The Pale Problem

The beauty industry - is it really as inclusive as we play out?

Golloria. A name most will recognise - a black (and f**king gorgeous) woman.

Oceanne Comtois. A name you might not recognise - an albino (also, f**king gorgeous) woman.

Darcei. A name you will recognise - a black (again, f**king gorgeous) woman.

Yves Saint Laurent. Another name that is easily recognised, a brand.

Now, what do these all have in common? The brand-new (as of Sept. 2024), YSL blush, is what. The problem? The misuse of the word: universal. Universal - relating to or done by all people or things in the world or in a particular group; applicable to all cases.

Golloria’s Problem

YSL branded the blush universal, saying it was for all skin colours, which Golloria later debunked - showing it was not in fact suitable for darker and deeper skin. However, the way this had been said irked people. A video posted on 9/17 shows her use of it, but the words are what counts. Use of: ‘A blush?’ (repeated various times), ‘take it back to the lab,’, ‘i’m scared.’ Now, these statements are not inherently bad or offensive, but without context of the ‘universal’, become very.. confusing. For if you want inclusivity - why not for the people it may work on? However, this is specified to be a gifted product, which does show why she may be annoyed. A few have noticed she has certain attitudes toward some brands (more positive), which leads to beliefs she may be biased - but these are few and far between, and ones I do not believe.

Her followers and general users began noticing this odd behaviour from someone who claims to want inclusivity, but seems to be unable to stand it at the other end (which, without context is how it comes off), and comments left include - ‘inclusive goes both ways’, ‘then it’s not for you’, be so fr’, ‘it’s ok for some things not to be for us’. Again, those comments are not inherently bad or offensive, and most do make sense. She does not blend any blushes, which in response, another user comments ‘aside from the lavender, all the others are going to work perfectly, I don’t understand all this hate for the views.’ The lavender is very, very pale - but the rest do seem fine, however this is not just hate for the views, it’s to make a point. Also, it does seem to look ashy even unblended. The argument really is - why review with no blend?

Oceanne’s Problem

The blush does work for Oceanne, an albino woman, and looks utterly stunning on her. On 9/15 Oceanne posted a video testing what is the same kit Golloria recieved, to the sound ‘Talk talk’ by Charli XCX, simply captioned - ‘Trying the viral new YSL Lavender Blush on my very fair cool-toned skin! While I don’t think this shade would work for most skin tones it happens to look really gorgeous on me. What do you think?’ The comments are turned off, presumably from hate. Nothing wrong is said here, which I do recognise is because it is positive. This is followed up by a video on 9/21, addressing the hate she was recieving ‘I want to start by I 100% do not support or endorse the hateful, racist, ignorant, bigoted comments that have been left in my comment section and are targeted and Golloria,’ ‘appalled and disgusted people are weaponising my video,’ ‘face systemic challenges in the industry.’

She goes on to discuss about the ‘privilege’ of lighter shades (ref. to very fair and albino, not light or tan), which I personally agree with as someone who is very fair. However, it is incredibly difficult to find lighter shades for makeup, and the struggle is often invalidated by those who are ignorant, but darker shades face much more bigotry. She then turns comments on in her other videos. Her video does feel much more informative though, and the words used are less accusatory, however I feel Golloria is right to be accusatory - why would they send her that, knowing her content?

Darcei’s Problem

The blush does not work on Darcei either, another black woman. Again, her statement is very true - and does also explain the terms of the ‘universal’ branding slightly more in-depth than that of Golloria, but does not invalidate G’s statement - who is also known for her more blunt approach. In her first video - points made by Darcei include ‘that’s not for me, but that’s not what the website says’, ‘yes girl give us nothing’, ‘obviously would not work for darker skintones, so why do they have a black model wearing it?’ Darcei does make a good point, which I feel should be more exaggerated - not everything has to suit everybody. She then tries ‘berry bang’, a darker shade - which looks perfect on her. However, hate is also rife in her comments, many stating: ‘we need Golloria, not you’, ‘and the world kept spinning’, ‘aren’t you a bundle of joy’.

In a follow-up video, she discusses that the beauty community often only wants one black woman at a time, and talks about how long she’s been reviewing - which is rightful, considering the unnecessary hate she has gotten from netizens. She says ‘Black women tend to get placed in this category where there can only be one, prominent black creator and they are the token’, ‘feeding into tokenism’. Darcei deals with this in a very calm manner, as displayed in her tone and mannerisms. Why do we feel the need to hate on everyone who does not share the same opinions as us? This isn’t a dictation.

The Conclusion

The blush, very obviously, is rancid-looking on darker tones, and very heavily mis-advertised, and YSL not changing it after 2 weeks (as of 9/27) is absolutely diabolic. However, certain reviews I did not cover border on colourist with some comments, and disregards it will suit some tones. Just because it is only some, does not make it less important. Misusing the term universal was a huge mistake in the campaign, making it almost cringeworthy to look at, when it’s so obvious the light shades on dark tones is heavily edited. Referring back to our subheading, ‘The beauty industry - is it as inclusive as we play out?’, the firm and final answer is no, and it won’t be for a while. It is constantly at war with who is the most easy to victimize or cancel, and until companies and the community itself can realize that everything should be equal, it cannot be fully inclusive.

The creators mentioned handles: @golloria, @missdarcei, @oceannec