Jeffree Star Assures His Fans They'll Never Have to Worry About Quality With His Products
OK, here's the backstory (if you already don't know it): Remember when Jeffree Star, a makeup artist with a bomb eponymous makeup line, called out Kylie Jenner's Lip Kit products for having frayed brushes? If you don't, here's a reminder:
And then other people chimed in:
Apparently, Mallory got her new brushes and then some (see below). I also got my replacement, and Jeffree confirmed with Cosmopolitan.com that he too just received a new gloss from Kylie last weekend.
But unfortunately, there are still people out there who haven't gotten their new lip kit in the mail, like Candy:
Recently, I spoke to Jeffree about the lack of Kylie's product replacements while we were both in Vegas at Benefit Cosmetic's global brow launch.
"Here's my problem," he said. "Until I spoke up, no one from customer service was giving a response to anyone, and it was 18 days of silence after the initial huge lip gloss launch. But as soon as I opened my big mouth, a day or two later, they finally had to make a statement. I just think they should have already addressed it properly before, and it sucks that it took someone with a big voice to speak up, because a lot of my followers experienced that same thing and they were getting no refund, no response - nothing. It sucks because I do like some of her liquid lips and I think she is dope as a person. I was just disappointed in that product."
When I spoke to Jeffree, the beauty beef he had with Kylie seemed to have ended. "It's not like I hate Kylie, it's just think that you have to address things sooner and be smart about it," he said. "At the end of the day, you have to care about your consumer, and you have to make sure your shit is legit. I just hope she learns from it."
But then, last night, things got riled up again when a fan tweeted this out: "Okay, @Jeffreestar's liquid lis are sooooo much better than Kylie's lip kits."
To which he replied, "I mean... Formula vs. Name 🔪 RT."
Jeffree then followed up with these tweets that reinforced the fact that he's the real deal, isn't going anywhere, and his brand will give you the most quality formula out there:
He clearly has feelings on how the consumer should be treated (rightfully so!) and about how the formula any brand puts out needs to be perfect. Especially because with the "internet, everyone knows what's going on," he told me in Vegas. "I spent a lot of time on the packaging ... but the formula, for me, was most important. From someone who has been a consumer since the age of 12 - I used to steal makeup from the grocery store! - I wanted the formula to speak for itself."
He also said he felt pressure because a lot of people had high expectations since he's been doing makeup for so long, "so I couldn't pull out some half-assed shit."
"Once I knew the formula was better than my competitors' and what was already out there, I felt good about putting it out and testing the waters. Fortunately, as soon as people got their hands on it, it just went viral - I mean, I've spent zero dollars on marketing, that's what's crazy about social media. There's no billboards, no ads in Vogue or anything - it's just YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter. I just feel so blessed to have this - the internet, I mean - in my life to get the word out."
Two examples of how Jeffree tells his consumers about his brand's latest news:
Since starting his YouTube channel in December 2015, Jeffree has hit a million subscribers, and he's coming out with an eye shadow palette called "Beauty Killer" on May 25. "The formula is like butter," he said.
He's also releasing highlighters called "Skin Frost," which come out the same day as the palette. They're talc-free, vegan, and cruelty-free, and they're coming out in four shades first: for fair, medium, and dark tones, and a green one that you can play with for a pop of color.
Jeffree is also coming out with the first-ever black highlighter for Halloween. "It's not for the average working day girl, but she can wear it if she wants," Jeffree said. "It's just daring and fun." Make note of that in your calendar because I'm sure it will go fast.
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