Love your budget idea :/ I should try it.. all of these subscription companies are stealing my money LOL!
EM Cosmetics: Michelle Phan's new cosmetic line.
- Thread starter zadidoll
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That's why I cut my budget down because it got crazy for about a year. I was spending close to $100 per month on subscriptions and every quarter it went up to something like $200 or $250. AND that doesn't factor all the other stuff I'd buy.
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If not for the sake of reviewing, I don't think I would buy anything either. I guess I can't knock it completely until I try it. Curiosity kills the cat. Or the cat's wallet. I tried the budget thing once. Yeah, you probably could guess how that went. However, I am much better than I used to be and truly try to buy stuff that I don't already have. I also try not to ever buy makeup at full price by waiting for sales, promotions, or higher cash back on ebates or something. Usually by the time a sale rolls around, I don't want what I had put on my wish list or realize I really don't need to buy it.
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Originally Posted by ZeeOmega /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Oh wow. The way they're marketing and getting reviews for this line is so weird. It's like they've decided to just toss out best practices altogether. Isn't the point of a large group like L'Oreal running it is to take advantage of their experience and market reach? Sounds more like they're trying to make a quick buck off of Michelle's name.
She does not own the name, Loreal owns it. They bought the domain for the website and everything, they are only licensing her name so she gets a cut of the money. Michelle already did a palette with Loreal for a similar price (correct me if I am wrong). The reviews are bullcrap, all of those 5 star reviews suddenly appearing the exact same day that she announces it? and the fact that she said in the video that she worked on this makeup line for 3 years, and just recently one of her "sisters" tweeted that it was an 8 month process. Why is she lying about that? and now there is evidence that she is deleting the comments from her own fans which are questioning the pricing of the palettes, and also the privacy breaching concerns on the website. UGH it is one giant mess haha.
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Ugh. I cannot sign in. I just emailed them and asked to have my account deleted and information in the database cleaned completely. I hope they do it!
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Ugh, I need to try out your idea. I signed up for way too many bags and subscriptions so I need to start cutting back down again.
I'd be surprised if we don't end up seeing at least one EM product in the ipsy bags. It would be odd to me not to advertise her own makeup brand in her own subscription service.
ZeeOmega
Zee
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I meant her name as in the sense of her brand image, not the cosmetic line itself. She has a fan base, a social image, etc. that is then used to push sales. This strange way of debuting the line makes it seem more like L'Oreal is trying to squeeze as much out of her image as quickly as possible, as opposed to trying to cultivate a sustainable sales model.
Originally Posted by Annakin /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Quote: Originally Posted by ZeeOmega /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Oh wow. The way they're marketing and getting reviews for this line is so weird. It's like they've decided to just toss out best practices altogether. Isn't the point of a large group like L'Oreal running it is to take advantage of their experience and market reach? Sounds more like they're trying to make a quick buck off of Michelle's name.
She does not own the name, Loreal owns it. They bought the domain for the website and everything, they are only licensing her name so she gets a cut of the money. Michelle already did a palette with Loreal for a similar price (correct me if I am wrong). The reviews are bullcrap, all of those 5 star reviews suddenly appearing the exact same day that she announces it? and the fact that she said in the video that she worked on this makeup line for 3 years, and just recently one of her "sisters" tweeted that it was an 8 month process. Why is she lying about that? and now there is evidence that she is deleting the comments from her own fans which are questioning the pricing of the palettes, and also the privacy breaching concerns on the website. UGH it is one giant mess haha.
I've read she said in one article it was a two year process and in another a three. It's possible L'Oreal/Lancome approached her about it three years ago but actual development didn't start until two years ago. I do remember that Michelle held contests last October (10 months ago) for people to name various colors and win a lipstick. I'm not sure of all the names submitted if the winners names were used at all. I did a little digging into that on a few of the winners choices to the Life Palettes but the winners choices were all deleted. I should look more into that but doubt I will due to the fact that most, if not all, of these had over 1000 comments each.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151057684377882&set=a.76356232881.79063.53754642881
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151055325692882&set=a.76356232881.79063.53754642881
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151053931382882&set=a.76356232881.79063.53754642881
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151052762422882&set=a.76356232881.79063.53754642881
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151045610937882&set=a.76356232881.79063.53754642881
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151044152302882&set=a.76356232881.79063.53754642881
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151040762617882&set=a.76356232881.79063.53754642881
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151039665032882&set=a.76356232881.79063.53754642881
Any how, I did look into the trademark and the L'Oreal Group does indeed own the trademark to Michelle's name. No idea what kind of a deal she has but it can be dangerous for her in that they own the rights to her name kind of like how Jonathan (Antin) lost the name to his products when he sold his hair care line Jonathan. He has another new line out but it's not called Jonathan and what's sold at Costco and mass market retailers is not his product but using his name. It's the same with Wally Amos of Famous Amos cookies, he sold his name when he sold his company and now can't use the Amos name in any future ventures. It's possible that when she did the deal with L'Oreal that she retains the rights to her name but it's also possible that she sold the rights to her name. Without seeing the contract it's pure speculation on our part to know who owns the rights to the Michelle Phan name on a long term basis but L'Oreal owns the trademark to it.
What I do know for sure is that .EM MICHELLE PHAN is trademarked By: L'Oreal USA Creative, Inc. as is EM MICHELLE PHAN. Oh and just found info that they own her name under the trademarks M PHAN and MICHELLE PHAN. If Michelle sold the name rights to L'Oreal she's a very, very rich young woman however it's possible because of this she'll never be able to do anything else with her name in conjunction with other products unless it's done by L'Oreal.
Edit: Also trademarked by L'Oreal USA Creative, Inc are the following:
- EM IS A REFLECTION OF ME
- EM MICHELLE PHAN (x2 due to different styles)
- .EM MICHELLE PHAN (x2 due to different styles, note the period in front of EM)
- M PHAN
- MICHELLE PHAN
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I can't imagine L'Oreal would do something like that though. I mean maybe for one or two collaborations for a set but giving her her own line requires maintenance and upkeep. It seems dumb to just launch a singular line for a couple of quick bucks. If Michelle's contract expires and they want to keep on with the line, they'd still have to continually pay to use her image
eta: or what zadi said XD
eta: or what zadi said XD
Kristine Walker
Her Nibs
Man she better not have sold rights to her own name! Same thing happened to Adrian Arpel back in the late 70s or early 80s. When she sold her cosmetic line, it included the rights to her own name. If you've ever noticed on the shopping channels, she is only referred to as Adrian, never both names. Her line is Signature Club A or something like that.
If Michelle sold rights to her own name then L'Oreal could legally force her to purge content that uses the name. So, people, if you ever develop a product and a big corporation wants to buy you out, do not sell the rights to your own name!
If Michelle sold rights to her own name then L'Oreal could legally force her to purge content that uses the name. So, people, if you ever develop a product and a big corporation wants to buy you out, do not sell the rights to your own name!
meaganola
Uh Huh Her
Could they just rebrand the line with a new name, thereby keeping the products but losing the need to re-up her contract? If they have a devoted customer base, it would follow to the new brand identity, especially if they did some sort of evolution that carried people over without customers even realizing that the rebranding was happening.
As of right now here's what I know from the trademarks filed. L'Oreal owns the trademarks to MICHELLE PHAN, M PHAN, EM MICHELLE PHAN (and the variations of those). It's possible she did what Jonathan Antin did and sold her name to L'Oreal which means any future products not owned by L'Oreal can't use her name. If this is the case then could go by Michelle P or use the RiceBunny name for future projects with other companies. She could also have a deal with them that she can't work on future projects with other people. All of that we'll never really know. What I do know and what we do know is L'Oreal owns the trademarks to those names. Does it mean they own the exclusive rights to her name? Unknown. If someone with extensive trademark info knows please tell us.
Also found that the Life Palette was (file date) trademarked on 5/25/2012 while EM IS A REFLECTION OF ME was filed on 4/26/2013. The EM logo as we see it on her products were filed with a trademark on 1/28/2013 while the original logo .EM MICHELLE PHAN was trademarked (filed) on 12/21/2012. Michelle Phan and M PHAN as a trademarked name were filed 5/9/2013. From what I'm seeing Michelle DID trademark her own name (M PHAN and Michelle Phan) under RiceBunny, Inc on 3/26/2012 but abandoned those trademarks on 5/10/2013 for L'Oreal to trademark it. So it looks like she did sell the rights to her name to them. She also abandoned EVER EDEN but still has E O O E trademarked which is the Ever Eden line. There are no other live records under RiceBunny, Inc.
Any how, from what I viewed it looks like the earliest information that can be confirmed is Michelle has been working with L'Oreal on the EM line since at least early 2012 - 15 months. Considering it takes time to come up with names for even the products obviously she's been working on this longer than 15 months and could easily have started this project with them in 2010 (three years ago) or 2011 (two years ago). Either way it wasn't an overnight thing or something that could be done in eight months. Six months ago they already had the products done, packaging done, the logo done, the photo shoots done and I have pictures of the products from the February 15 survey showing those exact items as what has been released. There is no way that they could have had all of that done in two months for the "eight months ago" as someone stated.
One thing is for sure. The girl made a killing on her name and her popularity, no other vlogger has been able to do the same. She's smart, very smart.
Also found that the Life Palette was (file date) trademarked on 5/25/2012 while EM IS A REFLECTION OF ME was filed on 4/26/2013. The EM logo as we see it on her products were filed with a trademark on 1/28/2013 while the original logo .EM MICHELLE PHAN was trademarked (filed) on 12/21/2012. Michelle Phan and M PHAN as a trademarked name were filed 5/9/2013. From what I'm seeing Michelle DID trademark her own name (M PHAN and Michelle Phan) under RiceBunny, Inc on 3/26/2012 but abandoned those trademarks on 5/10/2013 for L'Oreal to trademark it. So it looks like she did sell the rights to her name to them. She also abandoned EVER EDEN but still has E O O E trademarked which is the Ever Eden line. There are no other live records under RiceBunny, Inc.
Any how, from what I viewed it looks like the earliest information that can be confirmed is Michelle has been working with L'Oreal on the EM line since at least early 2012 - 15 months. Considering it takes time to come up with names for even the products obviously she's been working on this longer than 15 months and could easily have started this project with them in 2010 (three years ago) or 2011 (two years ago). Either way it wasn't an overnight thing or something that could be done in eight months. Six months ago they already had the products done, packaging done, the logo done, the photo shoots done and I have pictures of the products from the February 15 survey showing those exact items as what has been released. There is no way that they could have had all of that done in two months for the "eight months ago" as someone stated.
One thing is for sure. The girl made a killing on her name and her popularity, no other vlogger has been able to do the same. She's smart, very smart.
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This is true, we have to give her props for that. On the other hand, because of this, I can't imagine trusting any recommendations Michelle gives anymore, since it's clearly tainted. I don't think it matters to her anymore because she's got her hands into a bigger jar of cookies. Even if EM / L'Oreal doesn't work out, she still has ipsy. Even at an underestimation of 100k of bags shipped per month, that's a gross $1 million she's generating a month in terms of revenue. I imagine more than 50% of that goes into obtaining products and distribution, but it certainly gives you an idea of how a company that sells stuff for $10 a month can still be highly profitable.
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I think the person who said eight months was probably thinking about the naming things Michelle put on facebook for the fans a while ago, without realizing that these things have a lot of "behind the scenes" happenings that actually date back further.
Kristine Walker
Her Nibs
Well for actual YouTube reviews I mainly rely on EmilyNoel83 and Goss. To me they seem honest and fair.
