Update: We talked with makeup artist Vlada Haggerty about the Kylie kontroversy.

Your melting-lips artwork looks eerily similar to Kylie’s Lip Kit packaging; do you think that’s mere coincidence?

"I would rephrase it to 'the packaging looks similar to the lip art that I do.' My original rose-gold picture was posted on my Instagram page on May 12, 2015."

At what point did you realise that your rose-gold artwork was being circulated and reposted on the brand’s Instagram page? What was your reaction?

"The second I saw the post on [the brand's] Instagram, I got very excited, but then I realized that I wasn't given credit for the photo; there was no mention of my name, not even a tag... People [began] commenting [and] asking to give me the credit for the picture. The page finally edited the caption the next day to 'inspo @vladamua #lipkitbykylie,' which still implied that the picture belongs to the brand and they just got inspired by me. Plus, the hashtag implied affiliation with the brand, which was untrue."

Has anyone from her team reached out to you about working with them or using your art?

"No, nobody reached out to me before or after the incident. I did message the brand through Instagram on the day of the repost, but there was no response."

Why do you think crediting original artists is so important?

"Crediting artists is essential, but this goes beyond that. It's theft; this is our livelihood...I see these things happen too many times to artists. We are all trying to make it, and this business is extremely competitive. I would ask anyone at this level use the proper channels to obtain images…"