Popular makeup brand Huda Beauty has a controversial past to say the least, with most of its problems stemming from racial insensitivity. And though it's been called out for it just about every single time, it can never quite seem to get its act together. So when the brand reposted a video that reflected a disgusting display of colorism, people weren't having it and wasted no time making it known.
And though the post has since been deleted, many are wondering why Huda Kattan's brand continues to encourage self-hatred in such blatant and insensitive ways. Was this yet another mistake, or has this been the brand's intention all along?
Huda Kattan and her makeup brand Huda Beauty are coming under fire once again thanks to this video.
In a now-deleted repost, Huda Beauty's Instagram page praised this jaw-dropping makeover, which ultimately leaves a woman a multitude of shades lighter than her true skin tone. Almost instantly, the brand began receiving negative backlash, and now Kattan is being accused of encouraging colorism for a third time.
She first became the subject of criticism after beauty YouTuber Jackie Aina accused her of excluding darker-skinned women.
In a review back in November of 2017, following the launch of Huda Beauty's Faux Filter foundation, Aina called out the lack of deeper-complected women on the brand's Instagram page.
"That’s amazing," she said about the 30-color shade range, "but are you going to put THESE women on your Instagram page, though?" she asked, pointing to the deepest-complected women on the foundation's packaging. "The women that are darker than tan? The women that are darker than Beyonce?”
Then, in May 2018, she promoted vaginal lightening in a blog post.
She posted a labia-lightening hack to her blog titled "Why Your Vagina Gets Dark and How To Lighten It."
"The problem with vaginal skin is that it has the highest density of melanocytes (the cells that make pigment) than anywhere in the body. It’s an area where there can be a good amount of friction from walking and exercise," featured dermatologist Doris Day said, blatantly disregarding the fact the some women simply have darker skin tones. However, that wasn't all: The post also fat-shamed women in the most disgusting way possible.
"Reach your ideal weight. Excess weight can lead to friction, which can cause darkening," Day went on to suggest.
People are calling Kattan's most recent controversy "disgusting."
"The saddest part of this is that this bride felt that lightening her skin would make her more beautiful. For anyone (the MUA and Huda) to in any way perpetuate that idea and reinforce that the 'lighter' version of this woman was the most beautiful is absolutely disgusting. Everyone involved in making or celebrating this tutorial should be ashamed of themselves," someone said on Reddit.
It poses the question, does Kattan purposely target women of Asian descent?
"This happens in South Asian bridal makeup looks too and it's disgusting," another commenter noted. "Huda also posted an article on how to lighten your labia and inner thighs. There's a already a stigma that having darker genitals looks 'dirty'. She definitely has a demographic she targets (MENA, South/SE Asia) and exploits colorism to her advantage. I can't with her."
Seeing as the original post was already wrought with comments about colorism, it almost seems as if the post was made for shock value.
"What i don't get is; on the page she "found" the video on, that video has A LOT of comments from people calling out the white-washing; it was mainly a negative response. The video was posted for a least four days too, and yet she still reposted it. Could it just be an attempt at shock value to get more attention? Maybe I'm looking too deep into this, lol. But why would she post this even after seeing the negative response this received on the other page? Unless of course whoever is running the account just doesn't give a f***," a very observant commenter mentioned.
So when will Huda Beauty stop encouraging self-hatred?
"I am so done with Huda. I’ve come close to buying her products before but glad I never caved. She seems to be on a mission to make her customers hate their bodies. First she promotes labial bleaching (!!), then uses body shaming language to promote her cream contour (“If you can’t tone it, tan it!), now this. She is choosing to send these potentially harmful messages out in the world, time and time again, and it’s distasteful and borderline toxic. For this reason I will not support her," someone said of her repeated offenses.
So what do you think? Do you think it was an honest mistake, or is colorism engrained into the brand's principles?
These stories are based on posts found on Reddit. Reddit is a user-generated social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website where registered members submit content to the site and can up- or down-vote the content. The accuracy and authenticity of each story cannot be confirmed by our staff.
