Beauty Founders Clash Over Product Name in Public Dispute

Beauty industry figures Molly Sims and Bobbi Brown are engaged in a public dispute over the name of a makeup product. Sims, the founder of YISE Beauty, took to Instagram to voice her disappointment, alleging that Brown's brand, Jones Road Beauty, had used the exact name and similar marketing copy for a newly launched concealer.

Sims stated that YISE Beauty's $68 Wide Awake Concealer, one of her best-selling products, was launched in March 2024. Last week, Jones Road Beauty released its $32 Wide Awake Brightening Concealer. In a tearful Instagram post, Sims expressed her hurt at seeing a brand from a fellow female founder, whom she has known and admired for years, seemingly replicate her product's identity.

"I can't explain how disappointed — honestly, sad and hurt — I am to see this from another female founder who I've known for years and have looked up to in this industry," Sims said, emphasizing the limited resources of her "small but mighty" marketing team.

While Sims did not explicitly name Jones Road Beauty in her initial post, Bobbi Brown responded directly from her personal account. Brown acknowledged that her team had launched the Wide Awake neutralizer and concealer without realizing Sims had a product with the same name. She stated that a trademark search conducted prior to their launch did not indicate any other ownership of the name.

"This was a mistake," Brown wrote. "However, we're changing our product name moving forward, and will no longer call it Wide Awake. I would never knowingly copy another product's name. To Molly Sims and her team at YISE, I'm sorry this happened, and we're taking steps to correct it."

Jones Road Beauty's Wide Awake Brightening Concealer remained available for purchase at the time of reporting, with the new product name yet to be announced. Bobbi Brown reiterated her respect for Sims and her brand, confirming the company's commitment to changing the product name.