ColourPop x Bretman Rock Collection Swatches

Hey Hollie,

ColourPop’s ingredient list for their glitter gel is notably different from Lemonhead’s – they use similar core ingredients like PET (the glitter particles) as do most glitter-heavy products. It’s not unusual for brands to purchase, try/test, and compare their products to competitor’s – it is part of doing market research and product development. Whether the aim is to replicate or more in the vein of, “that’s nice but we can do better” it’s just not… a controversy? If you were developing a new cream eyeshadow formula, would you ignore everything on the market already? Lemonhead revealing private customer information is more concerning to me.

For a good overview on common glitter ingredients, here’s Lit’s loose glitter ingredient list: Polyethylene Terephthalate CAS-No 25038-59-9, Acrylates Copolymer CAS-No 9010-88-2, Surface Binder CAS-No 125826-44-0 Polyurethane 33, Polyethylene Naphthalate CAS-No 25853-85-4, Polymethyl Methacrylate CAS-No 9011-14-7, Acrylic Resin, Melamine Resin, Aluminum CAS-No 7429-90-5 CI 77000.

ColourPop OMG I’m Wet ingredient list: Polyethylene Terephthalate, Water, Glycerin, Vp/Va Copolymer, Polymethyl Methacrylate, Dimethicone, Triethanolamine, Isobutylphenoxy Epoxy Resin, Carbomer, Aluminum, Polyurethane 33, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol, Dimethiconol, Potassium Sorbate, Laureth-23, Hexylene Glycol, Laureth-4, Black 2 (CI 77266), Ferric Ferrocyanide (CI 77510).

Lemonhead Private School SpacePaste ingredient list: AQUA, POLYETHYLENE TEREPHTHALATE, POLYSORBATE 20, VP/VA COPOLYMER, POLYURETHANE-33, PROPYLENE GLYCOL; ALOE BARBADENSIS LEAF JUICE, ALTHAEA OFFICINALIS ROOT EXTRACT, AMINOMETHYL PROPANOL, CARBOMER, DISODIUM EDTA, ETHYLHEXYLGLYCERIN, GLYCERIN, MACROCYSTIS PYRIFERA EXTRACT, MALTODEXTRIN, PARFUM, TOCOPHERYL ACETATE, BENZOIC ACID, CHLORPHENESIN, LAURTRIMONIUM CHLORIDE, PHENOXYETHANOL, SORBIC ACID, CITRAL, COUMARIN, LIMONENE, LINALOOL, [+/ -: CI 19140, CI 15850, CI 77000, CI
77266, CI 77510]

Lemonead Seapunk SpaceJam ingredient list: POLYETHYLENE TEREPHTHALATE, AQUA, POLYURETHANE-33, POLYSORBATE 20, VP/VA COPOLYMER, PROPYLENE GLYCOL; ALOE BARBADENSIS LEAF JUICE, ALTHAEA OFFICINALIS ROOT EXTRACT, AMINOMETHYL PROPANOL, CARBOMER, DISODIUM EDTA, ETHYLHEXYLGLYCERIN, GLYCERIN, MACROCYSTIS PYRIFERA EXTRACT, MALTODEXTRIN, PARFUM, TOCOPHERYL ACETATE, BENZOIC ACID, CHLORPHENESIN, LAURTRIMONIUM CHLORIDE, PHENOXYETHANOL, SORBIC ACID, CITRAL, COUMARIN, LIMONENE, LINALOOL, [+/ -: CI 15880, CI 77510, CI 19140, CI 77000, CI 15850, CI 77891, CI 42090, CI 16035]

While glitter suspended in gel is nothing new (NYX had a Glitter Gel with a glycerin base at least as far back as 2011, pre-dating Lemonhead), so I’m not even sure why Lemonhead is getting involved here. More over, though, is this is part of being in a competitive industry where little is protected – the formula isn’t the same by the ingredient list, both in the order but also in several ingredients that don’t overlap. It’s like when liquid lipstick became a huge trend in the industry; sure, there were some standout formulas from key brands, but then every brand came out with their own variation – and lots of those bases were similar in ingredient order/components with some being more or less similar. I also wrote about the art of duping with respect to more obvious instances, like palettes by Bad Habit or Makeup Revolution, here.

There are artistry brands like Graftobian who do glitter gel, and there are tons of listings on Etsy for glitter gels, too. I’d expect to see a ton more glitter-based products cropping up in the next year as the glitter trend takes hold. I look at Lemonhead as a brand that pursued glitter gel aggressively and likely invested a lot of time to get their formula just right along with the ratios of this size/shape with this other size/shape … but if another brand duped the effective color/appearance – it’s common – look at NARS Orgasm Blush, one of the most duped shades available.

Hope that sheds some light on the situation! 🙂