How Starface Protects Customers from Counterfeit Skincare with Podqi

Pimple patches as a fashion statement? Starface made it happen. 

Since 2019, Starface’s star-shaped Hydro-Stars® have sold nearly 2B+ units, hit ~$90M+ in annual revenue, and landed on celebrity faces like Justin Bieber and Charli XCX. They’ve become culturally iconic, and that kind of visibility is exactly what made them one of the most counterfeited skincare brands on the internet.

Starface’s Challenge

Iconic design made Starface a magnet for IP infringement. As the pimple patch market approached $1B, knockoffs flooded every channel:

• Fakes appeared across marketplaces like eBay (Starface’s single biggest source of infringement), TikTok Shop, Shein, and AliExpress 

• Ghost storefronts ("beautysecretsk.com") mimicked real retailers 

• Dropshippers targeted unknowing customers

When a product goes directly on your skin, counterfeits become not only a reputational risk, but a safety concern. Counterfeit products can pose health risks, with heavy metals, bacteria, and toxins found consistently in fakes. 

Manual enforcement cost the Starface team hours of filing takedowns across hundreds of platforms.

How Podqi Helped

Starface’s IP portfolio goes beyond just a name. The brand holds registered trademarks for its product names, the iconic smiley face logo (“Big Yellow”), and the stylized design of its Starface logo, giving Podqi multiple angles to identify and enforce against counterfeits across every platform.

Podqi transformed Starface's brand protection from a reactive, resource-draining process into automated enforcement at scale:

• From keyword-based, individual searches → to AI-powered image matching that detects Starface’s trademarked packaging and design across international marketplaces, layered with trademark monitoring for comprehensive coverage

• From manual takedown requests filed one platform at a time → to automated enforcement across 554 platforms through direct integrations

• From zero coverage on emerging marketplaces → to active detection and takedowns on TikTok Shop, Shein, AliExpress, and spun-up, third-party Shopify storefronts

• From no visibility into fake domains → to identification and dismantlement of 14+ independent sites impersonating legitimate skincare retailers

• From periodic manual sweeps → to “always on”, proactive monitoring that catches new counterfeit listings as they appear

Counterfeiters move fast. Podqi moves faster. 

The Future with Starface 

As Starface scales into new categories, retailers, and international markets, Podqi scales with them. Every new product launch and retail partnership means new counterfeiting risk, and for a brand whose products go directly on customers' skin, that risk is personal. Podqi stays ahead of bad actors, and ensures brand protection never becomes a bottleneck to growth.

“The Podqi team is so sharp and responsive, and brings things to our attention before we even ask. As we scale, this is the exact kind of protection partner we need next to us.”