Founded just three years ago, Korean makeup brand Youthforia marketed itself as a sustainable skincare company with “luxurious textures and high performance.” Now, the brand is going viral for all the wrong reasons. Youthforia’s darkest foundation shade, 600, received backlash from makeup gurus who deemed it as black face paint.
Last month, social media influencer Golloria made headlines for her critical review of Youthforia’s foundation. After testing the product on her skin, she was baffled and disappointed to find how black it was, with little brown tones.
In the TikTok review, she applied black face paint on one side of her face and the foundation on the other, pointing out how indistinguishable they are from each other. Influencer Awoui Matiop also went viral for her review of the foundation, which flopped again.
Cosmetic chemist and TikTok beauty influencer Javon Ford also revealed the product’s literal use of black pigmentation products, specifically black iron oxide.
After the obvious neglect for shade inclusivity, Youthforia posted a vague Instagram statement last week addressing diversity and inclusion.
“We care about our customers and as we continue to drive change, we are creating a new position internally dedicated to examining both our current products and those in development so we can best meet your needs,” the statement said.
Their new role? A director of product development that will “engage with BIPOC community members, makeup artists, focus groups and consumer insights to gather feedback and inform product development decisions” among other goals.
With no actual apology, social media users are still upset with the brand for it’s shallow job description and conglomeration of DEI initiatives with logistical tasks like marketing, warehouse management and makeup formulas.
“Girl???? I’m so confused. Where is the apology?,” one Instagram user commented. “There’s not even a statement on here or your website. And this role is a scam. You want to hire someone (probably a person of color) to come work for your brand that clearly doesn’t value diversity or inclusion and wear multiple hats? Also where is the salary transparency? Because that salary better be no less than 6 figures. Do better.”
In the meantime, the controversial foundation shade up is still on their website for sale for $48. The price surely reflects their “luxurious” brand but the product fails to properly cater to different skin tones.
Hopefully Youthforia gets their act together. In the meantime, here are some great beauty products from celebrity-owned brands. You can check our Just N Shop section to purchase and give them a try yourself!
What's Your Reaction?
