EXPOSED! Kokie at WalMart

Kokie cosmetics have taken over the Flower section at my Walmart store, adios Drew Barrymore!

First let's look at the packaging: black and white stripes... similar to Sephora's store theme... or inspired by prison jumpsuits?!

"Kokie" is supposedly derived from the Korean word for elephant, and it's owned by an Asian man, so you'd think this brand would have more diversity with the models on display, right? NO. Not a single Asian model to be seen here. That made me a little uncomfortable, I won't lie. Actually I feel really uncomfortable about ALL the UNETHICAL history behind Kokie cosmetics brand:
The president of Kokie Cosmetics is a convicted felon named Chris Chon; he was previously CEO of Mirage Cosmetics, where he founded Sinful Colors nail polish and Freshminerals. Revlon bought-out Mirage in 2011 but Chris Chon continued working there (until he went to prison...)

The Kokie brand was created in 2015 and based out of Maryland, USA. But products are made in China.

 Want to know if Kokie cosmetics is at a WalMart near you? Here's a map: https://www.kokiecosmetics.com/pages/retailers

READY FOR THE SCANDALS??
#1 scamming the government: Mirage cosmetics owner Bae Soo "Chris" Chon from Beltsville, Maryland- plead guilty in Feb.2013 to income tax evasion of over $522,000. He sentenced to a year in prison, followed by a year of probation, and multiple fines. Chon's tax evasion scheme started in 2008 and involved hiding over $1.8million of Mirage's revenue in international bank accounts.

#2 scamming bloggers: In 2012 Sinful Colors nail polish stole photos from bloggers ( The Swatchaholic and Swatch and Learn ) and used those pics for pamphlets at Walgreens stores. Sinful Colors actually removed the bloggers' watermarks on the photos! The bloggers were never asked for permission nor were they offered compensation. Blatant copyright infringement. The pamphlets also included completely fabricated tutorials about the nail art, like telling users to use a toothpick when actually the blogger used a stencil to get the design. And perhaps worst of all: THE BLOGGERS DIDN'T EVEN USE SINFUL COLORS NAIL POLISH IN THE PICS! Disgusting. After social media hounded Revlon (SinfulColor's owner) they made a half-assed apology on Facebook and the whole thing got swept under the rug. The victim bloggers each had angry posts about the scandal on their blogs but were removed once Revlon posted on Facebook, so I'd assume Revlon threw some money at them with a gag-order. Silence is compliance.

*Sidenote- I was equally horrified at how many women weren't outraged by Revlon's unethical actions here. 

I read comments like:

"It was probably just some intern with no idea of what copyright is"
"Yeah that's terrible but I won't boycott a whole company for the actions of a few terrible workers!"
"If you put it on the internet, it will be stolen.  However, this should be taken as a compliment rather than a scandal. If someone steals your images, it means that someone likes it enough to do so." --Are you serious?! How can you be such a twat-waffle?!
Pink-porcupette.livejournal.com gave the most asinine statement I read about this scandal "I've been buying Sinful nail polishes for years and am not about to boycott them over an error made involving one pamphlet. That just seems silly to me, like boycotting an entire brand because you had one terrible experience with one of their salespeople. As long as this doesn't become a trend, I really don't think it is an issue. As for boycotting Revlon over it, that is even sillier. Revlon is a HUGE company, and if anyone thinks that any sort of higher-up at Revlon would be involved in okaying images on a how-to pamphlet, they don't really know how these things work." -- *slow clap* idiot!

So basically, can we trust Kokie cosmetics?

What other scammy stuff did Chris Chon get away with at Mirage and Sinful Colors???

Should we worry about bad chemicals in the Kokie makeup and nail polish?