The Corruption of The Black Community Part II: Get Your Own Brand!🗣
In this article, make-up meets entitlement and entitlement meets make-up. This is perfect for a part II on the Corruption of the Black Community...
Let's take a look at this atrocity.
On April 30th, 2024, Golloria George's TikTok video went viral after she reviewed the foundation of a brand called Youthforia. Golloria's content focuses on reviewing the darkest shades from top brands like Fenty Beauty, Nars, Rare Beauty, Gucci, and Haus Labs.
When she initially reviewed the darkest shade from Youthforia's Date Night Skin Tint Foundation collection, in September of 2023, she stated that it was inaccurately advertised on the Youthforia website.
She describes their new darkest shade of foundation as "blackface" and a bottle of "tar" because the pigment is strictly black paint with no undertones.
...sigh.
This story is just now hitting my desk [May 5th] and everything is just...wrong and irritating. From Golloria's entitlement to the media's underlying victim shaming, Youthforia's outright bigotry, and black Americans' failure to move past the victim mentality.
Let's analyze the situation, draw a clear line between the underlying problem, and come up with a less...messy solution, yeah?
Okay.
Youthforia Is Racist
I mean..it is obvious.
Prior to Golloria's "blackface" claims, their darkest foundation, a light brown tone, was advertised as a darker skin tint on Youthforia's website.
This Is Rooted In A Deeper Issue.
Western beauty standards have conditioned the masses into believing that being a white person is the beauty standard.
To begin with, a lot of current Western beauty standards celebrate whiteness — not some objective, biological, evolutionary thing, but literally just being a white person. In fact, if you go back and look at the work of some early racial theorists — people like Christoph Meiners and Johann Blumenbach — they defined the category of "white," or "Caucasian," as being the most beautiful of the races.
Since the early 1900s, advertisements have depicted predominantly women of no color, establishing the societal beauty standard for women.
'Maybe it's Maybelline' vintage ad
Products were also produced to combat traits associated with persons of color in the beauty industry.
If bleaching creams and advertisements featuring white women were pushed out into the media, the manufacturing of fair-skinned beauty products would likely increase, while the production of darker-skinned items would decrease due to the pressure to be as close to white as possible.
But don't be fooled. Producing darker foundations is not difficult at all.
Is it in fact, harder to make darker foundations?
In a nutshell, no. My time in the lab making my own foundation match ‘Mocha’ revealed that all foundations are made using the same 4 pigments - red, black, yellow and white. Are there any additional differences though that require extra efforts? “From a colour matching point of view, no,” says Jo. “However, what you might want to do from a base point of view is to try and eliminate certain ingredients that leave an ‘ashiness’ to the skin,” she explains.
It is quite difficult for make-up brands to be inclusive in terms of shade range because the vast majority believe that white is simply better and more commercially viable.
Another make-up reviewer who offered her take on the Youthforia scrutiny, Ayeyi, stated that brands think that offering a variety of foundation shades is a waste of money and a hassle.
She [Ayeyi] explained to her viewers about "minimum order quantity," adding that "it costs the brand more money to create and develop and order shades that they know that they're just not gonna sell as many units of and that is just something they're not willing to do."
In a nutshell, no. My time in the lab making my own foundation match ‘Mocha’ revealed that all foundations are made using the same 4 pigments - red, black, yellow and white. Are there any additional differences though that require extra efforts? “From a colour matching point of view, no,” says Jo. “However, what you might want to do from a base point of view is to try and eliminate certain ingredients that leave an ‘ashiness’ to the skin,” she explains.
Another make-up reviewer who offered her take on the Youthforia scrutiny, Ayeyi, stated that brands think that offering a variety of foundation shades is a waste of money and a hassle.
The founder of the brand Youthforia, Fiona Co Chan took to TikTok and responded to the backlash. Her response on why her foundations were falsely advertised further supports Ayeyi's claims.
In response to the backlash from Black beauty creators last year, Youthforia's CEO Fiona Co Chan reportedly said in a now-deleted video that the initial launch was a "proof of concept" to see if the product could be successful.
The trend of lack of inclusivity is discriminatory.
A lack of inclusivity does not exist because the production of darker shades is difficult. It exists because the make-up industry adheres to advertising practices and beauty standards that date back over 80 years.
Furthermore, certain media sites make it appear as if Golloria is exaggerating the situation.
Check out ABC New's report on the story.
Now, take a look at NBC's News report.
Check out ABC New's report on the story.
Now, take a look at NBC's News report.
Do you guys notice the difference in tones in each report or am I delusional?
ABC News simply reported on the story while remaining objective, whereas NBC's article was passive-aggressive, with the author allowing her own opinions to seep into what was supposed to be an objective report.
The author of the report.
The author of the report.
First off, Kat, the only thing that distinguishes both pigments as "almost identical" is their texture, since one is paint and the other is foundation for the skin, but the color is the same. That is the point Golloria was trying to make.
Second, why bring up the fact that black creators have "criticized makeup brands for years" and then follow it up with Fenty Beauty's inclusivity? It is almost as if you are trying to say, "Be grateful."
You are the same woman that claims to be an advocate for women.
The official tweet. https://twitter.com/kattenbarge/status/1787215512784568446
So my question is, since when should a person not feeling accepted be passed off so cavalier?
Oh right, it's because Golloria is black.
To be fair, Kat isn't the only one who notices something wrong with the whole situation. I do as well, however, our observations are just "almost identical".
Borderline-Entitlement
Second, why bring up the fact that black creators have "criticized makeup brands for years" and then follow it up with Fenty Beauty's inclusivity? It is almost as if you are trying to say, "Be grateful."
You are the same woman that claims to be an advocate for women.
So my question is, since when should a person not feeling accepted be passed off so cavalier?
Oh right, it's because Golloria is black.
To be fair, Kat isn't the only one who notices something wrong with the whole situation. I do as well, however, our observations are just "almost identical".
The truth is that brands are not required to be inclusive with their shade selections.
It would be nice for them to accommodate darker complexions, but they do not have to.
I know that black people have been fighting injustice for almost 400 years. However, in 2024, we are living in a time where it is possible to forge our own paths.
If you'd rather attack someone else's brand for not accommodating your complexion without thinking to develop your own brand, the only term that comes to mind is entitlement.
She announces that she is designing her first black baby and goes on to say that people have been basically pressuring her to create a black baby.
But I get it. This type of entitlement stems from the lingering effects of slavery and persistent discrimination. Black people wish to be accepted by non-black races.
Black people frequently say that white people believe they are entitled to everything (which they do), yet it appears that black people are becoming equally entitled.
In this scenario, I'd like to describe Golloria and other black people like her as borderline entitled.
The distinction between a white-entitled person and a borderline-entitled black person is that a black person remains a minority. As a result, black people do not always get what they want, when they want it.
They are aware of this, so they use the excuse of having ancestors who were formerly enslaved to justify obtaining everything they lay their eyes on.
MAKE YOUR OWN BRAND
If you feel unappreciated and unaccepted in the beauty industry, why not start your own brand and sell shades specifically for darker complexions?
Yes, I'm talking to you, Golloria 🫵🏾.
Golloria is a Tiktoker who rose to prominence by criticizing the variety of a brand's shades of foundation.
Sometimes this girl would appear on my feed, and I would watch. However, when I watch her videos, I never see her mention launching her own line, and it would not be off-brand for her to do so either.
This just shows that the collective of the black community is still trapped in a victim mentality, despite being given opportunities to grow beyond discrimination, prejudice, and racism and create a legacy.
The only difference between them and you, Golloria is they actually thought about creating their own app.
Is She Really Making A Difference?
If brands are criticized in the media for excluding darker complexions like Youthforia, they will lose money and some support.
This triggers a chain reaction in which other companies would want to get ahead of the game and begin selling shades for all skin tones before the controversy catches up to them.
However, in my opinion, Golloria is going about "making a change" the wrong way.
Golloria Shows Us Who she really Is.
During her interview with Cosmopolitan, she basically stated that she is vengeful towards the beauty industry for making her dislike herself.
Later, as a freshman in college, I vividly remember the embarrassment I felt when an associate at a popular makeup store picked up the darkest shade of a new concealer and swatched it on my cheek—only to reveal a chalky orange hue four shades lighter than my actual skin. I once again left empty-handed, feeling like there was something wrong with me.
(...)
By January 2022, I’d had enough. I started a TikTok account dedicated to makeup for dark skin, where I celebrate the brands getting it right—and call out the ones getting it wrong.
- Golloria's Cosmopolitan interview on inclusivity
This simply proves my point. She is not interested in progressing beyond being a victim and instead refuses to build her own brand for others who face similar challenges.
She is aware that make-up brands are collectively racist, and because they made HER feel bad about herself, she chose to retaliate by putting brands on blast. Then she hides behind the excuse that "Oh, I'm doing it for the people who are like me."
Girl..🙄
If she is genuinely interested in making a difference, she would help the typical dark-skinned black woman establish a strong foundation in the beauty industry, no pun intended.
But she isn't.
I never saw her discuss launching her own brand, even though she frequently encounters a brand that does not have her shade.
I am not moved by Golloria and her antics. This is coming from a black person with common sense.
In Conclusion
The Youthforia dispute was unpleasant.
Yes, it's crazy that brands are still racist in 2024. However, it shocks me that Black people are still seeking approval in 2024.
We have so much freedom, yet we choose to waste it by whining about the foundation variation of a makeup company?
This lack of inclusivity is the product of a larger underlying racial issue, similar to this wanting approbation, in which black people play a role that is rooted in a history of degradation, colonization, and racism.
However, the unfortunate truth is that companies are not required to be inclusive or responsive to our demands. It would be nice, but it is their brand, and they can sell anything they want.
I know I would be pissed if someone told me what to sell.
To combat the feeling of exclusion, black people should build their own make-up brands that strictly sell shades for darker complexions.
It is important to accept ourselves before attempting to force other races to accept us.
As for this Golloria lady, try to get out of the victim mentality, yeah?
To Clarify...
Some black people refuse to take advantage of the freedom we have accumulated over the years and build something sustainable.
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