Confused fans of Hailey Bieber have left a small beauty business thousands of pounds out of pocket after mistaking Rhodes Skincare name.
Bieber, the supermodel and wife of Justin Bieber, released her long-awaited skin care line Rhode Skin on 15 June, but eager consumers wrongly purchased products from the indie brand.
Launched in 2004 by 75-year-old entrepreneur Annabel Rhodes and her sister Penny, Rhodes Skincare is a UK-based natural beauty brand that specialises in plant cell technology.
Within minutes of Bieber’s website going live, Cosmetics Business has learned that Rhodes Skincare was hit by a flurry of mass orders, including nine large orders with a value of more than £2,000.
This was shortly followed by cancellation emails as customers realised they had mixed up the two brands.
Rhodes said this has significantly affected the business as its previous policy meant it paid a percentage of the refund cost.
Annabel Rhodes said the company had to shut down shipping to the US over two days as it revised its returns policy to protect the business.
Visitors to the site also leapt by 94% to over 10,000 on the same day Bieber’s brand launched, settling to around 1,000 in the following days.
“You can imagine the emails and calls we were getting as a result of this,” said Rhodes.
“We have really struggled to cope.”
The inundation of emails has meant Rhodes Skincare’s small team has had to sift through the company’s inbox to reply to actual order queries.
Rhodes Skincare typically receives around 50 orders a week, in addition to around 15 orders a month from the US, with sales amounting to over £2,500 a week.
“We are not big, but this is my life, my pension and my baby. I have no other forms of income,” continued Rhodes.
Rhodes said in addition to financially supporting her, the brand serves as a “force for good” in terms of its focus on sustainability.
For 20 years it has used plant cell technology to make its chemical-free formulations, which the brand claims uses no land to grow crops.
“Now I am to be muddled with someone who has not the same ethics and certainly no manners, just stamping all over a small business, because of being famously married to Justin Bieber,” said Rhodes.
She also mentioned that there has been “absolutely no contact” from Bieber or her organisation.
“So they clearly made the decision that I wasn’t important and that she would bulldoze her way through me,” added Rhodes.
When asked about taking legal action over the similarity of both names, Rhodes said the brand “should challenge" Bieber, but stated that in reality it would be “financially crippling”.
“I am so worried about the future, that the orders, enquiries and refunds that are causing so much distraction, will continue, and I am stressed about the longer-term financial impact with her using my name – this is not so much a financial loss – it will be a life-line loss,” added Rhodes.
Cosmetics Business has reached out to Rhode Skin for comment.
