Samantha Ravndahl
Samantha Ravndahl
Samantha Ravndahl is a Canadian makeup artist and YouTuber. Samantha has worked with MAC Cosmetics to create her own namesake lipstick, was a Nudestix Ambassador, traveled to Bora Bora with Tarte Cosmetics, and traveled to Vietnam with Kiehl's. Recently, Samantha headlined a successful Meet & Greet at Beautycon LA. She has also partnered with Hourglass Cosmetics.[31]
Career
25 THINGS I'VE LEARNED IN 25 YEARS
Prior to becoming a well known makeup artist, Ravndahl worked as a makeup artist at NYX Cosmetics and MAC Cosmetics.[24] When she left her job, Ravndahl asked her parents for one month to "figure this out" as she started her Instagram career. By the end of the month she racked up 10,000 followers and by the end of the year, she was at a million. In an interview with Vanity Fair (magazine), she said:
"I was busting my ass in the beginning.
I was just excited and I was passionate about makeup and I was passionate about Instagram, and it was fun and it felt like a community.
It was a completely different app back then, too.
I dyed my hair silver at one point for some reason, that made things take off.
It’s weird, but dyeing my hair silver was such an odd turning point.
It made me really recognizable to people at a time and that was a good era for me."[26]
In April, 2017, MAC Cosmetics collaborated with ten beauty gurus from around the world and released lipsticks custom matched to their personalities. Samantha became a representative of Canada. Ravndahl’s creme sheen in ‘light shell pink’ officially launched on April 22 and each lipstick retailed for $21 CAD.[28]
In November 2017, Ravndahl teamed up with Nudestix to create a custom Magnetic Matte Lip Color.[30]
In November 2018, Ravndahl decided to ask beauty companies to stop sending her products.
On November 16, she posted a video titled "No More PR", in which she explained how she reached this decision, and her management alerted the brands and public relations agencies.[25]
Recently, Samantha headlined a successful Meet & Greet at Beautycon LA and is in a year-long partnership with Hourglass Cosmetics.[31]
Lawsuit against Lil Kim
In January 2014, Samantha sued Lil Kim in a copyright infringement lawsuit. Ravndahl posted a photo of herself in makeup that she called "Glam Zombie" to Instagram in October 2013. According to The Globe and Mail, one of Ravndahl's Instagram followers told the makeup artist that her photo had appeared on Lil' Kim's Instagram account. Samantha told the newspaper:
"I went there and saw that she had posted it with her copyright over it.
She didn't credit me or anything.
I thought it was kind of weird and looked into it more.
I found all these other places she had been using this image as promotional album art for her song ['Dead Gal Walking']."
The lawsuit, filed in Federal Court in Los Angeles, outlined where Ravndahl believed Lil' Kim violated copyright:
"Ravndahl believes that Lil' Kim, acting through her agent, Whosay Inc. ("Whosay"), slapped Lil' Kim's name and copyright notice over Ravndahl's face and makeup design on Ravndahl's photograph before distributing it all over the web.
Ravndahl reached out to Lil' Kim in an attempt to amicably resolve the matter, but was, unfortunately, dissed by Lil' Kim's camp.
Now comes this lawsuit..."[27]
A cease and desist letter was sent to Lil' Kim in November, 2013.
Lil' Kim's team removed some of the uses of Ravndahl's image, but the makeup artist and her lawyer never received a response to the cease-and-desist letter.[27]