Black Beauty Brand SKKN+ Sues Kim Kardashian For Trademark Infringement 

Kim Kardashian is once again being accused of stealing the fruits of someone else’s labor with the launch of her new SKKN By Kim. If you didn’t know, her former KKW beauty brand had been accused of and/or sued for a litany of violations, ranging from logo and design theft to whole company ideas. 

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Now, Cydnie Lunsford, founder of Beauty Concepts and SKKN+, is suing Kardashian for trademark infringement. Lunsford has owned and operated the beauty spa since 2018.

The aesthetician actually hit Kardashian with a cease and desist letter last year, when Kardashian tried to trademark the name. Lunsford’s lawyer Erik Pelton filed the order, stating that the names would be confusing to her customer base, given the similarity in name and, most importantly, “salon, skin care, and beauty spa services.”

“Over the course of four years, Beauty Concepts has built a successful woman- and Black-owned small business and brand, established a strong social media presence, and served thousands of customers from its Brooklyn location,” the cease-and-desist order said.

Kardashian’s lawyer, Michael G. Rhodes called the concern baseless and said they were “hopeful that [they] can smooth things over once both sides speak.” Well, fast forward to Kardashian’s new launch and apparently, nothing got smoothed over. Instead, Rhodes belittled her as a small business. 

“The business was a one-person shop offering facials from a single Brooklyn location. The salon had no signage and was by appointment only. To our knowledge, Beauty Concepts sold no products under the SKKN+ name.” 

Kardashian runs a billion-dollar beauty empire, with the capital to launch her ideas on a whim. Most small business owners, particularly Black women, don’t have access to large influxes of cash or investment capital and must slowly build their brands (and business plans) from one-person shops to full retail storefronts. 

Kardashian is also facing backlash from Lori Harvey supporters who claim the name is too similar to SKN By LH. It seems the entire Kardashian and Jenner crew have a history of seeming to give zero effs when it comes to appropriating designs and ideas from indie and Black-owned brands. 

In the past decade, Kim, Khloe Kardashian, and Kylie Jenner have been either accused of or sued for their brand indiscretions at least two dozen times. Yet, they continue to get away with it, because they haven’t technically broken any laws. The only way to break the law is for the accusing brand to have also created something original and unique. So copying, for example, someone else’s flesh-toned packaging may not be illegal if another flesh-toned packaging exists. 

But, in the court of public opinion, Lunsford and others are calling foul and hope Kim Kardashian finally strikes out. 

“I have painstakingly built my successful small business with my own sweat equity, hard work, and research,” said Lunsford in an email to Forbes. “It’s clear that I established my brand first. As a young Black woman, my mission with SKKN+ is to provide quality skin care and curated full-body experiences to enhance each client’s self-care regimen. The (+) represents a hands-on transformative aesthetic experience that elevates the body, mind, and spirit.”