Do Not Buy From Victoria’s Beauty!
I didn’t want to write this post, but they left me no choice. I emailed them twice at the email address on their website which is opinails@gmail.com and also emailed them via their Facebook page, but they never responded after more than a week, so here we are.
Victoria’s Beauty has not only taken MANY nail bloggers photos (with no credit to them), but they also stamped their own company logo on the pictures! This makes me insanely furious because people put a lot of time and effort into swatching and taking these pics and they just yank them off Google (or wherever) and put their mark on them as though it belongs to them. Almost every OPI and China Glaze has my picture on it.
I don’t understand why people think because they find an image on the internet that they can just save it and use it on their website without giving credit. ALL pictures, words and videos on the internet belong to someone, and you have to credit them or buy them from places like iStockphoto. Stealing photos, etc., is the same as stealing someone’s TV. Stealing is stealing, period.
Basically I just wanted to get the word out there that these people are thieves and totally shady, and it would be great if you didn’t buy anything from them. Oh also, it wouldn’t be horrible if they were inundated with emails telling them to remove these. 
Here is all their contact info, which is also freely available on their website. Apparently even though everything is in Polish on their site, they are based in the US.
Victoria’s Beauty
Bart & International
855 Bayway Blvd. #103
33767-2626 Clearwater Beach, USA
727-461-3090
opinails@gmail.com
victoriasbeauty.com
http://www.facebook.com/VictoriasBeauty
VV readers, we are now 70,000 strong (per month) let’s show them they can’t mess around with other people’s property!
-VV
Welcome! My name is Kelly and Vampy Varnish is a cruelty-free beauty blog.
Thanks for the warning – I won’t be buying from them!
1 of 70,000 just emailed him. Sleazeball!!!!
Sorry that it’s happening to you! I hope it gets fixed soon! ~Patricia~
Thank you for making this post, they stole bunches of swatch pics from my flickr page and stamped their ugly water mark on them. It’s not fair that they get to steal our pics and make money off them.
Hi Bonnie,
UGH isn’t that frustrating!!!
sorry to hear it. that happens to me frequently with photos of my husband’s band. i agree, it’s infuriating. it’s rude and at the end of the day it’s thievery.
.-= parks dept´s last blog ..Stephen Colbert, I Heart You =-.
I emailed them a nasty letter based on your own words, without mentioning your web blog, I bcc you so if they respond back it will go back to my email address.
Can you get a lawyer and sue them on the Internet Infringement Charge?
Can I post your dilemma on face book and twitter.com pages?
Hi Mc Huggs,
Thanks. Yes please go ahead because it’s not just me it’s other bloggers and it’s not right! Contacting a lawyer is next if nothing happens just to see what, if anything, they can do.
I’m glad you let us know, Kelly. That is so not right for all the hard work everyone does.
I will be emailing them too. Sorry this happened to you.
I love your daily photo!!
That’s especially disturbing because they’re currently working with a couple of polish blogs for contests and such
Thanks for letting us know about this. Basically a picture is going to determine what polish hounds are going to buy. They should do their own swatches.
Kelly,
I’m sorry you are dealing with this. I truly appreciate you taking the time to write your blog. I will certainly not buy from them. I hope you are doing well : )
Good on you for naming and shaming! No good that they think it’s ok to pinch people’s work!
This is ridiculous ~ when I saw a post similar to this a couple of weeks ago, I never dreamed it would be them….you would think that they could afford to have someone swatch and review in-house! What a bunch of scumbags….I have ordered once from them, NEVER AGAIN!!!!
I am a professional photographer, and own my own studio…
www.studiowhiteoak.com
SO, I really get pissed when someone steals my pics – it’s my livelihood!!!!
Let’s get ‘em, bloggers!
I HOPE no one confuses this company with Victoria Nail Supply.
Thanks for the heads-up!
.-= Lisa, glammed-up-ainos2´s last blog ..Unveiling…my new nails- Zoya, Isla =-.
Seriously people never cease to amaze me. I’m honestly shocked that 1. They’re taking blogger’s property and perceiving them as their own and 2. They don’t even have the freaking guts or respect to respond to you! Ridiculous and really sad what people have come to. Really is not right that they are profiting off of your hard work and dedication. Consider my e-mail sent and I will make sure none of my friends or family buy from them.
We got your back!!
duudee eff them. wth?! i’m sorry about that.. how sleazy!!
I’m totally with you here, I’ll never ever shop here. We have to stay together. People may think that what we do it’s not important, and maybe it isn’t for others. That’s because they don’t understand the time, effort and comittment, nor do they give a shit about copyright. It gets me so mad!
.-= laquermanic´s last blog ..Avatar manicure =-.
Make sure you don’t confuse them with Victoria’s Nail Supply, though! They’re the best!
Hi Kerriann,
That’s why I didn’t say anything in the post about confusing them with Victoria’s Nail Supply, in case anyone did because of me saying not to! Also I provided their link so I’m sure people will see it.
Thanks for the heads up on this one! How disgraceful.
.-= Rebecca´s last blog ..H&M – Goddess on Stage =-.
If you really have a problem with them it owuld make more sense to find out who is hosting there site (aka google, or blue host ect) and report them for using stolen content.
That would get there site shut down and would make more sense than sending childish emails that they can just delete.
Also, just because you load it onto the internet does not mean you have legal rights to it anymore. Since this is your own site you do obviously, but if you were to upload those pictures onto flickr first you end up losing rights to those images. same with any videos you upload onto youtube
Hi Jayme,
Who said anything about sending them “childish” emails? The emails were totally professional and legit, so I’m not sure where you got that idea from.
I won’t be buying from them. Thanks for the heads up. And thanks, as always, for the swatching you do!
I wrote them an email Kelly. This is just wrong. I am surprised how rampant this practice is…However, not to bash Florida Business in general, but the shadiest companies I’ve ever dealt with, (Or researched before choosing not to deal with them) have all been from Florida, and many from Clearwater…weird.
.-= Elizabeth´s last blog ..Wow, Almost 50 followers! Giveaway imminent! =-.
They are officially off my “buy list”…and Im sending an email today!
Jayme said:
“Also, just because you load it onto the internet does not mean you have legal rights to it anymore. Since this is your own site you do obviously, but if you were to upload those pictures onto flickr first you end up losing rights to those images. same with any videos you upload onto youtube”
That’s like saying you lose your right to possess your bicycle if you leave it parked in your hard. It is absolutely not true. By putting images/videos online, you do risk people stealing them, but you do not forfeit the rights to your intellectual property. Flickr in particular makes it very easy to set your preferred rights level. And yes, you can upload photos to Flickr with “all rights reserved.”
Just because something is on the Internet doesn’t mean it doesn’t belong to someone. That’s the kind of misconception that leads companies like Victoria’s Beauty to think they can take advantage of other people’s work.
@jayme… you are wrong, i’m sorry. you own the rights to your photos on flickr. you can do creative commons licensing through flickr but you have options on the copyright. by no means does uploading to flickr mean you lose all rights to your work.
also, i’m not quite sure i get the implication that any emails to victoria’s secret are ‘childish.’ bit insulting, no?
.-= parks dept´s last blog ..Stephen Colbert, I Heart You =-.
That is unbelievable! This is completely unacceptable. I will not shop from this store and I have also sent them an email.
I sent them an email as soon as I found out about it through the NB. People like that suck!
.-= Claudia´s last blog ..Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Uptempo Plum and swatches of today’s haul =-.
Consider them boycotted!!!
.-= lacquerholic´s last blog ..Makeup Monday: OCC Lip Tar Swatches =-.
I will email them right now! How dare they do this to you… 70,000 strong! =]
Thanks for the heads up! I haven’t bought anything from them, and after this, I won’t.
.-= Solveig´s last blog ..Max Factor Nailfinity Wine Red =-.
The point of my comment was not who owned the rights, but that you could just contact the host of there website and report them for theft of content. Having the readers hear do the same (since i am sure they would recognize your pictures that were stolen) would be more effective.
The emails the person could potentially just filter out to have automaticly deleted. But if you contact the host to have them remove the site than they are not only forced to close down there whole site, but they are also to some degree forced to pay for stealing.
I did not mean to offend, i did if you notice say that by uploading pictures on your own site they are still your property. I was just stating that certien other sites for uploading images do claim rights to your property.
As for the childish comment i did not mean to insult you i supose foolish would of been a better word. I simply ment that you had taken the proper steps so far (asked them to stop/contacted them) to which they did not reply. Sending more emails seems foolish since it is most likely going to be a wasted effort that the company will ignore.
A better option would be to contact any advertiser on there website, and inform them that they are stealing someone elses work (this will cut off at least one stream of there revenue). And also to have search engines remove them (most have a form where you can report a website for copy right infringment)
Where are the stolen pics showing up? I clicked around their website a bit, but since I can’t read the language on the website, I’m not sure where I’m supposed to be looking. I don’t doubt any of you, I’m just curious.
Hi TT-Rex,
Here is one for instance: http://www.victoriasbeauty.com/product-pol-462-OPI-Bullish-on-OPI-ESPANA-COLLECTION-2009-E52.html
Hi Kelly:
Have you notified other nail polish web blogger who may have their pictures from their web blogs taken and re posted on Victoria’s Beauty? I seem to recall some of the pictures he uses from other people’s web blog but can’t remember them. Maybe they can recognize themselves.
Your photos are quite unique, I can tell what your gorgeous manicured nails swatches from anywhere. I am trying to put together a comparison face book photo album one photo will be Victoria’s Beauty and the next would be your original photos. A picture says a thousand words. Dom all your photos have your Vampy Varnish Watermark on them? The photo album when completed will be for your eyes only. You may be able to use this “when printed” for legal action.
Also, can he take OPI’s and other photos from their own web site and re-post them as his own? Like for example a special nail polish collection photo OPI has on their web page and use it to sell the nail products? Just a thought.
((((Love Kelly))))
Mc Huggs
.-= Mc Huggs:)´s last blog ..Project Runway Season Six: Episode Eight =-.
Hi McHuggs,
I know a few people’s nails on there, but don’t know who the rest are. I have Twittered about them though, and know a few other bloggers are aware their pics were taken.
I have the watermark on my pics now, but wasn’t using them for all these pics they took.
Yeah actually he can’t unless he has their permission. Basically all images on the internet belong to someone so you have to give credit or get permission, and I’m sure he didn’t.
Thanks for all your help on this!
Hi Kelly: would it be too hard to install a search engine based on your tags on Vampire Varnish. It would make locating your swatches more easily. Of course your amazing nails are easily recognized anywhere. But, he only lists ten nail polish products on Victoria’s Beauty. Is there more than the ten?
.-= Mc Huggs:)´s last blog ..Project Runway Season Six: Episode Eight =-.
Hi McHuggs,
Yes he’s using tons. Basically if you go into almost every OPI and China Glaze image on the side columns, then the bottle color, he has a bunch of nail bloggers pics in them. Don’t worry about anything, I have it covered, but thanks again!
That really is such bullsh*t. The fact that the site is in Polish I do not understand at all since they’re based in the U.S. That alone makes them kind of shady. I wouldn’t buy anything from them anyway, so consider them boycotted.
.-= Arrianne´s last blog ..Evil Shades Samples =-.
Jayme (what’s up with the Y?!?!), I honestly hope someone takes takes something good that you did and parades around like it’s their own effort. Or I hope it already happened to you personally. Most people dismiss situations such as VV because it didn’t happen to them. It only matters when it hits home and they themselves are the ones getting screwed.
I’m very, very sorry, I want apologize everybody, who’s picture was stolen and posted on Victoria’s Beauty. I bougth all the pictures. I didn’t expect it was stolen. It’s hard to find out, who did it. We posted advertise on our web. that we looking for somebody who can make for us pictures for money or discount in our store. We’ve got a lot’s of pictures. We will remove them all…
Thanks, VV. Now I see what you are talking about. The crazy thing is, they aren’t just doing something wrong or illegal. They are doing something that is foolish, business wise. The people most likely to buy polish online are the ones most likely to read nail blogs. I hope you guys put a real dent in their business.
Thanks for posting that as a reminder. I’m a photographer and I go insane when my work is used without my permission. People forget about things like copyright infringement. If you don’t want them to steal images you can try and watermark them, although I hate watermarking beccause it’s time consuming and distracts from the image.
I haven’t bought from them in the past and don’t plan to in the future.
Andrew, stop lying. You knew very well that those photos are stolen!!! Cuz You stole them!!!! Who would buy that many pics only to show 1 nail polish!! Do you really think that bloggers are idiots? When I wrote at Wizaz.pl that you stole a lot of pictures you banned me! And that was a few days before you “noticed that the pics are stolen”!! That proves that you knew you shouldn’t have taken the photos, and even after the owner’s mails you weren’t going to remove them. You pretended that nothing has happen until Kelly wrote this post!! You got scared, that is all!! And where is the advertise ?? I just checked and didn’t find it!!
“Kradzione nie grzeje”