James Charles in Twitter row after accusing Wet'n'Wild of copying his eyeshadow palette

The make-up brand replied: 'We certainly didn't copy the price'

Charles himself has been accused of copying smaller influencers in the past (AFP/Getty)

It's been a while since James Charles has got himself involved in drama, but he's back with a vengeance, this time threatening legal action against make-up brand Wet'n'Wild.

The company recently tweeted an image of their new 40-shade eye shadow palette which launched at RuPaul's DragCon this weekend.

But James Charles fans were quick to point out its similarities with the YouTuber's Morphe collaboration palette which launched last November and according to Charles sold out in the UK in five minutes.

Charles himself decided to weigh in on the issue, tweeting that he knows he can't "own" specific colours, but alleging that Wet'n'Wild copied "the exact shades and layout" of his palette.

Instead of letting the controversy die down, Wet'n'Wild made the questionable choice to wade in on Twitter, seeming to mock Charles and his fans' concerns.

Replying to a now-deleted tweet asking about the allegations, the brand said: "We certainly didn't copy the price."

Wet'n'Wild said their palette would be priced $10-$15 cheaper than the Morphe and James Charles one, which retailed for $39 (and £39 in the UK).

Drugstore make-up brands often release cheaper versions (or "dupes") of high-end products, but Charles fans say copying the exact layout is a step too far, especially considering Morphe is already a relatively affordable brand.

Wet'n'Wild then went even further, tweeting that Charles's palette "was purchased by Morphe from Jiaxing Huasheng Cosmetics". It seems they were trying to imply that Charles had not in fact worked on the palette for months as he claimed, but simply slapped his name on an existing product – a process known as "private labelling".

Charles clapped straight back at the brand, calling the suggestion "beyond unprofessional" and saying Jiaxing Huasheng was simply the palette's manufacturer.

Despite the YouTuber's obvious frustration, many seemed to find the whole feud pretty amusing.

While the palettes do look similar, it's unclear whether this would constitute a copyright infringement. Charles has yet to threaten legal action, something many YouTubers are quick to do in these cases.

However, others have pointed out that Charles himself has been accused of copying smaller influencers without giving proper credit in the past.

Earlier this year Charles was accused of using a musical group's arrangement of the US national anthem and trying to pass it off as his own. In 2017 he was also accused of copying a smokey eye look originally created by influencer Lauren Curtis.

The Independent has reached out to James Charles, Morphe and Wet'n'Wild for comment.