If you have been following beauty creator in social media over the past few weeks, you will likely have come across the YSL blush controversy. The short story is that YSL Beauty debuted blushes in their new Make Me Blush line under the inclusivity banner, when in fact the shades don’t work for all skin tones. In fact, people now believe that images were altered to make it appear that the lavender blush in particular showed up better on darker skin tones than t it does in real life. There are so many who have been able to cover the subject in ways that I can’t. you can go to their channels for more about it. The angle that I’ll be taking is truth in advertising.
The FTC offers protections for U.S. consumers against deception and scams. Companies are held accountable for any claims that they make. That includes their advertising. The question then becomes, “Is the way that the blushes were displayed deceptive?” It gets tricky. So much of the deceptive piece has been focused around claims about health and fitness benefits and greenwashing. What then would it take for a color cosmetics ad to be considered deceptive? When there are no claims about how it will improve your skin overall, are there protections when the color isn’t as true as it is in the pictures online?
Toy advertising has changed so that the images shown no longer lead children to believe they will receive a full set of construction zone scenery when their parents buy a bulldozer toy. What changes will have to happen in the color cosmetics industry to ensure that those buying products are shown products exactly as they will appear, with no color correcting, no airbrushing, just products on skin?
If you want to read more content like this, here are some more you might like:
And here are my most recent posts:
A Wren Says 
Leave a comment