Skkn by Kim is being compared to two brands.
Kim Kardashian’s latest business venture hasn’t even launched yet and it’s already facing controversy.
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At the start of the month, the media personality, model, and businesswoman announced that she will be launching her own skincare line Skkn by Kim on June 21.
But eagle-eyed users quickly noticed the similarities between the name of her line and that of two others: Cyndie Lunsford’s Skkn+ and Lori Harvey’s skn by LH. Given that both founders Skkn+ and Skn by LH are African-American, many online pointed to Kardashian’s apparent history of stealing from “black women.”
While Lunsford founded Skkn+ in 2018, she only filed for the name’s trademark in March 2021. Kardashian tried to file for trademark for both “Skkn” and “Skkn by Kim” at different points of 2021 in lieu of the launch this year. In response, Lunsford’s legal team filed a cease and desist letter.
“It is hard to believe that Kardashian’s team either did not know about the prior use of SKKN+ or knew and adopted the SKKN brand name anyway to steamroll a small, minority business,” says Erik M. Pelton, Lunsford’s attorney.
Harvey, meanwhile, launched her skincare only last year. She told Vogue last October that it was a means of simplifying the 20 or so products that she usually had to do with to get her skin to where she wanted it to be.
Skin learnings
While Harvey’s initial product lineup for Skn by LH is 5, Kardashian is starting with a nine-step routine that includes a cleanser, a toner, an exfoliator, a hyaluronic acid serum, a vitamin C serum, a face cream, an eye cream, oil drops, and a night oil.
She says that she decided to launch Skkn by Kim because she has been battling psoriasis for 15 years. “I’ve been so privileged to learn about skin and skin care over the years from the world’s top dermatologists and estheticians, and every bottle from my new line is filled with the knowledge I’ve accumulated along the way,” she says in a tweet.
Kardashian continues that users will experience “refillable packaging, and clean, science-backed ingredients designed to nourish all skin types, tones, and textures at all stages of maturity. I created this line so that everyone can feel confident in their skin, and I can’t wait to finally be able to share it with you!”
More than a few have always pointed out that the packaging for Skkn by Kim and Skn by LH are also similar, although the former has the same palette as Karfashian’s underwear line Skims and the latter makes use of Teal.
As of press time, Harvey has not commented on the matter. Skkn by Kim launches on June 21 at 9a PT / 12p ET exclusively on the e-commerce site Skknbykim.com.
Banner: Photo from @kimkardashian on IG
