Em Cosmetics Part 3 | Split from L’Oréal & IPSY

[amuto_lover]

Lolololol. I think Michelle made it crystal clear why all of her projects tank
She pushes them out and then moves on to create something else
That's the problem right there why did she decide to divide her time to 2 more brands when it's clear as day that EM isn't doing well

Her so called brands are like a hand made rickety bridge.
Sure they look safe from a distance but when you put some real weight on it, it will show it's not sustainable.

[sugarpeaches123]

[youtube][/youtube]

You. Are. Shitting. Me! At 1:04, she uses pink and blue on the face chart.

This poor girl is so one-dimensional, it hurts.

Forbes is profiling her, and she comes up with that 6th grade level doodle? How she didn't die of embarrassment during the interview - fiddling with her childish products and doodling, ACTING like she's some kind of authority on beauty / boss lady - is beyond me.

My favourite moment was when she randomly opened the drawers with eye shadow pans in them and then closed them again, for no reason whatsoever. Loooool, wow, what an amazing entrepreneur and creator she is!

[Trololol]

[youtube][/youtube]

You. Are. Shitting. Me! At 1:04, she uses pink and blue on the face chart.

This poor girl is so one-dimensional, it hurts.

Forbes is profiling her, and she comes up with that 6th grade level doodle? How she didn't die of embarrassment during the interview - fiddling with her childish products and doodling, ACTING like she's some kind of authority on beauty / boss lady - is beyond me.

My favourite moment was when she randomly opened the drawers with eye shadow pans in them and then closed them again, for no reason whatsoever. Loooool, wow, what an amazing entrepreneur and creator she is!

LOL omg her randomly opening drawers was just the most pandering thing she ever did. "Look at me, I'm arting so hard!"

[123xyz]

^Her brows look horrible in that video. You would think a woman who owns a makeup line would at least know how to apply it.

On another note, does anyone know of anything worth buying from EM? I'm obsessed with trying all sorts of brands, so I've been intrigued by hers, but from the looks of it everything in her line sucks horribly.

[Cinnamon_Dulce]

"I'm more of an executor." "I wanna create." What are you even trying to say exactly?

[handmadedolly]

Her hair is gross in that video. Couldn't she have it styled at least?

[Srsly]

It's actually fascinating how she can maintain an unjustifiably high opinion of herself / how she can take on interviews like these with a straight face despite the fact that she's so obviously a fake. She stumbled through the interview, even giving a bullshit recommendation that she, herself, doesn't even practice.

"Finding and understanding why you're doing what you're doing; having a sense of purpose."

Riiiiight. So then what is the purpose of em cosmetics? Browsing through their website, I'm just left confused. I don't "get" em cosmetics. I can't get a feel for what the brand is trying to accomplish, their mission, their purpose. In other words, there's nothing signature about the brand/company. Just to give examples of what I mean:

- Josie Maran Cosmetics. Their signature is infusing argan oil into each of their products

- RMS Beauty. After she learned of the dangers of chemicals in cosmetics, a celebrity makeup artist made it her mission to create an organic line of high-end cosmetics made of raw ingredients in their natural, living state

- May Lindstrom Skin. She crafts her luxury products by hand, and the overall intent of her brand is to create a celebratory, centering morning/nightly skincare ritual for the user (and her website is so dreamy, it reflects her/her purpose perfectly)

- Urban Decay. They have that feminine/edgy vibe about them, and they're known for their buttery-soft textures, highly pigmented shadows & vegan formulations

- NARS. They really put the idea of luminous skin on the map with their Sheer Glow foundation

- OCC. Their signature "lip tars"

- Anastasia Beverly Hills. BROWS

- e.l.f. They're built on the idea of creating super affordable "dupes" of high-end cosmetics

- em cosmetics *insert crickets chirping*

I know they like to peddle this "co-created with all of you" idea, but if that idea isn't reflected anywhere in the brand/products (and it isn't), then those words are completely meaningless. The chiaroscuro stick? Which Michelle can't even pronounce. I feel like it was a cool concept with her art background and all, but it wasn't executed well. Just read the countless reviews of people complaining that not even the darkest shade shows up on their light/medium skin. And.. anyone recall how it broke on national TV? The concept of their [big/bulky] packaging, which is more cumbersome than it is practical? I mean, what is em cosmetics' signature/purpose?

If ANYONE could've created an amazing makeup line, Michelle could've been the one to do it. And I'm not saying that because of her talent & skills as she has NO talent or skills, but because of her YouTube stats. As the #1 most subscribed to beauty channel (not anymore) with over a billion views, you'd think that she'd have a ton of contacts in the industry to help her make it happen. How she managed to create such an uninspired makeup line is beyond me. I call BULLSHIT that it was always a dream of hers. I also call bullshit that she "doesn't believe in just putting her name on it, stamping it, and just leaving them." Well, okay then. If you invest so much time, effort, and passion in em cosmetics why isn't it reflected in your brand/products?? An example of that would be the Pixiwoo sisters - you can just tell by their Instagram/videos that they actually take pride in their business and it reflects in their products. Real professional MUA use their brushes, including celebrity MUA Monika Blunder. Has anyone seen a professional MUA use em? If so, I'll gladly eat my words.

UGH. Why didn't she just focus on one area first (like creating a line of standout lip products, or something)...perfect the formula, colors, and packaging, make a name for herself in the beauty industry OUTSIDE of YouTube, and then extend her line later on?

Bravo! I couldn't have said it better Snuffy.

[Chiyou]

Because I am pretty good at inferring things, I can actually *kind of* see where Em Cosmetics was trying to go with its purpose. Like @snuffy777 said, their tagline is more or less "co-created with all of you" so I think the purpose of Em Cosmetics at its conception was to merge the makeup line with social media.

As an abstract concept, it works because Michelle got her fame through social media so it's only fitting that her makeup line is associated with social media and online networking.

At one point, I believe they were trying to turn their website into a marketplace where you can buy the makeup as well as a social media website where makeup enthusiasts can get together and share makeup ideas and tutorials...you know, the whole "sisterhood" thing. However, the social media aspect of the website fell by the wayside when at launch, all people wanted to know was why the makeup was so expensive and whether or not the quality of the products justify the price.

So the Em Cosmetics team shifted focus from social media to trying to convince people to buy the products so they can make some revenue. They got desperate and worried that their stock wasn't going to sell so they lost track of their original concept and purpose for the brand. "Quality products speak for themselves." If the team was confident in the quality of the products, they would've focused on selling the PURPOSE of the brand instead of the QUALITY of the brand, especially in this day and age where you can find beauty reviews practically anywhere on the internet.

So I guess I just wanted to say that I think Em Cosmetics did have a purpose when it was conceptualized, but the team just didn't follow through with it very well.

[amuto_lover]

You'd think staff from l'Oreal would be top notch.

[snuffy777]

At one point, I believe they were trying to turn their website into a marketplace where you can buy the makeup as well as a social media website where makeup enthusiasts can get together and share makeup ideas and tutorials...you know, the whole "sisterhood" thing.

Oh I wasn't aware they had those plans. Was there an article or video where she/they said that was their purpose/the idea behind em??

Hmm.. I just really have a hard time believing that. If the purpose of starting the brand was to create a marketplace with a social media/community of sorts attached to the website, why didn't they launch it as that? I mean, if that was the whole idea behind starting em in the first place (to create a space for makeup enthusiasts to get together) why wasn't that mentioned anywhere in her video release or the sneak-peek flagship store video? That would have been integral to the brand.. surely she would've mentioned it to her followers somewhere if that was their purpose, or even part of their purpose..

I think L'Oreal just saw her YouTube stats and wanted to cash in on her large following. I don't think they had a purpose for starting em, except that Michelle was impressively (at the time) the most subscribed to beauty "guru" with over 7 million followers. It seems like they just used that "inspired by/co-created with all of you" idea as a marketing tactic to sell their products. In other words, they wanted people to think that Michelle really has a close relationship with her adoring fans, really listens to them and took everyone's concerns about makeup/beauty into consideration, so therefore that MUST mean that she put a lot of care and conscious thought into creating her line for her fans.

In the video release Michelle says, "So all of your makeup-related comments and feedback inspired us to create and formulate the products and colors. If you've ever made a beauty comment to me, you've helped co-create this makeup line." "Each product and beauty story (her stupid cringe-worthy cheesy tutorials) is inspired by you." "Em is there for you with guided tutorials and you can find them all on emcosmetics.com."

[youtube][/youtube]

No mention of a beauty community/social media aspect to the site. Never said that part of her purpose for starting her brand was to create a place for people to share THEIR ideas/tutorials with other makeup enthusiasts...

Whatever their purpose, the line and just the whole brand overall feels very cheap/cheesy/gimmicky. And... anyone else notice how emcosmetics.com is very reminiscent of nyxcosmetics.com? From the black and white to the hot pink "buttons" and rating stars, to the #/Instagram/Twitter photo gallery.. I can't get over how she/L'Oreal managed to create such an uninspiring cosmetics line.

[Chiyou]

@snuffy777, you're right. The social media aspect of Em Cosmetics was never explicitly stated nor was it clearly advertised or promoted. Everything I said in my previous post was inferred by myself based on the vibe that I got from the brand since following its marketing starting from the Embark With Michelle webpage to its launch in August 2013. I even remember the "broke" to "ballin'" meter for their product prices before they changed it due to complaints (Not classy, Michelle. Not classy.)

A lot of the promos for Em Cosmetics before the launch focused on community. community. community. That word was actually used a lot when the makeup line was announced and when it was being hyped up.

Before the official product launch, people actually had to type in their emails to subscribe to the newsletter before they could even view the products, despite the fact that the team let the website go live. I didn't want to give them my email just so they can spam me with newsletters later (which a lot of GGers have gotten), so I used a temporary email to browse their website and products.

I'm not sure how it is now, but at launch, upon logging in, the website was set up in such a way that each user had a user profile where they could put in their skin type, eye color, complexion, hair color, etc. etc. so that the website can try to connect you with other users that have the same attributes as you. I'm not sure if you could post tutorials, but I think I remember you can post photos of your looks for people to view and rate. Veteran GGers, please correct me if I'm wrong though, it's been a while, but that's honestly what I remember the user profiles on the website being like.

Just based on the way the user profiles were set up, I could definitely sense that L'Oreal and Michelle wanted emcosmetics.com to be more than just a marketplace where people came to buy Em products and then leave. They wanted to create a community for people to connect and talk about makeup and their products. Obviously you could submit reviews for their products via your profile as well. They mention "joining the sisterhood" on the website a few times too and the project code name for Em Cosmetics was "Project Sister". Yeah, it was apparently Michelle's idea.

If they had created quality products and focused on the social media/community aspect of the brand, I think Em Cosmetics could've done well. But instead, they created mediocre to low-quality products with a brand that had an unclear purpose.

I seriously don't know how a huge conglomerate like L'Oreal could've messed this up so badly.

PS

Oh yeah, at some point after the launch, Michelle started throwing around the phrase "luxury affordable" to describe the brand in an attempt to justify the prices for the products. She compared her line to the likes of YSL, Chanel, Lancome, etc. etc. (I'm sure there are social media screenshots in the GG archives somewhere of her saying that).

All I have to say to that is: HA. HA. HA. HAHAHAHAHA. NO.

[AnonGirl]

[amuto_lover]

Sometimes I wonder if Michelle has access to the Em social media accounts so she can post vain things about herself without taking the heat.

[larrie]

i had ordered her foundation online and the quality is so average and it doesn't really cover anything unless you layer it on like crazy. it's so damn expensive but in the end i prefer my true match foundation over it. has anyone else tried the foundation?

[Lady_Si]

It's actually fascinating how she can maintain an unjustifiably high opinion of herself / how she can take on interviews like these with a straight face despite the fact that she's so obviously a fake. She stumbled through the interview, even giving a bullshit recommendation that she, herself, doesn't even practice.

"Finding and understanding why you're doing what you're doing; having a sense of purpose."

Riiiiight. So then what is the purpose of em cosmetics? Browsing through their website, I'm just left confused. I don't "get" em cosmetics. I can't get a feel for what the brand is trying to accomplish, their mission, their purpose. In other words, there's nothing signature about the brand/company. Just to give examples of what I mean:

- Josie Maran Cosmetics. Their signature is infusing argan oil into each of their products

- RMS Beauty. After she learned of the dangers of chemicals in cosmetics, a celebrity makeup artist made it her mission to create an organic line of high-end cosmetics made of raw ingredients in their natural, living state

- May Lindstrom Skin. She crafts her luxury products by hand, and the overall intent of her brand is to create a celebratory, centering morning/nightly skincare ritual for the user (and her website is so dreamy, it reflects her/her purpose perfectly)

- Urban Decay. They have that feminine/edgy vibe about them, and they're known for their buttery-soft textures, highly pigmented shadows & vegan formulations

- NARS. They really put the idea of luminous skin on the map with their Sheer Glow foundation

- OCC. Their signature "lip tars"

- Anastasia Beverly Hills. BROWS

- e.l.f. They're built on the idea of creating super affordable "dupes" of high-end cosmetics

- em cosmetics *insert crickets chirping*

I know they like to peddle this "co-created with all of you" idea, but if that idea isn't reflected anywhere in the brand/products (and it isn't), then those words are completely meaningless. The chiaroscuro stick? Which Michelle can't even pronounce. I feel like it was a cool concept with her art background and all, but it wasn't executed well. Just read the countless reviews of people complaining that not even the darkest shade shows up on their light/medium skin. And.. anyone recall how it broke on national TV? The concept of their [big/bulky] packaging, which is more cumbersome than it is practical? I mean, what is em cosmetics' signature/purpose?

If ANYONE could've created an amazing makeup line, Michelle could've been the one to do it. And I'm not saying that because of her talent & skills as she has NO talent or skills, but because of her YouTube stats. As the #1 most subscribed to beauty channel (not anymore) with over a billion views, you'd think that she'd have a ton of contacts in the industry to help her make it happen. How she managed to create such an uninspired makeup line is beyond me. I call BULLSHIT that it was always a dream of hers. I also call bullshit that she "doesn't believe in just putting her name on it, stamping it, and just leaving them." Well, okay then. If you invest so much time, effort, and passion in em cosmetics why isn't it reflected in your brand/products?? An example of that would be the Pixiwoo sisters - you can just tell by their Instagram/videos that they actually take pride in their business and it reflects in their products. Real professional MUA use their brushes, including celebrity MUA Monika Blunder. Has anyone seen a professional MUA use em? If so, I'll gladly eat my words.

UGH. Why didn't she just focus on one area first (like creating a line of standout lip products, or something)...perfect the formula, colors, and packaging, make a name for herself in the beauty industry OUTSIDE of YouTube, and then extend her line later on?

Wow you´re good, I actually found your post very informative and interesting, never thought of missions or brand vision before

[bunnybutt420]

Mish is in the illimuinati! Pyramid confirms it!!





Oh dear god, imagine Mish in charge of a new world orders.
All of us 'negative haterz' would be put in some RiceBunny Inc Prison Camp.

[switchgirl]

So Nyx is opening up physical stores in LA and SF. I'm sure that this type of expansion is due in part to being backed my L'oreal now after being bought out. Makes you wonder why Em still doesn't have their own physical store yet.

[Guest]

Seems that EM is concentrating on being a "digital" brand, one that's only available online. They are relying on beauty communities and Phan's videos to draw in customers.

[snuffy777]

Are they even trying anymore? I mean.. they still have that SPRING 'look' on the front page of their website. Meanwhile, it's summer. Just makes their brand look really… stale and inactive.

So uninspiring. Could it be that they're not doing that well and are slowly starting to let the brand go?? I know I keep repeating myself, but I just don't 'get' her brand.

In this video posted over two months ago, they were supposedly shooting prom and beach looks. Huge marketing fail, seeing as how prom season is over / most brands are already announcing their FALL collections / campaigns.
[youtube][/youtube]

[martynatx]

Every time I see an ad for elf makeup I mistake it for em.. every time. The packaging is so similar and the logos are like the exact same.. black box, white lowercase font, abbreviation of the name above and full name below

maybe that's the whole point. Michelle using same packaging to steal elfs customers

I totally agree with you!