Three influencers, two skincare brands and some very suspicious timing.

A skincare feud has broken out amongst Australia's most popular TikTok creators. The three main players are Australian TikTok royalty, with credentials to boot.

The first is Kat Clark who has grown her following to six million, after going viral in 2021 for looking like her then teenage daughter's twin.

Since then, the 37-year-old has documented her family life online, leading her to be crowned Australian TikTok Creator of the Year in 2022. 

Video: Charli D'Amelio breaks down TikTok fame on Jimmy Fallon. Post continues below. 

Last week, Kat created controversy when she announced she's launching a skincare brand in collaboration with her 20-year-old daughter, Latisha and 12-year-old daughter, Deja.

@katclark I hope you guys like our website 🤞🏽🫶🏽 live TODAY at 5pm AEST #kalade ♬ CountDown - T.M.T

While the skincare world is already saturated with a bevy of influencer and celebrity-led brands, Kat's announcement focused on one competitor, Anna Paul.

Anna Paul trumps Kat Clark's following by over one million people. She made the lucrative move to the skincare world in September 2023, when she launched Paullie Skin.

@paullieskin Paullie FINALLY restocks 9am this Sunday 15th October AEST 👏👏👏 Check out the website now #paullie #paullieskin ♬ original sound - Paullie

Before then, the 24-year-old's main source of income came from her OnlyFans account, where she reportedly makes up to $220,000 a month. 

In what appears to be a strategic move, Kat Clark decided to use her fellow TikToker's name as leverage to announce her own skincare brand, Kaladé. She uploaded an old video diary she'd filmed five months earlier crying at the news that Anna Paul had just announced her own skincare brand.

Through tears Kat said, "Three months before we announce and Anna has just announced she's also launching a skincare company. I spent most of the night last night balling my eyes out. I'm going to start crying again."

"Anna's amazing obviously. And I just feel like I've failed without even having the chance to start. I know that sounds so stupid. But that's how I'm feeling. I'm feeling very defeated. And I'm really scared. This is so unbelievably scary doing this already. I feel so stupid," she said. 

The video has already clocked up over five million views and a lot of negative commentary, with people accusing Kat of being manipulative, embarrassing and fake crying. 

@katclark Its been an emotional roller coaster 🥲 so glad i can finally talk to you guys about everything in real time now 🫶🏽 #kalade ♬ original sound - Kat Clark

Kat clapped back at the criticism saying, "Imagine investing all your money, re-mortgaging your house, your husband has just quit his job and you are going 100% all in on your own small business idea. Just imagine for a second that you took out that much money to invest in something and then a month later someone has the same idea as you. How would you feel?"

Despite an influencer-led skincare brand not being a novel idea, Anna Paul has made bank on her career move. Her first skincare drop sold out within seven minutes and continues to be in demand. 

Over the weekend, her mere mention of dropping by a pop-up store promoting her recent collaboration with a toothpaste brand, saw Pitt Street in Sydney packed with thousands of fans. 

Clearly unfazed by the competition, Anna commented on Kat's brand announcement writing, "Noooo never feel like this! I'm so happy for you." Her comment got over 34,000 likes. 

On Sunday another Aussie TikToker entered the skincare group chat… be it by accident. Indy Clinton, who is the reigning Australian TikTok Creator of the Year, accidentally ruined TBH Skincare's new product launch. 

@tbhskincare Replying to @Jade Fillmore It’s the ‘who is she by the way?’ for me 🤣 #tbhskincare #skincare #skincarecompany #indyclintontbh #jellycleanser #newproduct #indyclinton ♬ original sound - tbh skincare

While nursing a hangover after the Taylor Swift concert, the 26-year-old washed her makeup off from the night before using the embargoed skincare product. 

It was only once the brand notified her via Instagram DM that the product hadn't yet been launched that she realised her error. Indy shared a screenshot of the DM with the caption, "Note to future self, don't post when you're hungover."

To TBH Skincare's credit, they turned the product leak into their most successful product launch yet. 

Rather than getting Indy to delete her TikTok, they embraced the chaos creating multiple videos about the leak.

The strategy saw the brand receive 1.8 million views and 81,000 profile views in the 24 hours following Indy Clinton's video. 

Utilising the TikTok hype to the fullest, the brand scrambled and brought forward their product launch by a week to Monday at 5 pm.

@tbhskincare Replying to @indyclinton 5PM TODAY SET YOUR ALARMS ⏰ The first 200 orders will receive a free gift with purchase 🫶🍑#tbhskincare #skincarecompany #indyclintontbh #jellycleanser #newproduct #indyclinton ♬ original sound - tbh skincare

The new launch time just so happened to be the exact date and time of Kat Clark's brand's first skincare drop. 

The coincidence (or stroke of marketing genius?) didn't go unnoticed on TikTok, with an account commenting, "Probably not the smartest idea to launch when Kaladé is."

TBH Skincare founder Rachel Wilde addressed the comment directly in a TikTok video saying they had no idea that Kat's skincare brand was launching at the same time and only brought the date forward due to the online demand.

Rachel said, "I just want to stop all of this chatter right now because I'm such a big believer that there's room for everyone in this world and we're not about to start spreading negativity around another amazing female founder's skincare brand." 

"We are ok to be launching at the same time as them. It is possible for someone to jump online to two sites and shop simultaneously. So, it's ok. Everyone, it's ok. We hope that Kaladé's launch goes amazing and it's everything they dreamed it to be and we're still so excited for our jelly cleanser launch. So it's all good, guys."

Rachel Wilde absolutely schooled Kat Clarke in PR 101, with her supportive response heavily praised across TikTok.

Despite three very different marketing approaches, the result appears to be the same. Kat Clark, Anna Paul and Indy Clinton are selling powerhouses. Kat Clark sold out of her skincare packs within four minutes, with her website flooded with 20,000 people. All but one product is now listed as sold out on her website. 

Thanks to Indy Clinton, TBH Skincare sold one new product every minute on Monday night, with the brand receiving the most traffic to its site for a launch. 

Feature Image: Getty Images.