I’d like to clarify that I have not, in fact, forgotten about this little blog of mine. I think about it almost everyday. Almost. Please click on the Continue Reading option below and hear me out.
The thing is, I stumbled upon this entire ordeal accidentally. Had I not stumbled upon it, maybe I would have continued to post regularly to this day. Well, regular by my definition and of my own volition.
One fine sunny day, I discovered that my photos were being used by strangers on the popular e-commerce site, Nykaa. People had stolen my work countless times before, from foreign e-commerce sites to established websites/web-magazines. There were even instances where publications would use my photographs but at least provide my links and credit me.
This time, however, I was older and more bitter and definitely more pissed off. I was upset. Obviously. For every item I would buy, I would painstakingly arrange props or flowers or take some time out of my packed schedule to click photos and then put my thoughts into words. Doesn’t seem like a lot of work but it is. Behind every post I make, my literal blood, sweat and tears are involved. So is my money.
I also happen to take some pride in my photos. I’ve shot thousands of photos over the years and it’s safe to say that I have a distinct enough style. A style that was, perhaps, uncommon when I first started out. Now it’s everywhere, no denying that.
Same goes for the way I review my products. I wanted my words to be lucid, easy swallow and digest, which, I suppose, they were. Especially considering how people were awful enough to steal them too. Despite their lucidity, I have my distinct style while writing too. To see them being posted, word for word, was nothing short of a nightmare.
This photo, my good Taushika Tiwari, is from my Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask review. I bought it from Korea, long before Laneige was available in our country.
Kundu Ma’am, this my palm. Those are my lip balms. From my Innisfree lip balm review. Jesus Christ.
These two photos, used by two different people (Kaira Vermani and Shagun Sinha), were from the same shoot and review of the L’oreal Liquid Lipstick.
There were so many more images stolen from me. I do not have the time nor patience to screenshot them all, although, I admit, I should have.
It just hurts me deeply to see people claim my blood, sweat and tears to be their own. Without thinking twice.
I’ve put so much effort into maintaining this blog for the last six years. I started Midori Kitty Kitty back in 2014. I have had several other blogs, some of which I began even before MKK. But I’ve not maintained any of those nearly as well as this one.
For every product that I considered buying, I used to think for hours on end whether or not that product would be a good addition to my collection. Whether or not people would find my words and photos helpful if I did go ahead with the purchase and posted a review. At the end of the day, all I wanted was for my blog to help people. For example, when you’re a novice (or even when you are an experienced consumer) and you don’t know whether or not a lipstick is worth the extra pennies, I wanted my blog to answer those kinds of questions for you. I wanted my blog to be a safe haven, for you and for me.
I have friends who are bloggers too, who think the way I do. They are all consumers of beauty products and they use their blogs to help inform people about different things they’d buy. They told me time and time again to just watermark my photos so that they don’t get stolen. I refused to listen to them and was uncompromising; I didn’t want to ruin the aesthetic of my blog. My friends continued to put watermarks over each and every photo they uploaded, over all their content. Now I understand, to the fullest capacity, what they were talking about.
To my friend Christina, especially, I am sorry. I wish I had listened to you earlier. You were right. I’m going to give you this, I’m going to give you a big, fat, “I Told You So” moment. I deeply regret not heeding your words.
It’s just so weird to see even my hands being posted by people I do not know. My hands. You do not have my permission. You do not have the right. I feel like Fuzzy Lumpkins, in that one Powerpuff Girls episode, where he was firing off his rifle in his home at anybody or anything that would trespass his grounds, screaming, “MY PROPERTY! MY PROPERTY!“. I can’t believe I can relate to Fuzzy Lumpkins, of all people. Does Fuzzy even count as ‘people’? Well, creature. Anyway, these products, these photos, these words, these thoughts, this blog indeed is and always will be MY PROPERTY.
For the last several months, I just lost my spirit to write. All my enthusiasm flew out the window. I have so many things that I want to write about but I just don’t (or didn’t) want to write about them anymore. I also have slowly waned away from buying too many beauty products. In fact, I don’t even remember what the last product I bought was.
I’ll come back to the blog, yes, but all my photos going forward will be a 100% watermarked. Please don’t steal photos. Don’t steal people’s hard work. It may just be a pretty image to you but to me, it is a chunk of my money, a chunk of my time and a chunk of my creativity. Feel free to do your own thing.
