James Charles fans accuse new Morphe mini palette of being a "blatant money grab"

14 October 2019, 12:09

Jazmin Duribe

By Jazmin Duribe

"i rlly waited all day just for james charles to upload a video saying he’s putting out the same damn palette as the first, but smaller."

When James Charles announced the launch of his second eyeshadow palette collaboration with Morphe, he probably wasn't expecting this reaction… The YouTuber revealed the new James Charles X Morphe Mini Collection on his channel on 11 October and his fans aren't too thrilled about his latest offering.

James' new mini palette has exactly the same 39 shades as his original James Charles X Morphe palette. However, the new version is much smaller, a little bit cheaper and includes a mirror. The collection also includes a 13-piece mini brush set, a shrunken version of his original set of brushes.

READ MORE: Shane Dawson reveals 'Conspiracy' eyeshadow palette colours with Jeffree Star

James came to the idea of a mini palette after combing through the three main criticisms of his first palette – the size, the price and the lack of mirror. With that in mind, he decided to release the same product despite having had an entire year to come up with something new.

James Charles x Morphe Part 2 Reveal.
James Charles x Morphe Part 2 Reveal. Picture: Kevin Mazur/WireImage, Morphe

"I didn't really have an idea of what to…creatively control and create the second time around," he explained. "So, I asked them [Morphe] for some ideas and they suggested doing another palette to which I surprisingly said no because I was so proud and so confident of the original colour scheme that we created with the original James Charles Morphe X palette.

"These colours can truly create any single look and I felt like if I brought out a palette of new colours I would be, like, scamming people. Like, I would be going back on my word because you literally can create any look with this palette."

Needless to say, James' fans were extremely underwhelmed by the whole reveal.

James seemingly responded to the backlash in an Instagram post announcing the upcoming launch of his palette on 17 October.

He said: "This collection isn't some 'crazy new launch that you guys HAVE to go buy' – it's for my fans and fellow artists who have supported me." Well.

The makeup mogul's latest release comes after his beef with beauty brand Wet n Wild, who he accused of copying his Morphe collaboration with their latest eyeshadow palette.

READ MORE: Shane Dawson breaks down over James Charles drama in Jeffree Star documentary trailer

The Wet n Wild palette has 40 eyeshadow pans – one more colour than the James' palette. It's also cheaper than his original palette, which retails for $39. Meanwhile, Wet n Wild's version costs just $19.99. James' new palette will cost just $26 (or $23 with his discount code), which some have said might have been a last minute decision in response to the release of Wet n Wild's cheaper palette.

Watch the James Charles x Morphe palette reveal Part 2 here.

James Charles x Morphe Part 2 Reveal 🌈

However, in a recent interview with Seventeen James didn't seem to be threatened by Wet n Wild one bit. He said: "There will always be people who try to copy what you’re doing and they can copy the blueprint, but they'll never get an exact replica. And at the end of the day, there's reasons for dupes in the makeup community, cause some people can't afford things or some people just don't want to support people and that's fine.

"I think that what we brought to the table is really, really cool and something amazing for artists to be able to create any look you could possibly imagine, so I stand behind our formula and our palette a million percent over anybody who wants to copy it, but that’s their own prerogative."