As you probably already know by now, Jeffree Star is releasing his highly anticipated collection of concealers this week. That is, following a widely publicized theft that occurred at one of his brand's warehouses and left him missing $2.5 million worth of product.
The concealer, along with the accompanying line of setting powders, will be the first-ever complexion product released by Star, and it has fans questioning just how genuine his claims of being racially inclusive are — especially given his infamous and documented past instances of racism.
Now that the concealer line and all 30 of its shades have been revealed and swatched, fans are putting its range under the microscope and delivering quite a few harsh criticisms.
Yep — Jeffree Star's 30-shade concealer line comes out this Friday, April 19.
The range was revealed after Star suffered a major blow to his company in the form of a planned $2.5 million warehouse robbery. That didn't affect Star's plans for release, however, and has followed suit on showcasing every single shade across social media. He's also releasing a collection of setting powders in tandem.
Naturally, when Star revealed this snapshot of all 30 concealers swatched out, internet users began to harshly criticize the range of skin tones represented.
Which you have to admit is fair whether or not you're a fan of Star's. First of all, he's been documented using racial slurs (albeit a long time ago), has actively picked fights with black beauty influencers on the internet, and has been accused of culturally appropriating black hairstyles.
On top of that, while denying most claims of racist behavior, Star has called out multiple brands on their refusal to include products for deep skin tones — that list includes Beautyblender, Tarte, and Charlotte Tilbury.
The general consensus on this range? Eh, it could be a lot, lot better.
Comments that mostly appear on popular beauty Instagram page Trendmood provide countless criticisms from users of many skin tones who just can't wrap their heads around the selection of options for deep skin. Most look rather red in terms of undertone while a couple look downright gray.
The first thing the internet noticed, though, is that it's not deep skin tones that are really left out here — it's the medium ones.
"Knock knock is medium range there? All I see is shades of white and a few deep," one user commented. Anther chimed in, "wish they has medium tan shades… we are still waiting."
And they're not wrong — based on the swatch photos above, there is a wide jump between the very fair shades and the very deep shades.
"He said we're skipping Latinas," one person commented about the seeming lack of medium shades.
My personal favorite? The user that commented, "Everyone praising the shade range, you OK?" A lot of people can be very quick to defend any of Star's actions, whether or not he actually screwed up. This appears to be one of those instances.
One fan in the comments made an important point about this specific swatch photo that shouldn't go ignored.
"Some [shades] probably look grey based on his tattoos and undertone," they wrote. "That’s why arm swatches always mess me up because if you put on a wrong tone it’s gonna look weird."
And she's right — Star's own skin tone, his tattoos, the lighting of this photo, and a whole slew of other factors might have made the shade range look rather different. Might have.
A few users, in fact, think the shade range is just fine as it is.
"As a black girl, in my opinion the shade range isn't that bad it's a concealer we don't need too many shade," they wrote. "Even if I'm not a big fan of Jeffree I've too admit that this is a pretty good job."
She made sure to conclude with, "THIS IS MY OPINION."
However, we can't dismiss the fact that Star has taken a harsh stance against many other brands' similar shades ranges.
"If this wasn’t his own launch he’d be blasting this to bits lmfao," one person wrote.
"Wasn’t Jeffree always the one laughing at other brands for not having enough shades or adding more colors later on? Sorta ironic," chimed another.
"So ironic of him to talk about brands lacking diversity in their shade ranges and he launches THIS," said one more.
Overall, fans just want a shade expansion but feel they shouldn't have to ask for one.
Though the "Fenty Effect" has increased the standard shade range for complexion products (concealer and foundation) to a minimum 40, Star's choice to release 30 shades still left ample room to serve a very wide variety of customers and their skin tones. In the range provided, however, many people simply don't feel they'll be able to find a fit.
Now we're just left to hope the photo in question is simply an unflattering one — because fans who do want to buy Star's newest products ought to be able to if they want.
Regardless of your opinion of Jeffree Star or any other historically problematic beauty brand or figure, your money is yours to spend where you choose — and if you like Star's products but find its products unflattering, that just plain sucks. Whether this shade range will be a bop or a flop is something only time will tell.
Luckily, the official launch is already a go.
