Makeup is supposed to be a form of self-expression. It’s a way to reinvent yourself. To try something new. It’s no secret that the beauty industry has prioritized the white beauty standard, while including splashes of “diversity” to avoid scrutiny. So what happens when that form of expression doesn’t include you?
A week ago, TikTok beauty creator Golloria, posted a video swatching, and applying the product, YSL’s Make Me Blush liquid blushes, on her darker skin. This is a style of content continuously seen on her page. She examines beauty products gifted to her to see if they work on darker complexions like her own. However, this video in particular struck a nerve.
@golloria 6 shades of DEY PLAY!
♬ original sound - golloria
In the video, the blushes appear almost chalk-like on her skin from the whitebase used in the formula. She continuously states “A blush,” while swatching the products in a shocked-like manner, inferring “This is a blush for who?”
On YSL Beauty’s website, the blushes are marketed towards everyone, with swatches showcased on three skin tones. But the complexions of the two Black models used for the arm swatch versus the face swatch are different. Within the marketing itself, there’s a lack of transparency around how people of a deeper complexion would look with it on their faces.
The video has 20 million views with 1.4 million likes and 15,000+ comments, which were disabled by the creator. Scrolling through the comments, there are blatant forms of gaslighting and racism spewed at the creator. One user @fresandy said, “Inclusive goes both ways!!!!” while another user @hi47680 said, “yes a blush, but not for you, buy the colours [that] suits you.”
The notion of inclusion going both ways is correct, but this means that products need to work for both sides of the spectrum. Many under Golloria’s video became advocates for individuals with albinism. They brought up conversations surrounding the skin condition, which have otherwise been little to nonexistent within the beauty community
The inclusion of individuals with albinism is important, but that wasn’t the sentiment Golloria was addressing. The fact that the YSL blushes were falsely advertised to everyone was where the brand went wrong. It should have been exclusive to lighter tones (which they knew they could get canceled for) or YSL should’ve made additional shades that would’ve worked for darker skin tones.
The internet jumped to hateful rhetoric because, from a white-centered viewpoint, they already felt included. So what’s the big deal?
This is where colorism comes into play. Within the beauty community, there has been clear favoritism towards creators with lighter complexions. This is reinforced through who becomes popular and how quickly they gain popularity. Darker skin creators have to work 10 times harder to get half of the attention and pay as lighter creators.
Tarte Cosmetics hosts brand trips every year where they invite beauty creators to different destinations. While on these trips, creators post content promoting the brand’s products and documenting their luxury experience. In 2023, Tarte planned a trip to Miami and invited Bria Jones, a popular Black creator. She came on to TikTok to express how she was treated as “a second-tier person,” and then chose not to attend the trip. She felt that she wasn’t getting the same treatment as her white counterparts.
Many brands will prioritize white and lighter-skinned creators and then throw in one token Black or darker-skinned creators to avoid backlash. After all this backlash about the lack of diversity regarding their brand trips, Tarte hosted another trip to Bora Bora. This time the brand hosted a large range of Black creators including dark-skinned women.
Would this have happened if they weren’t called out? No.
Black women are continuously overlooked and ignored. It’s a universal sentiment within society. But now the fear of being canceled now trumps the disregard for Black audiences. So now we see brands develop forms of “inclusion” that always miss the mark because they aren’t genuine. This is what Golloria tried to express. Instead, she was bullied off the internet.
Three days after the post, she took to her TikTok to announce her break from the app and internet overall. She stated “It’s heartbreaking and harmful to constantly confront the overwhelming colorist, anti-Black, and racist rhetoric that’s directed at us by the masses. No one should be forced to endure that level of emotional trauma.”
The world of beauty preaches diversity but then attacks a person asking for it. If we silence Black women, how can we ever be inclusive?