Youthforia, the Generation Z beauty brand looking to expand its limited foundation lineup with its darkest shade yet, may have actually shown how not to run an inclusive business.

This week, influencers shared unreserved criticism of Youthforia's Date Night foundation shade 600, an ink-black formula that appears to be interchangeable with black paint when applied. Youthforia developed the shade to address criticism of a lineup that previously had only 15 colors, with more light-colored foundations than dark colors. Cosmetic chemists, creatives, and everyday shoppers agreed that the new version fell short because it did not take into account deeper skin undertones. They say it was not a wearable product and that the brand's approach was ultimately offensive.

Ahead, find the latest breakdown of everything that has happened since Youthforia released its 600 shades.

Shoppers have been demanding for months that Youthforia expand its 15-color foundation lineup to include more options for deeper skin tones. However, a video posted this week by a beauty influencer shows that the foundation looks more like jet black paint than a foundation for darker skin tones.

Beauty creator Gorolia George first published a comparison between the new shade of Eusphoria and regular black paint on Monday, April 29, which has now been viewed over 19.5 million times on TikTok. When the paint and foundation were applied side by side to the face, they were almost indistinguishable. George concluded that the foundation was more like "tar in a bottle."

"When we ask you guys to make a shade, we don't go to a lab and ask for minstrel show black," the influencer added.

"What we mean is that we take the brown that you have created, create an undertone, and then do what we need to do in the lab to make it a darker shade of brown."

Many more creators have responded directly to George's TikTok or posted their own reviews, pointing out how this shade is a failure." This should be a crime," Awoui Matiop 1.1 million likes! said in the video, which garnered 1.1 million likes. "There is no way they can do this in 2024. They're going to put on our faces, 'See, this is it. They're going to put black paint on our faces.'"

Youthphoria's overall color palette also lacks the variety and nuance that shoppers will expect from the brand in 2024. As of press time, there are only six shades for medium deep and deep skin tones, not enough to accurately serve a diverse customer base. On the other hand, brands including Fenty, Nars, and Uoma Beauty have between 30 and 50 options to choose from.

Foundation shades, at each point in the skintone spectrum, typically mix several pigments to reflect the natural undertone of the user's skin. However, as cosmetic chemist Javon Ford noted on TikTok, Euphoria made its darkest shade of foundation with only one pigment, black iron oxide.

This pigment alone, Ford said, is not chemically suitable for use as a foundation because it would be "gray and muddy." Read: It hides rather than enhances or enhances natural skin tones, making the foundation look like tar or paint when applied.

"This problem is very avoidable," Ford added. She [the founder of Youthfolia] could have used NARS or Fenty foundation shades as a reference point. These brands don't care about us."

"They don't care about us.

No, the whole scandal feels a bit like history repeating itself.

In the fall of 2023, Euphoria released the first 15-shade range of date night foundations, including only four medium to deep shades. The creators soon realized that the first range offered little choice for a variety of skin tones, and the darker shades left users feeling gray.

Youthforia founder Fiona Ko Chang defended the development in a subsequently deleted video, claiming that the limited series of shades was a "proof of concept" for the brand to launch the foundation.

Faced with further backlash to this explanation, the creators believed that darker shades of foundation were not a priority for Youthforia. As one of the creators explained, "When I launched Youthforia two years ago, all I wanted to do was create a safe space where personal beauty was celebrated...I wanted to create a space where people could feel safe to be themselves, to be themselves. And unfortunately, with our latest launch, we didn't accomplish that mission," she said.

As of press time, neither Fiona Ko Chang, founder of Youthforia, nor representatives of the brand had issued an apology. The brand has not responded to media requests for comment. Partner retailers Ulta and Revolve have also remained silent so far, and Marie Claire editors will update this story if we hear back from the brand.