Nail lovers are slamming Nikita Dragun for allegedly stealing from Scandal Beauty for her new collaboration with nail-based brand Makartt.
Sharing the news in an Instagram post, Nikita announced that she had “made 12 incredible press on nail sets” with Makartt. Inspired by Nikita’s style over the years, the collection has press-on nails of various shapes and colours.
“I’ve been working on this for a year now, and it’s finally launched,” she writes.
While Nikita is no stranger to controversy, she has come under fire for her collection. Many believe Makartt’s “Scandal Press On” set is ripping off Scandal Beauty, another smaller nail brand.
In a TikTok posted by Scandal Beauty, the brand compared their “Deathwish” press-on nails with the Makartt x Nikita Dragun collection. The TikTok also showed that Nikita allegedly ordered from the brand eight months ago.
While some of Nikita’s followers claim that a coffin black french tip is a standard design, most TikTok users have sided with Scandal Beauty.
One user commented, “maaaybe she could’ve gotten away with it cuz it’s just a simple black french but the fact she ordered and named it the same is a dead give away.”
Another wrote, “WAIT WHY IS MAKARTT STEALING THE DESIGN-“.
This isn’t the first time Nikita has been accused of stealing from smaller brands. In 2020, indie beauty brand, Opalescent Beauty, accused Nikita of stealing their packaging for Dragun Beauty’s DragunGlass matte liquid lipsticks.
Nikita responded to the backlash in a Tweet, writing, “i’m going to have to disagree with u. the overall vibe is completely different. never heard of ur brand before today. being a CEO of an indie brand myself i understand there r many products in the industry that look the same due to stock packaging. wish u the best in ur business.”
While Nikita has yet to respond to Scandal Beauty’s allegations, here’s to hoping that smaller beauty brands start getting the credit they deserve.