowing what’s in her shadows and possible repackaging. Now called Gem City Tiffany and selling nail polishes only)
• Impulse Cosmetics (fake swatches on their site, tons of photo theft)
• Madison Street Beauty (repackaging)
• Bad Bitch Cosmetics (passing non-vegan stuff as vegan, not understanding ingredients)
• Orglamix (repackaging, threatening bloggers with lawsuits)
• Micki Song cosmetics ('vegan' but contains carmine and lanolin)
• Body Prodogy LLC ('vegan' but contains carmine and lanolin as above plus repackaging)
• Chameleon Eye Cosmetic (no binders, incomplete ingredient lists)
• Sigil Inspired (many TKB trading matches, incomplete ingredient lists for most listings, does not contain binders)
• Tater Rounds Beauty (incomplete ingredient lists)
• Baby Doll Beauty (misleading people on product sizes, tried to get a beauty blogger's and a competitor's instagram accounts deleted, [lots] [of] [matches] with TKB Trading's micas)
• Royyal Couture formerly Glitter Fanatix (incomplete/missing ingredient lists)
• JD Glow (admitted creating smelly highlighters thanks to pressing with an old rag and then deleted the comments, terrible customer service, [so] [many] [colours] [matched] [with] TKB Trading's micas)
• Five11 Cosmetics (photo theft & repackaging)
• Inked Barbie Cosmetics (repackaging from Aliexpress) 
• MBA Cosmetics ([so] [many] [cases] [of] [repackaging])

Bad Business Management:

• Alog Cosmetics (inconsistent formula, ships items in flimsy packaging)
• All That Sass (sent fragile items in only a thin, plastic envelope, everything arrived crushed and owners didn't reply)
• Meow Cosmetics (notoriously bad customer service and inflexible store policies when it comes to changing orders. Foundation colours are also often inconsistent, even from the samples)
• Dark Matter Makeup (clueless about ingredients and relies on IMAM to educate her. Released lipsticks with less than 19 days of testing)
• Fyrinnae (I've personally bought from Fyrinnae, still do & have had great experiences. Employee went nuts and started abusing customers on Twitter. The employee is supposedly fired)

Spammy Owners: (owners who constantly self-promote on IMAM)

• Leesha's Lacquer
• Elea Blake
• Lou Lou's
• Bow and Arrow