Youthforia Controversy Shows Why Dark Skintones Shouldn’t Be An Afterthought

The beauty industry has come a long way when it comes to diversity. The rise of makeup brands like Fenty have shown that it is possible to widely cater to a variety of skin tones. While strides have been made, representation of darker skin tones in makeup is still lacking.

The Youthforia Controversy

Around April of this year makeup brand Youthforia faced criticism for a shade that was added to its Date Night Skin Tint Serum foundation line. Beauty content creator Golloria made a viral TikTok video comparing shade 600 of the Youthforia foundation to black face paint.

Disappointment in Shade Range

There was a minuscule difference between the two products, despite the completely different purposes they serve. Golloria expressed her disappointment in the lack of undertones and overall felt like the product was a mockery to people with dark skin tones.

Analysis of Ingredients

Cosmetic chemist Javan Ford broke down the ingredients of the foundation in his own video and noted that whilst its lightest shade had multiple pigments, the shade that caused controversy only had one, which was pure black.

Youthforia's Response

While not doing so initially, Youthforia responded by halting sale of the product and committed to opening a role for someone to look at their product range and assess if it was meeting customer needs. Some felt that this action was too little too late and that the way they addressed the controversy was quite shallow. 

The Need for Inclusivity

Darker skin tones shouldn’t be an afterthought. It shouldn’t take massive outrage for people’s concerns to be heard. People of color should be consulted before and during the manufacturing process to create products that best represent their needs. Although the sentiment can be meaningful, controversies like these show how releasing products without due diligence can sometimes be as harmful as not doing anything at all.