- Beauty brand Youthforia is facing backlash for selling a dark foundation shade comparable to “tar.”
- The brand had previously been criticized for its foundation range that was too light for darker complexions.
- Youthforia has not commented on its new shade or online reviews.
When content creator Golloria George reviewed Youthforia’s September 2023 Date Night Foundation, she pointed out two major issues with the darkest shade in the line.
First, the beauty influencer noted that the product — and the rest of her then 15-color shade line — was too light for people with dark skin tones like hers, which Youthforia CEO, Fiona Co Chan, apologized at the time.
Second, George said the shade was advertised as much darker on its packaging and in photos online than it was in real life.
So when Youthforia launched 10 new makeup shades in March, George gave the new darkest option — shade 600 — a chance.
But this time, the Youthforia foundation watched Also dark, almost like “tar in a bottle,” according to George. She proved her point by applying the brand’s foundation to one side of her face and plain black makeup to the other to show how similar they were.
She also tried Youthforia foundation in its second darkest shade, number 590, which was considerably lighter and also didn’t match her skin tone.
“When we say we want you to make sunglasses for us, we don’t want to go to the lab and ask for a black minstrel show,” the influencer said in her TikTok review shared on Monday, referring to theater productions from the 1800s. which actors wore blackface and perpetuated racist stereotypes. “What we mean is take the browns that you’ve created, create shades, and do what you need to do in the lab to get a darker shade of brown.”
Representatives for George and Youthforia did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
The California-based beauty brand was founded in 2021 and rose to fame after appearing on an episode of “Shark Tank” in 2023, during which Marc Cuban invested in the brand.
The company also became popular on TikTok after its color-changing blush went viral in September of last year, and its products are now sold at Ulta Beauty. The beauty chain did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.
A widespread backlash when it comes to beauty
Following George’s video, beauty fans and creators across the internet criticized Youthforia and its attempt to make its foundation line more inclusive.
“I’m no longer a subscriber because of this malicious attempt to appease black consumers,” one person wrote on the brand’s Instagram page, where comments are now limited.
Beauty YouTuber Jackie Aina also commented “a deep spiritual sigh” on George’s review, and TikToker and cosmetics developer The Lipstick Lesbian called it a “master class in what not to do when we try to be inclusive.” Meanwhile, Javon Ford, a cosmetic chemist, explained the formulation of the range’s different shades and said the darkest was made from “pure black pigment”.
George posted another TikTok video on Wednesday, which she captioned: “It is biologically impossible to be PURE black. there is no pigment in this foundation other than pure BLACK oxide. this was not a mistake. “
Problems from the start
A few weeks before George’s TikTok review, Youthforia shared a video about her struggles finding someone to model her foundation shade 600.
“We held a casting call open to the public, but no entrants showed up in the 600 shade range, which led to this trip to find a 600 model!” wrote the brand on Instagram.
So, Youthforia “street cast” two men and shared a video montage of their impromptu photo shoot.
While some people in the comment section applauded the brand for its efforts, other beauty fans also didn’t think the makeup matched their skin tone.
“Hi! I don’t think this matches them very well. Shade 600 doesn’t seem to have an undertone, but it looks like they had more of a red undertone. In my opinion, I think there should be 2 or 3 shades between 590 and 600 💚💜,” one person wrote in response to the video.
Youthforia has yet to publicly comment on this latest controversy, and its founder has apparently made her Instagram account private.
Beauty brands have made a big effort to become more inclusive in recent years.
Specifically, Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty has been a game-changer with its extensive foundation range—it now has 51 shades—and Halsey’s About Face brand foundation has become a new favorite. It offers 45 various shades.
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