Thanks for the comments guys, I really appreciate it!
I still intend to use techniques such as smoke, reflections, puddles, blurry focus, etc in my future renders, as these are simple methods of making any render look more realistic. It would look unfinished without them in my opinion. My style (when editing existing images) has always been about realism and fine detail, it just so happens that Yasid, Hugo, Lopi, etc also have that same style. They may have done it first, but that doesn't necessarily mean i've copied, it's just a style I enjoy using!
As X-Raited Creations put very well, you can't own a style. The point I tried to get across to the guy on Facebook was that the time and effort to create work in this style is still there. Just because it's been done before doesn't make it easier
