Strategy September 25, 2026
Beauty Brand Packaging Mishap Offers a Timely Reminder for Suppliers
Fenty Skin, Huda Beauty and Glow Recipe accidentally launched their products in almost identical packaging.
Key Takeaways
• Rival beauty brands sparked online buzz after launching eye-care products in nearly identical twist-and-dispense packaging within days of each other.
• The dispute became a social media moment, with the brands joking about the packaging mix-up online and turning a potential PR issue into a viral marketing opportunity.
• The controversy highlights the importance of suppliers and distributors clearly defining and communicating exclusivity agreements.
There’s a battle of the brands happening in the beauty and wellness space – and the internet can’t look away.
Over the past week, marketers across the internet watched closely while competing companies released new eye patch and serum products in almost identical packaging. A dramatic controversy ensued when Fenty Beauty, Glow Recipe and Huda Beauty all teased supposedly exclusive but near-identical packaging for their products: what appeared to be the same cylindrical container featuring a quick-twist dispenser.
It all started on Thursday, Sept. 17, when Fenty Beauty released its Dew N Plump Fresh-Sliced Hydrogel Eye Patches in what the brand claimed was a “first-of-its-kind” airtight package that keeps the formulation fresh and cuts patches one by one with a simple twist. The next day, Glow unveiled its own version of the same packaging technology and sent out its samples to influencers to share on social. Within hours, Huda Beauty revealed yet another version of the twist-and-dispense eye patch.
“I think it’s pretty obvious that we all got screwed over by the same packaging supplier,” said Huda Beauty founder Huda Kattan in a comment on TikTok, though she didn’t mention the packaging manufacturer by name. “Formulas are different, but we were lied to on the exclusivity with the packaging supplier. Pretty crazy.”
Earlier this summer, Korean beauty brand Wonder Bath released its own eye serum in a twist-and-dispense container, but the U.S. beauty brands only got wind of it after the fact.
It has not been confirmed whether this packaging snafu was a true coincidence – or if, as Kattan alleges, each brand was misled about exclusivity by a single supplier. It is also possible that the brands partnered with a manufacturer but through different distributors. The public may never know what happened, but the controversy is an important reminder for suppliers and distributors to discuss the terms of exclusivity with buyers, especially when working with competing brands. Distributors, too, should clarify the exclusivity terms with their suppliers and communicate transparently with their clients.
While the packaging might be the same, all three brands confirmed that the ingredients and formulas in each product are different.
Despite the series of unfortunate events, some good content came out of this dispute. Social media teams for each brand got creative quickly when they noticed the mishap, teaching us an important lesson in (non-life-threatening) crisis communication: When in doubt, laugh it off.
Fenty Skin posted a version of a popular Spiderman pointing meme, which featured the four dispensers pointing to one another as if to place the blame onto its competitors.
“Touché 😘💖,” Glow Recipe commented on the post. Wonder Bath also responded to the witty meme, as did Kattan.
Huda Beauty then posted a short video on its own Instagram account featuring personified versions of each brand’s container sitting on a couch inside a film studio. The text overlayed on the video read, “me and the girls getting called in for a documentary about a certain manufacturer,” referring, of course, to the packaging supplier that allegedly sold the same product to each brand.
In this case, perhaps it’s true what they say: “Any press is good press.” Now, more people across the internet know about each beauty brand’s newest products – even if it took a packaging mistake to help them get there.