UPDATE: February 22, 2019: This story has been updated to reflect a statement sent to INSIDER by a representative for the Kat Von D company, who reiterated the brand founder's message on Instagram, as well as a statement from the customer whose Facebook post sparked the discussion, saying that she is skeptical of Kat Von D's response.
Beauty brand Kat Von D has been accused of tricking customers into paying $20 for a full-sized eyeliner that some argue contains the amount of product that would be found in a sample-sized version.
On Tuesday, a customer named Cheyenne Vaughan took to Facebook after disassembling a Kat Von D Tattoo Liner she had purchased. In her post, Vaughan accused the brand of "putting a sample-size eyeliner into a longer-shell tube," and then selling it to customers for "triple the price."
Vaughan included a photo of the eyeliner in her post, showing the product in three separate pieces: a long tube, a cartridge that holds the actual product, and a cap to keep the eyeliner from drying out.
The post quickly went viral, leading other customers to question the brand
Some customers agreed with Vaughan, while others accused the Kat Von D brand of overcharging for its other full-sized products, including foundation.
"I don’t buy her stuff anymore because I’ve seen this happen with foundation," one customer commented on Vaughan's Facebook post.
"Explains why I had to replace it every other month!" wrote another.
Others said that this is a common practice throughout the beauty industry
"Ummm really? No one knew this? Check all your high-dollar makeup, even weigh the powders. This on all makeup" wrote one person.
"Yep, it’s not just her lol. It’s all the liners and other products," said another.
On Wednesday, Kat Von D defended the Tattoo Liner on Instagram
In her post from Wednesday, the beauty mogul said that while the cartridges in both the full-sized liner and travel-sized liner are the same size, "it's the amount of product inside each cartridge that is different."
She continued: "The product fill on our full size Tattoo Liner is 0.55 ml, while the product fill for the mini is 0.2 ml - thats over DOUBLE the amount of product!"
She also said that "any brand who has an eyeliner with similar component on the market will tell you the same thing," adding that "you need that much cartridge space for the pigment to flow out."
And to give an example of another brand that appears to have a similar product, she included a photo of Stila's Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner.
Speaking to INSIDER, Vaughan said that she is skeptical of the beauty mogul's response
"Kat Von D's post seemed like a pretty straightforward and simple answer, but with everyone else being so skeptical about her answer, I am too," Vaughan told INSIDER.
"I won't be purchasing any more Tattoo liner," Vaughan said. "I've been exploring other brands and finding much better quality products."
In a statement sent to INSIDER, a representative for the Kat Von D brand said the 'product fill level' is different between the sample-sized and full-sized eyeliners
"The mechanism that disposes the liquid liner is the same in all components, but the product fill level in that mechanism is different depending on the size purchased," the representative told INSIDER.
"So the product fill on the full size tattoo liner is 0.55 ml, while the product fill on the mini is 0.2 ml," the representative said. "Same mechanism, different amounts of product inside. Over double the amount."
There might be a good reason as to why brands would use the same cartridges in both full-sized and travel-sized products
"The 'ink wells' are the same size because duh, it saves money in production," said one Facebook user.
"The size of the pencil doesn’t mean much of anything. It’s the amount of ink each one has that matters. The full size has 0.55 ml of product and the travel size has 0.2 ml. So there’s no scandals here," said another.
Kat Von D doesn't appear to sell sample-sized versions of its Tattoo Liner individually
However, the brand does sell the sample-sized product in a set with a sample-sized version of the Kat Von D Dagger Tattoo Liner, which costs $20 in total. It is not clear how much the sample-sized product would cost if it were to be sold on its own.
On the set's packaging, both sample-sized liners are said to contain 0.2 ml of product.
For the full-sized version of the eyeliner, both the Sephora and Kat Von D websites say that the liner contains 0.55 ml of product.
Representatives for Stila did not immediately reply to INSIDER's requests for comment. Representatives for Sephora declined to comment.
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