Youthforia finally responds a month after foundation backlash — beauty influencers are still mad
The makeup line Youthforia faced severe backlash when its newest and darkest foundation was criticized for being seemingly pitch black. A month later, the brand made its first social media post since.
Black and brown beauty influencers are frustrated with a popular makeup company. For a month, they’ve called for an apology. Instead, they found a new job listing.
Youthforia, which launched in 2021, securing a deal on Shark Tank along with the loyalty of content creators across the internet, was criticized after unveiling its darkest foundation shade yet.
Date Night Skin Tint Serum Foundation in the shade 600 was created to reach customers with darker skin tones.
But the resulting product seemed to be a solid black shade with no apparent overtones or undertones. The botched foundation was yet another example of beauty brands’ failure to reach a larger Black and brown audience.
In turn, the foundation prompted a slew of product trials and teardowns from beauty influencers.
Golloria George, a popular dark-skinned beauty influencer from Texas, posted a TikTok viewed over 38 million times comparing Youthforia’s foundation to a bottle of black acrylic paint. The two products appeared indistinguishable.
“[It’s] literally jet black,” George said. “When we say that we want you guys to make shades for us ... what we mean is to take the browns you have made, create undertones, and do what you need to do in the lab so it’s a darker shade of brown.”
@golloria the darkest shade of the youthforia date night foundation.
♬ original sound - golloria
George also pointed out that the brand’s next shade lighter — shade 590 — was a significantly lighter shade of brown with no range offered in between, while there were several variations for lighter skin tones. George did not respond to a request for comment as of publication time.
Another Black beauty and lifestyle creator, Ayeyi Aboagye — who goes by Ayeyi at Home — called the foundation shade’s release “actually asinine.”
“It is so obvious to me that this brand released this shade begrudgingly as some sort of half-baked consolation prize,” Aboagye said in her TikTok.
Some TikTokers have even gone as far as using the foundation as a dye or paint in lieu of a makeup product. One TikToker used the foundation to dye her ballet pointe shoes black.
Youthforia has remained largely silent about the criticism, save for a now-deleted video from the company’s CEO, Fiona Co Chan.
“When I first started Youthforia two years ago, all I wanted to do was create a safe space where individual beauty could be celebrated,” she said. “And unfortunately with our latest launch, we just fell short of that mission.”
After Chan deleted her video, both she and Youthforia went dark on social media, avoiding new posts all May. The contentious foundation shade, 600 Deep, remains available for purchase. Some retailers, including Credo, Thirteen Lune, and Revolve have dropped Youthforia from shelves in response to the backlash.
On Tuesday, the brand broke its silence, posting on TikTok for the first time since the debacle.
The post contained a statement about Youthoria’s commitment to “providing inclusive products” and an announcement that it was hiring a new director of product development.
“You forgot the ‘sorry’ part,” one of the top comments said.
According to the brand’s careers page, the new role will focus on inclusivity and creating diverse product lines. “This role will be instrumental in ensuring our products cater to a wide range of skin tones and cultural preferences,” the job listing said. “The ideal candidate will have a deep understanding of product development processes, project management, regulatory requirements, and marketing strategies, coupled with a strong commitment to DEI principles.”
Youthforia did not respond to a request for comment as of publication time.
By Thursday, the TikTok announcing the job had been viewed hundreds of thousands of times and was filled with comments calling the company out for its large delay in response and the lack of an apology.