Tldr: YSL showed swatches on their website of their blushes on darker skin tones. When people tried it on, they found the YSL swatches did not match the actual product at all and they were not as “universally flattering” as they claimed to be.
I get that when you have a range of blushes, not every shade is going to be universally flattering. But why falsely advertise something as so when it’s clearly not?
No_Club379 on
Any product with a white base cannot be used on every skin tone. That in itself is fine. But what YSL have done is send this blush range, where 5 out of 6 blushes have a very clear white base, to numerous POC influencers and purposely marketed this as a product that will work for every skin tone. I’ve seen so many of these POC MUAs state that they like the idea but the first 4-5 shades won’t be suitable for brown, black or olive toned skin, and they universally liked the deepest shade but even that shade was very sheer and didn’t do much on the skin. This has somehow turned into white people defending YSL, a multi billion dollar company that does not need the public to ride their dicks, and attacking WOC, mainly Gloria, for stating the obvious. It truly seems that YSL intentionally wanted controversy with this launch and it’s awful to see.
Rude_Lifeguard on
i feel so bad for Golloria, the amount of harrasment she receives for daring not to accept the bare minimun is crazy and only God knows how embarrased i feel everytime i see spanish comments in her videos being racist
totallycalledla-a on
Shes saved me a lot of time and money not buying stuff that I have been lead to believe by false advertizing would work on my skin (I’m about the same shade as her). This was a 6 blush collection, plenty of room for shades that would work on everyone across the spectrum and she was right to call them out. Very irritating.
pumpkinspruce on
So it seems the issue is not the colors per se, but the marketing of the products and the claims that they are “universally flattering.” Super shitty of YSL to claim that if the products aren’t actually for darker skin tones. It’s also super shitty to attack people for pointing out the issue.
kxkje on
So brands should absolutely create options for every skintone, and I think Golloria’s work in calling out brands who do (and don’t) is sorely needed.
That said, I’ve never seen a product that reeks quite as much of ragebait as that lavender blush. It’s so light that the only creator I’ve seen it work for has albinism. Even if it didn’t have such a light base, it’s far too cool-toned for most people to work as a blush – maybe a highlight or color corrector.
But what it has done is get people to pay attention to YSL cosmetics. Not every shade in the line is as obviously bad as that one – maybe people see the controversy around the lavender blush, and they see how much it makes people angry that they can’t use it, that it doesn’t work for them. If so many people are angry that they can’t use it, it must be a nice product, right? And they buy. After all, YSL cosmetics customers are (arguably) interested luxury and exclusivity.
6 Comments
Tldr: YSL showed swatches on their website of their blushes on darker skin tones. When people tried it on, they found the YSL swatches did not match the actual product at all and they were not as “universally flattering” as they claimed to be.
I get that when you have a range of blushes, not every shade is going to be universally flattering. But why falsely advertise something as so when it’s clearly not?
Any product with a white base cannot be used on every skin tone. That in itself is fine. But what YSL have done is send this blush range, where 5 out of 6 blushes have a very clear white base, to numerous POC influencers and purposely marketed this as a product that will work for every skin tone. I’ve seen so many of these POC MUAs state that they like the idea but the first 4-5 shades won’t be suitable for brown, black or olive toned skin, and they universally liked the deepest shade but even that shade was very sheer and didn’t do much on the skin. This has somehow turned into white people defending YSL, a multi billion dollar company that does not need the public to ride their dicks, and attacking WOC, mainly Gloria, for stating the obvious. It truly seems that YSL intentionally wanted controversy with this launch and it’s awful to see.
i feel so bad for Golloria, the amount of harrasment she receives for daring not to accept the bare minimun is crazy and only God knows how embarrased i feel everytime i see spanish comments in her videos being racist
Shes saved me a lot of time and money not buying stuff that I have been lead to believe by false advertizing would work on my skin (I’m about the same shade as her). This was a 6 blush collection, plenty of room for shades that would work on everyone across the spectrum and she was right to call them out. Very irritating.
So it seems the issue is not the colors per se, but the marketing of the products and the claims that they are “universally flattering.” Super shitty of YSL to claim that if the products aren’t actually for darker skin tones. It’s also super shitty to attack people for pointing out the issue.
So brands should absolutely create options for every skintone, and I think Golloria’s work in calling out brands who do (and don’t) is sorely needed.
That said, I’ve never seen a product that reeks quite as much of ragebait as that lavender blush. It’s so light that the only creator I’ve seen it work for has albinism. Even if it didn’t have such a light base, it’s far too cool-toned for most people to work as a blush – maybe a highlight or color corrector.
But what it has done is get people to pay attention to YSL cosmetics. Not every shade in the line is as obviously bad as that one – maybe people see the controversy around the lavender blush, and they see how much it makes people angry that they can’t use it, that it doesn’t work for them. If so many people are angry that they can’t use it, it must be a nice product, right? And they buy. After all, YSL cosmetics customers are (arguably) interested luxury and exclusivity.
Next scandal please.