The battle over magnificence’s most buzzed-about “smell-alikes” is heating up. Sol de Janeiro has formally expanded its lawsuit towards Australian model MCoBeauty, accusing the corporate of intentionally creating—and “aggressively advertising”—perfume mists designed to mimic a few of the Brazilian-inspired model’s most recognizable scents.

In line with a newly amended criticism filed in late November, and first reported by The Style Regulation, Sol de Janeiro is now focusing on eight MCoBeauty perfume mists it says carefully mirror its cult-favorite Cheirosa scents, each in perfume profile and general packaging aesthetic.

The dispute traces again to final yr, when Sol de Janeiro argued that MCoBeauty copied the distinctive components that helped its physique mists develop into world bestsellers: clear bottles, daring color-blocked labels, rounded metallic caps and signature visible branding. The up to date submitting alleges that MCoBeauty has since broadened its “dupe” lineup, whereas doubling down on advertising techniques that blur the boundaries between the 2 manufacturers.

Sol de Janeiro claims influencer content material, curated buyer opinions and social-media callouts promoted by MCoBeauty collectively create the impression that the lower-priced mists are scent-for-scent matches. Examples cited within the criticism embody influencer movies labeling the merchandise as “the perfect Sol de Janeiro dupes on Amazon,” posts tagged “DUPE ALERT!” and buyer opinions featured on MCoBeauty’s web site asserting that the scents are “precisely the identical.” Sol de Janeiro argues that MCoBeauty didn’t merely enable these comparisons to flow into, it amplified them by liking, commenting on and selectively spotlighting such claims, thereby fostering what it calls a “false narrative” of interchangeability.

Including a brand new dimension to the battle, Sol de Janeiro is now invoking Federal Commerce Fee endorsement tips. The corporate alleges that MCoBeauty didn’t right deceptive statements made by influencers and reviewers and, in some circumstances, appeared to endorse them. As a result of MCoBeauty curates and moderates its on-line opinions, Sol de Janeiro contends the model had a duty to take away or make clear unsubstantiated comparability claims—an alleged lapse it says could border on regulatory non-compliance.

Because the lawsuit widens, the case is shaping as much as be a carefully watched take a look at of how far “dupe tradition” can go earlier than it crosses authorized traces. With Sol de Janeiro positioning the dispute as each a brand-protection effort and a problem to influencer-driven misinformation, and MCoBeauty anticipated to defend its merchandise as lawful, lower-cost alternate options, the result may have ripple results throughout the wonder business. For now, one factor is evident: The controversy over similarity, inspiration and outright imitation is nowhere close to settling, and the authorized stakes are solely rising.