Poom vs Glow: Community > Virality

In case you missed it. About mid-year 2025, many makeup lovers had a CHAOTIC few days on their TikTok FYP. Indie K-beauty brand, Glow Cosmetics, publicly called out another indie K-beauty brand, Poom Cosmetics, of copying their branding and cushion puff. The internet was quick to pick sides, one side was ready to cancel the newer up and coming Poom, while others advocated to cancel Glow for making this issue public. 

Now the dust is settled and we’ve seen how both brands came out of this controversy. Uncontested, Poom’s founder Irene Ham handled this like a champ. What was the outcome?

Brief accepted 

After extensive research, I couldn't surface a clear brand vision, mission, or business goal for Glow Cosmetics. In my research what I found instead was a brand image already shrouded in controversy. In fact, while searching I found multiple creators and viewers raising questions about the fact that Glow identifies as a small business because of message and business formula conflicts (See this reddit thread). What did they have going for them? Well they already had an established reputation even with Poom founder herself, she claims to be an avid user of Glow Cosmetics’ concealer. 

Poom on the other hand, everything is laid out. Even scrolling through a few videos on her social pages and you get a clear image of the brand. Poom is an acne-safe Korean beauty brand built around one premise: there are over 300 pore-clogging ingredients found in beauty products, and Poom uses none of them. The brand's entire identity is built on a community that has historically been underserved: acne-prone individuals. 

Where did these accusations come from? Well, Glow claimed that Poom was copying their blue packaging, cushion puff, and overall brand aesthetic. As many beauty product developers have already noted, within the cosmetic industry, there are many stock components and manufacturing overlap that may allude to surface-level similarities but NOT direct copying. In other words, this drama was a manufacturer overlap dressed up as a brand ethics problem. The blue packaging design and aesthetic used by both brands have been a staple across K-beauty and C-beauty for years. And the cushion puff, many brands use the same manufacturer so naturally some brands will incidentally sell the same product. 

So how did Poom respond? They responded by pulling back the curtain and explained how their brand came to be, the design choices, and all the little decisions that come with manufacturing and maintaining a small brand. Poom showed exactly who they were, community-forward. No pivot was necessary, no adjustment in management; Poom’s community knew the brand’s identity and supported them. Glow on the other hand, lost control of the controversy quickly and became scrutinized for claiming someone copied their brand identity when it was never truly original in the first place.  

Glow created a viral controversy that ultimately led to more scrutiny of their own brand. Glow could have used this moment to tell their own story more loudly. Instead they handed Poom a crisis that Poom turned into brand equity.  Because of Poom’s community focus and mission, they created a solid foundation for themselves that even a TikTok ban couldn’t shake. 

Where’s Poom now? Poom is now sold at Ulta garnering 5-star reviews and continuing to build community. The founder of Poom Cosmetics has spoken openly about moments of feeling undeserving, about the $50,000 MUSE Accelerator grant from Ulta Beauty, about the community of founders she found along the way. A manufacturer can replicate a puff. They cannot replicate a person. 

TLDR

Virality gets you in the room. Community keeps you there. When Glow went viral with drama, Poom went deeper with their community. Poom walked away with more trust than they started with. The brand that wins long-term isn't the one with the most eyes on it today. It's the one with the most people who feel like the brand was built for them.

Citations

1. Poom Cosmetics — Brand Mission & Origin Story Ham, Irene. Poom Cosmetics: About Us. Poom Cosmetics, 2024. https://poomcosmetics.com

Key data point: Poom was founded after Irene Ham repeatedly broke out from pore-clogging ingredients. There are over 300 such ingredients commonly found in beauty products — Poom uses none of them. The brand now has 3,000+ customers and holds a 4.96/5.0 rating on its Natural Glow Hydrating Foundation.

2. USC Annenberg Media — Korean Beauty Rewriting U.S. Beauty Rules Tran, Angelina. "Korean Beauty Rewriting U.S. Beauty Rules." Annenberg Media, November 14, 2025. https://www.uscannenbergmedia.com/2025/11/14/korean-beauty-rewriting-us-beauty-rules/

Key data point: Irene Ham, USC alumna and Poom founder, describes the brand's core philosophy as "makeup that lets your natural skin shine through, while giving you that glowy, breathable coverage" — rooted in the belief that Korean beauty has always been about skin health first, enhancing rather than hiding.

3. Reddit — r/BeautyGuruChatter, "Glow vs Poom" Reddit, r/BeautyGuruChatter. "Glow vs Poom." 2025. https://www.reddit.com/r/BeautyGuruChatter/comments/1m4zonz/glow_vs_poom/

Key data point: Community thread surfacing viewer skepticism about Glow Cosmetics' claim to small business status, including questions about brand messaging and business model conflicts. Primary source for community sentiment referenced in the post.

4. TikTok — Poom Founder Commenting on Glow Cosmetic Products [@poomcosmetics]. TikTok, 2025. https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTBRvb4pv/

Key data point: Poom commenting on their personal experience and opinions on Glow Cosmetic Products. 

5. TikTok — Poom Cosmetics Brand Identity/Transparency Response [@poomcosmetics]. TikTok, 2025. https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTBR7vbpU/

Key data point: Video illustrating Poom's community-forward brand identity and transparent communication style, used to support the claim that Poom's brand story is clearly and consistently communicated across their social presence. 

6. Ham, Irene. LinkedIn Profile. Poom Cosmetics Founder. https://www.linkedin.com/in/irene-ham-922142142/

7. TikTok — Independent Creator Review: Glow vs. Poom Foundation Comparison @matchagirlgrace. "Did poom copy glow? " TikTok, 2025. https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTBR35rBy/

Key data point: Independent creator comparison of Glow and Poom illustrating that despite the controversy the brand had product-level equity even where its brand identity fell short.