Retailers Are Dropping Youthforia Amid It's Shade 600 Foundation Controversy

Makeup company Youthforia is having a brush with controversy. The beauty brand known for making makeup you can “sleep in” is being criticized for not testing the darkest shade of their Date Night Skin Tint Serum Foundation. Shade 600 is said to essentially be “black paint, no undertones” by beauty experts and Black creators.

With no formal apology being issued yet, several makeup retailers have already dropped the brand. Here's the Youthforia foundation controversy explained.

Youthforia is a makeup brand that first gained popularity with its shimmering lip gloss. The brand’s founder, Fiona Co Chan, secured a $400,000 investment from Mark Cuban during a 2023 episode of Shark Tank.

The billionaire believed in the company’s unique products, which included makeup you could sleep in and a blush oil that claims to interact with the skin’s pH to provide the perfect custom color.

The company had its first controversy with the release of its Date Night Skin Tint Serum Foundation. Since Youthforia only released four medium-to-deep shades for dark skin, people criticized the company for not being inclusive enough. Many people said that the darkest shade could accommodate only a golden-brown skin tone.

Youthforia’s founder apologized for the oversight and said that the product launch was “proof of concept” to see if people responded well to the products.

The company also promised to do better. In April, Youthforia announced new shades for darker skin in a now-deleted video that featured Fiona. In the video, the company did a “street casting” to find someone to try on their darkest shade, Shade 600.

The controversy is all related to Shade 600. Beauty influencers and experts have criticized the color for essentially being “black paint.”

People are saying that the makeup brand did the bare minimum after people urged the brand to release shades that are inclusive to dark skin. The scandal first became widespread when beauty influencer Golloria George, who is dark-skinned, tried the brand’s darkest shade.

In the viral video, which currently has 38.8 million views, she tried Shade 600 on one side of her face and actual black face paint on the other side.

The colors were difficult to distinguish. “This is the darkest shade of the Youthforia Foundation,” Golloria says while showing one side of her face. “This is black face paint,” she says while showing the other.

“Enough: Who is that color?” she says, calling the foundation “tar in a bottle."

Amid the controversy, Credo, Revolve, and Thirteen Lune all dropped the makeup brand. Shade 600 was pulled from Youthforia’s website. The company's unhappy customers are being heard by retailers.

So far, the company hasn’t provided an apology. They have, however, released their “commitment to providing inclusive products” in a post on Instagram.

"We care about our customers and as we continue to drive change, we are creating a new position internally dedicated to examining both our current products and those in development so we can best meet your needs," the post reads.

Youthforia elaborated on this on the company website, writing that one of the roles of this new position is "to identify opportunities for expanding shade ranges and inclusivity.”

Do better Youthforia.