I'm sure most people interested in the indie or mineral makeup world will already know, but today came the sad news that Aromaleigh (probably the webs oldest MMU supplier at 12) is closing down.
http://www.aromaleigh.com/aromaleighnews.html
Personally i was shocked, while products had been being discontinued recently Miss K had continued making some beautiful new collections of shadows, the most recent 'Lost n Faerie' hasn't even been released properly yet. However i guess it wasn't that shocking if you'd heard things that had happened in her personal life recently.
Some people had problems with Miss K and i'm not going to discount them as some of them were completely valid but she was always incredibly sweet to me and i don't think many people would be able to argue with the fact that she made some amazing products. The samples of the Victoria's Revenge shadows i recieved (and have swatched and photos but hadn't got around to posting them) are absolutely stunning, some of the most complex shadows i've seen.
I'm very sad to see that this is what she feels the need to do, it must have been a very hard decision and i really hope it will be for the best.
If you want to buy any products then there is now 35% off everything (code is in the link i posted above).
Does anyone know when exactly she is closing shop? I'm so saddened by this.
ReplyDeleteWow, this really sucks. I was hoping to order more stuf from her. :/
ReplyDeleteI'm shocked.. I have no idea what's been going on but I'd like to know :/
ReplyDeleteAshley:
ReplyDeleteI looked but couldn't see a date she's shutting anywhere. Maybe it's just going to keep going until everything sells out.
Morgan:
well if you get in quick at least there's a discount :/
Tamara:
Recently she's started going through a divorce and i heard from one person that her father died too so i think it's just too stressful for her now :(
I was shocked two I had to read over it several times to understand it. It's so sad that she's letting the trolls and bullies win. :/
ReplyDeleteI know there is a lot of complicated back story to this, and I feel sorry for everyone involved.
ReplyDeleteIncluding myself! I'm going to miss a lot about Aromaleigh. :(
Pixie_a_la_mode:
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping it has more to do with the problems she's experiencing at home than other people talking about the blog. It's hard because some people had genuine grievances with the company but then there were people who were just absolutely vicious and nasty for no reason... I don't think i can talk much about that though because i guess some people might consider me a bully because of my posts about Lime Crime :/
Painted Moogle:
Yeah it's very sad but, while i was shocked that it actually happened i'm sort of not surprised (if that makes sense... ok it doesnt :P) I mean that while i wasn't expecting it it makes sense that she'[d want to shut down shop. I'll miss it too.
Wow, I thought this brand was too popular to go away. Sad to see it as I never got the chance to order. x
ReplyDeleteIf it's because of her personal life issues and things being rough in the real world, then I will be absolutely sorry for the comment I'm about to make and will wish Miss K all the goodness she needs to get through such things.
ReplyDeleteBut.
Did anyone else besides me get a real 'oh-woe-is-me' vibe from that goodbye notice? "You've won... I'm gone. You can stop now..."? "It's supposed to be fun, and empowering and beautiful. But it's all become ugly. More ugly than I ever imagined." Really? 12 years in business and she's implying that internet nonsense is bringing her down for good? Or am I just reading too much into this? :/
I of course hope that things start looking up for her, but I've seen how some of her customer service/review debacles were handled and I just think she wouldn't have been nearly so stressed out if she wasn't such a drama queen sometimes. :/
Hendrix: yes.
ReplyDeleteHave to agree with Hendrix. I am merely an observer in all of this and past 'dramz' that have occurred around AL, having never bought anything from AL or been involved in any of the drama past or present. Merely watched with a large *sigh* every now and then.
ReplyDeleteThe AL fangirls (who are guilty of being just as vicious and cruel as some of the people they accuse of being vicious and cruel) can go check my IP address if they want :p
The reason I've never bought from AL was because I saw the way past drama was handled and it left a bad taste in my mouth. If I don't like the ethics of a company, I don't buy from them. Simple as that.
I think some of the girls now being accused of being 'vile, 'disgusting', 'horrible', 'haters' (ohh, how I despise the word haters!) needed to remember that.
That doesn't mean that Miss K is 100% innocent and (like Hendrix) I dislike the 'oh woe is me' tone of the leaving post as knowing what has happened in the past makes it seem just a little mawkish.
This could have been avoided.
Sad for all parties involved :(
There are people who should really not get up close and personal, and identify themselves so strongly with their business - the very personalization and socialization that they embrace gets turned around on them far too easily, drains them far too quickly, they can't handle customer service problems dispassionately and properly, they get too wrapped up in schoolyard-bully crap that others pull. Kristen seemed to be one of those people.
ReplyDeleteThat said, the continued personal attacks by the Rant 4 the Ugly folks - long past the point of fixing any customer service problems; the hasty and incorrect conclusions as to what chemicals were in the products; the less-than-direct behavior on the part of both clients and other industry personnel (Jenna Whitman, owner of Stardust Cosmetics)...the Rant 4 The Ugly folks behaved just as badly, if not worse, than Miss K. They did contribute to this. They may not have thought it through, and realized that this could be an outcome (the closure of a company, the loss of quality products from the marketplace, the anger and annoyance from Aromaleigh customers new and old); but even if someone doesn't publicize their pain when they end a particular segment of their life - does that make what the Rant 4 the Ugly people did, right? The ganging up, the bullying, the personal accusations? No, it doesn't.
I bought product from Aromaleigh because the products provided value for my money - and because I saw sloppy communication, I saw too many ideas being tackled, I saw some lack of follow-through, but I didn't see intent to defraud or cause material harm from the owner of Aromaleigh. In my mind, the good outweighed the bad - even taking into account the Mineral Makeup Mutiny, which had so much potential to backfire more spectacularly than it did.
Everyone has to make their own decisions as to where they will buy things - that's one of the strongest tools consumers have, simply not buying from a company if you don't like the way they do business. Pointing out potential concerns, like ambiguously-labelled products or blatantly incorrectly labelled products (another indie MMU company, which is still in business,) is another strong tool consumers have. However, it's oh so easy for "clearly concisely voicing a concern" to turn into "inaccurate misrepresented repetition". Once that happens, consumer vigilance becomes vigilanteism, and all consumers lose out. Companies become more inclined to brush off consumer complaints as "just another griping customer, they'll shut up eventually or they'll go too far and I'll threaten to sue them."
The Rant 4 the Ugly folks could have contributed something positive. Instead, their actions cost me and many others a good, solid, quality provider of eyeshadows, color correctors, blushes, and lip products. They can't make a cogent, cohesive argument. And they seem to feel that attacking someone's personal life is an acceptable method of getting their own way, even a preferred mode of behavior.
Sure, this could have been avoided - had either side known when to say enough is enough, or had either side had a good solid handle on how to conduct themselves like responsible adults. It seems that neither side did.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe R4TU was the only reason, or even the primary reason for Aromaleigh's closing up shop. She's going through a divorce with someone who worked with her, right? She has every right not to want to give him half of a business where she put in much more than half the work. And from what I've heard, her profit margin was pretty thin, and she was emotionally, financially, and inspirationally drained. So I can understand her bringing it to an end.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sad about all of this. I wish Aromaleigh didn't have to end. I hope Miss K takes a long needed break for a few months and comes back stronger.
ReplyDelete