xoBeauty

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I own a heap of jessup brushes, they are great. What i don't understand is how can the business tell the customers they have been designed by shaaanxo to her liking? maybe im just overreacting lol.

Finally somebody it!! I'm all for supporting local products and I dont support exploiting that we would buy local and therefore make local products ridiculous to afford!

I sometimes feel its hard buying local because of the price! I mean lets be real here the brushes are almost identical, and I think some people go overboard with the whole support local, but we all can see its the same brush so why not get the cheaper option? I think Shannon would gain so much more respect from people if she just told us where the brushes came from etc etc.

I also have to add that Shannon did say she was going to make it as cheap as possible for us to buy them and of course she needs to make a profit but if the eBay sellers can sell a whole set for $20 and still make a profit then why cant she? I don't know maybe I am missing something here but it just doesn't go together for me.

Do not take me wrong, I am all for being successful and I think its cool that Shannon has come as far as she has but just think she could be more open ans honest with us.


This sounds like sucha hate speech but as a consumer I think we should know these type of things, I mean you want to know what you are buying and also get value for your money especially if you are on a budget.

oh ma gawd - Have just looked up these brushes on Ebay and i def want.  I will be putting my order through tomorrow!

In regards to the whole pricing and xo beauty thing i can definately understand both sides here but it's not all that unusual in any sort of industry, i imagine if we knew how much it actually costs for a lot of our beauty products we would all be up in arms.

I guess from a marketing point of view she made the right decision, the brushes are obvioulsy great quality and she set a price point that was cheaper than the alternatives (sigma etc) and gave the impression of quality.  If she sold these brushes at $5 a pop i don't imagine the larger population of her followers would be too impressed and would view them as crappy cheap brushes which from what i understand they are not.  To be honest given the same set of circumstances i probably would have done something similar.

With all that said i love a good bargain - i love watching Shannon on You Tube and have kind of wanted her brushes but knowing that i can buy the entire set for around the price of one of her brushes is just too good to resist!

Oh man, I am so glad someone finally said this. I have been thinking it for a while and haven't had the guts to say it - due to Shannon's overzealous fans. Don't get me wrong - I think she has done incredibly for herself and that's kickass.

However, I think it's really shady and uncool that she has such a massive markup on her brushes. I understand she has a business to run and needs to make money from that - but when you look at other youtubers that have brush lines (I am thinking of Samantha Chapman and her Real techniques brushes), it isn't necessary to make the markup so extreme.

The RT brushes are super affordable and they sell like hot cakes. They're also incredible for the price. I don't think it's cool that Shannon increases the prices of her brushes so much - imo even $50 for the set would be ok - and she's making around $30 markup per set. People are always going to support her and pay whatever she charges. Personally I disrespect her a little for making the brushes so expensive. I wouldn't pay that much for them when I know I can get very, very, very similar (if not the same), brushes at a fraction of the price.

 

i agree, i won't buy them because of the crazy markup in price. she is a beautiful talented female though!

I'm sorry but I was never going to jump onto the Shannon train. It left without me and I won't have myself exploited.

This is whats good with BR, you can actually have a grown up discussion and have your opinion heard witch out bitchiness!

colleencanary Ditto that.

villemesic It's funny you say that. I just now left a facebook group that re-posted a picture of a girl with badly drawn eyebrows. People were mocking her and being really nasty about her - Myself and two other girls got harrassed because we stuck up for this girl. Bullying is not ok and I love that on here we can all agree to disagree without being downright nasty.

The impressions he gives, is that she has designed her own style of brushes. Interetsing that it is really just rebranding, not quite the same thing! Will defintely be looking into some other brushes that are heaps cheaper!

I'm not a big Shaaanxo follower, but from what I can tell her "brand" doesn't really have enough clout or authority to be able to design her own brushes. I have nothing against her as a person -- she seems sweet and relatable, and it's kinda cool seeing a regular ol' kiwi doing so well on youtube, but she's more of an extreme enthusiast (and by the looks of it a very skilled one) rather than a professional. It's a shame that the brush rebranding seems to be misrepresented.

I agree with you Jessicka. Whether someone has 'bad' eyebrows or not, it's not okay to be so nasty about it. Besides, we've all been there - I know I have plenty of old makeup habits that I now regret. I'd feel absolutely awful if it was my face in one of those pictures that people laugh at.

This thread has been very interesting, although I have no idea what the first comment said. I did suspect that Shannon's brushes were rebranded, but I don't think she has necessarily done anything wrong here.  She found a product good enough to put her name to and that says something to me.  It would be a totally different story if she put her name to a peice of crap just to make money. This is by no means the first time a product has been rebranded, does anybody remember the scandal when the amazing Coastal Scents 88 Palettes were found to be rebranded and you could buy an unbranded palette for as little as $5?  People still preferred the Coastal Scents branded one, even though it was more expensive.

I don't think she is intentionally ripping people off, and I think she has worked pretty hard getting her little business up and running.  The bulk buy of the brushes as well as the bulk brand printing wouldn't have been cheap either, so that would explain some of the mark up. Regardless of my opinion, that is the brilliance of being able to research and buy online.  We can make our own decisions, and if we don't agree with the way something is sold, we don't buy it! :)  

Is there any proof they are rebranded brushes or they just look the same?

Elena Me too. I really can't imagine how humiliating and soul destroying it would be if you found one of your pictures online being used as a tool for people to laugh at :( It breaks my heart and it made me really angry.

emzor I didn't know that about the Coastal Scents palettes! Was the markup massive? My problem is just that the markup on her brushes is massive. True, I don't know the cost of getting them branded, imported etc but it just seems a little obscene to me. But that's just my opinion, and like you said, it's great that we can research and find other products for different price points :) I truly do admire her for doing so well for herself - especially in a country this size.

I feel like I have been living under a rock as I had no idea O.o  I am still pretty happy with my xo beauty brushes  ( I only have a couple of eye brushes) and do think they are worth the price. I was considering getting some more too, interesting...

That's the thing is everything in New Zealand has a huge markup, you look at makeup, for example MAC, has anyone ever compared the prices from what we pay here to what they pay in America? The markup is huge! The same with many other make up products.
I suppose it doesn't concern me because I have never had any interest in buying her brushes.
It's life these days, ever wondered why the warehouse can sell clothes for $2 in there big clearance sales? It's because they have a 400% markup on clothes.

It's okay, I'm just saying my view on it.
The way I see it is they are brushes that will be sold blank for this so they can be rebranded and sold on, and "Jessup" would have done the same thing, they have just found a way to do it cheaper. I agree the price is over the top that's why I will never buy them. But then I do know people who import things to sell and it is expensive to do.

I like that BR is not judgemental and we can all have a normal grown up conversation, either one agree to the topic or not, there's no judging and bullying. I have recently joined the makeup obsessive group and since I joined I have seen girls judging the eyebrow thing, girls laughing at those who bought fake MAC from NZsale (umm c'mon non of us was born with having answers to everything y'know). 

I am not a huge Shaaanxo fan, huge enough that will attack whoever that says one little negative thing about her but I also don't dislike her either. I love her videos, she's talented and she's very pretty ^^ I don't have much to say about her brushes, cause I enjoy using it but I have to agree it is a bit too expensive. If I was to get a full set of brushes, I would get Sigma (I did anyways) cause it's only a few bucks more expensive and they're actually good brushes, they don't just look like any of those you can find on ebay. They work super as well!

Oh and did someone delete the original post from this thread? cause I can't see it >.< Where did you all find the information on Shaaanxo's brushes? 

I am curious, what do you all think of her xobeauty fake eyelashes? Has anyone tried them? are they worth the price? I've been wanting to try but I am just not sure of the prices cause I usually get falsies from the $3 Jap store and they work and look just as good.

There is a difference between using the same brush manufacturers as other brands (aka OEM, or original equipment manufacturer), and getting unbranded products (what shaaanxo has done) and putting your brand on them.

For example, Hakuhodo are a really well known and well regarded Japanese company who handmake their amazing brushes, and also make brushes to the specifications of brands like Tom Ford, MAC, Wayne Goss, etc. I'm sure the xo brushes are good, and they're worth whatever people will pay for them/the brand, if you know what I mean?

Like, I love the Real Techniques brushes, but if I came across another brand that sold the exact same brushes for half the price, I suspect I would still buy the RT ones because I like them and I want to support the brand. (They are super cheap though, at least overseas, so highly doubt they'd come much cheaper! Plus they're cruelty free :D)

I really love these brushes even though they are a tad pricey. But how much is it for the real techniques brushes here in Nz? Cause face it everything here is so damn expensive.

I really love these brushes even though they are a tad pricey. But how much is it for the real techniques brushes here in Nz? Cause face it everything here is so damn expensive.

 kayxcake I like that as well - that we can all discuss our varying opinions and not put anyone down or get nasty and bitchy. We can all agree to disagree, which I find awesome. To me - this is a safe place to voice your opinion and if someone disagrees with you then that's totally sweet as it's done in a nice way. I am trying really hard to hold back my opinion on that facebook group - as I respect some people on here are a part of it and enjoy it.

Jacqjacq I was super disappointed in Wayne Goss putting that picture up. I agree with you - that is something I do like about Shannon - is that she doesn't ever seem to put people down for makeup mishaps. I also really like that she has a series of beginner makeup tutorials which I found super helpful when I was getting back into makeup. She also doesn't seem to be afraid to show her mistakes or general goofiness - which I think is endearing.

brushandbullet I haven't heard many negative reviews about the xobeauty brushes and I doubt Shannon would put her name on crappy products (as she has worked super hard to create her brand). I guess if I were a massive fan of hers - and not so inately cheap, I would have bought her brushes. I don't really care about brand names though - I always like to find the most inexpensive, good quality product I can hahaha. I'm mostly loyal to my wallet and not any particular company/brand :P

They are about $50 for the sets, and maybe $20-25 for the single brushes in Life Pharmacy. On iherb and on the RT website they are about half that price after currency conversion (e.g. their single face brushes are $9 USD, and sets are $18 USD).

I have a 4 set of the exact same bruhes, with no brand printed on them. Ordered them from China, for around $11 US, inclusive shipping.  Support local if you want to, but where do you think they're getting their products from!!?? I only support local if the products are produced local too!

I'm pleased someone has finally said something about this

Jessicka I really dont think you have to shy about expressing your feelings about that group. I think alot of us are getting pretty tired of the snobbish behaviour and bitchiness.

Its amazing how I would ask a question in that group and nobody would reply because I'm a nobody of course, but I'll ask the same question here being a nobody and the BR member just flood and overwhelm me with advise, do's and dont's etc.

I think I've figured out where my beauty loyalties are these days :)

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colleencanary That seriously makes my blood boil. Not even kidding. GRRR. At least we have BR where everyone is beyond awesome and helpful and 110% non judgemental :D

  I haven't really looked at xobeauty brushes since I recently bought a bunch of RT brushes and I think I currently have enough face brushes at the moment. I don't know alot about xobeauty tools either, so I can't really make a statement on that.
  
I am a fan of support local NZ businesses and buying NZ made products but I definitely agree with Susilia that if that I wouldn't really pay extra for a rebranded product or fancy stickers on something the NZ retailers source from overseas for a fraction of the price and then charge you top dollar once a sticker with their brand is slapped on it. Same reason I why I didn't buy my RT off Amazon and not a NZ website. If Amazon is going to ask for less than half the price of a NZ website will charge for the same set or brush why buy off the NZ website and pay over twice as much?
 
And yes, I definitely agree with Jessickaxnz I'm definitely more loyal to my wallet and bank account than any particular brand. I do like using items from the same brand together in conjunction with each other when it comes to serums and facial creams and sometimes toner, but if a certain item is overpriced I will mix it up a more affordable option from another brand. If I can get quality for less I'm going to go for it. That being said I do find some NZ skincare brands to be very good quality and more affordable than some overseas brands.

jessickaxnz, I have experienced the same with a well known group on FB. As soon as you think differently from what the majority of the group thinks you kinda get harassed. I know other people that the same thing has happened too. 

Spot on Susilia, unless its locally produced and actually made here in NZ, there is no reason to "buy local". I am glad you brought this up. I think alot of people just assume because its sold here in NZ its supporting NZ. And yes it is in some way but not as much as if it was actually made here and not imported from a supplier from over seas. 

villemesic That sucks - I can't deal with it. I don't understand why people feel the need to be nasty. It's unessecary. You can disagree with someone and have a discussion about your varying viewpoints, but there is never any need to be nasty.

Finally someone dare to post about this!!!
I purchased my jessup brushes last month and actually compare it with my xobeauty brushes.
I only bought the xobeauty brushes when it was one sale and I ordered the flat top foundation, bronzing and crease brush.
I compared the flat top from xobeauty with the jessup, and honestly, the only difference I can see was that the jessup brush is a bit smaller than xobeauty. But other than that, both works the same. And jessup was cheaper.
I like xobeauty brushes but honestly, I do not think it is worth it for that price. I would rather wait for sigma to be on sale. Plus I have my real techniques brushes which cost cheaper than xobeauty.
I like shannon's videos, but I do not think I need to buy her brushes anymore

Kayxcake, I purchased her eyelashes. I did a review on it here
Too be honest, when I first received it and tried it on, it was great. But then, the second and third time I used it, I felt uncomfortable with the texture of it. It feels a bit plastic and honestly, i do not think i would pay that much for it.They are good lashes but if I would have to choose between ardell lashes and xobeauty, I would buy ardell lashes. I just bought all of socialeyes lashes from satnightalrite (Karissa Pukas). I cant wait to try hers because they are handmade!!! And I can see she put so much effort in them since she flies up and down to visit the factory and skype them during midnight. 

Sorry if I sound negative here =S But I do love shannon and fully support her channel!!! 
 

Hi ladies, im sorry i deleted the original post - Now i have seen you girls aren't being catty like other pages i have come across i will repost below. I just didn't want to be in the firing line.

[color=#3e454c]have been looking at "xobeautys" facebook page and have come accross a photo that a customer had posted.. it was of "xobeauty" brushes and one of them had a different logo on it.. this logo read "rc" upon further investigation i found on ebay a set of the EXACT brushes.. with the RC logo on them, as shown on the photo on xobeauty facebook page. I also found the eyelashes they are selling aswell So if my facts are right is this company just putting their own logo "xobeauty" on these RC brushes and selling them for nearly triple the price? Is this legal? How can you call this your OWN makeup brush line when this is the case? How can you charge someone over $100 for a set of brushes when i have seen them for less than half of that?[/color]

For those that are interested herehttps://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151331497341790&set=o.387186688021959&type=3&theater; is the post mentioned.

Omg do you have the link ? I'm really curious about the eyelashes

Omg do you have the link ? I'm really curious about the eyelashes

Hi Ladies  Let us throw in our 2 cents worth. This is how the overseas sourcing and manufacturing supply chain works.   The  majority of cosmetic tools like brushes, marketed under any brand (unless they are custom hand made ones) will generally be made in a variety of factories in Asia.   These factories offer stock lines of every product imaginable and if a customer wants something "customised" so it is a bit different  from the normal stock line, then the factory can easily do this.   It is actually quite common for brands to select a "stock line" of something they see that the factory offers,  like a brush,  and then make it their own by adding their Brand logo and customised packaging.   If for example we wanted to market a range of BR brushes it would be relatively simple to send a factory in china a product we like, and say this is what we want. Within 48 hours we would have samples sent down to us with our logo on them to approve, we would then send the factory our artwork to have packaging printed and voila a BR brush set.   If brands are at the"higher" end of the market they may design their own product and then have it made to their unique specifications, which will cost them more to produce.  What you then find happens is that other factories and brands quickly "copy" these designs and offer them to other customers.   Established Brands may have contracts with their manufacturer preventing them from selling the "exact" same brush to someone else, however even so, they can quite easily make a small "tweak" to the brush making it then a "different" brush and still sell it to another customer.   So what you are talking about here is exactly that. What Shannon has done is to produce her own line, marketed under her "Brand" xo beauty.   She is not, from what we can see claiming that she has "designed" these brushes herself, just that she uses them and endorses them.   This is actually common business practise.   Price wise it is up to her,  like any brand,  to determine the price she thinks her "brand" with its thousands of followers globally, can sustain in the market and up to the consumers who buy into her "brand" to determine the laws of supply and demand.    Hope this helps   xox BR

Thanks for the great in depth explaination BR. I purchased the brushes and after reading all of the comments in this thred I didn't know what to think.

Thanks for the great in depth explaination BR. I purchased the brushes and after reading all of the comments in this thred I didn't know what to think.

Thanks dmqlim, I have saved your vid to watch later (Im at work atm) ^^ btw you're so pretty I've subscribed!

Great explanation BR!  I think this should clear things up for everyone :)

Great explanation BR. I was ignorant of a lot of those facts, so it's great to have them - thanks! :)

Very well put BR! 

I am glad you cleared that up BR.
In saying that if xobeauty knew that us (consumers) could get the exact same brushes just with another logo on them, would they not want to drop their price even just a little now that they have competition?
I know that I was going to buy the whole set of xobeauty brushes until i came along the Jessup ones and was half the price but do the exact same and you will get the exact same result.
my opinion they may want to re think pricing or it will be them missing out.

I do not have anything negative to say about Shaanxo as I find it amazing of how she has made something of herself. Its more of a business thing.
 

courtevitt  I agree with you. I dont it was ever a matter of bashing Shannon for something wrong or illegal because is in her full right to her name and brand to any brushes that she pleases and that doesnt me one bit. What bothers me is the excessive pricing when I'm sure knows we can get the exact same brushes that are non branded and probably pay a third of the price for the brushes.

I'm sorry this is just the Auditor/Accountant in me that is always conscience about markups and exploiting customers for the benefits of profits :) hey its my job to think like that lol :)
 

Thank You BR! I really did not think that is how things work.

Thanks for clearing things up BR. I'm not here to bash Shannon but definitely agree with courtevitt and collencanary. If I can find something just as good for a third of the price of a name brand product I will go for the cheaper option.

I will now put my wee pennyworth in. For three years I ran a yarn shop that was very successful in Auckland (Mishi Yarns). I closed it for a number of reasons, primarily the premises flooded and rents in the area are too high for niche businesses to survive. Now onto my point. I could have had a range of my own branded knitting needles from China. The only issue with this was that to get them at a reasonable price I had to buy them in huge quantities. When I say huge I mean I would have needed to buy about 3 years worth in one order. Smaller quantities come at a higher price point. So if you are doing smaller runs on items it costs more. As a result the same brush could easily be up to 50% more to buy once it has been "branded" compared to the unbranded item particularly if you only buy small quantities. In the business that I currently run with my husband we see the same thing. If you want a particular product that we use the smallest quantity/run they will do is a full container load and that is a 44 foot container!! So we don't buy this direct from the manufacturer we purchase from an middle supplier who has to lay out the money to buy the big product runs from China. It is all about volume economies and what constitutes a batch or product run. If you have a particular brush shape needing a particular shaped metal ferrule then that has to be made in decent quantities and so on. International/Chinese/Asian/Indian manufacturers are not going to make product runs in the 100's that are going to be cheap. It takes a lot of time to set up the machinery to start with and that can be a significant cost in itself, so the more you make the cheaper they become.