If you’ve ever found yourself exploring the internet for more than a minute, you probably caught wind of at least a few beauty-community-related scandals. Whether it be a ruined friendship over a brand deal gone wrong, faulty makeup products, or blatant racism, the online beauty community (which is mainly based on YouTube) has been riddled with conflict— much of which has been brought about by the beauty bloggers themselves.
Sadly, fame and fortune led certain influencers to do some bad things. In fact, we found a whopping 10 times beauty bloggers scammed us with their makeup lines.
Of course, issues with the beauty lines themselves are just the tip of the drama iceberg.
For example, in 2018, the beauty-blogging community was hit with what was dubbed “Dramageddon.” Makeup guru Jeffree Star seemed pitted against fellow YouTube makeup artists Gabriel Zamora, Nikita Dragun, Manny MUA, and Laura Lee. The situation ultimately exposed the really dark sides of everyone involved.
Moreover, in early 2019, “Dramageddon 2.0” went down between former friends Tati Westbrook and James Charles.
Apparently, Charles refused to market Westbrook’s vitamin brand on his social channels but had no problem advertising SugarBearHair vitamins — one of Westbrook’s biggest rival.
We focused on the actual products, though. Some have been good, some have been very bad. And all of them have been at the center of a firestorm at one point or another.
Here are the worst beauty blogger makeup scandals.
1. Jaclyn Hill’s Lipstick Fiasco
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YouTube makeup guru Jaclyn Hill is one of the most well-known beauty bloggers to face the spotlight for a negative reason. Up until that momentous occasion, she received typically positive press. Consequently, the upheaval shocked Hill and her most loyal supporters.
But even the long-standing fans were disappointed in the makeup launch.
And many of them had followed Hill since her first video from January of 2012. The Jaclyn Cosmetics brand released a defective batch of lipsticks, though. All of the 20 different nude shades, which hit the market in 2019, seemed to have something wrong with them.
They immediately attracted negative reviews.
After unboxing their new tubes of lipstick, many customers found fibers and gritty debris stuck to the products.
Some people even reported that their lipstick came melted.
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Apparently, these particular Jacyln Cosmetics lipstick arrived warped and broken inside the metal bullet packaging.
Many people found that the lipstick packaging was better than the actual cream products.
At first, Hill got defensive about the backlash. In response to a dissatisfied customer, she tweeted:
You posted swatches 2 days ago loving the lipsticks? Now you’re wondering why it’s lumpy? It’s obvious this lipstick is used & not fresh from the factory. Like any other lipstick, if you use it over other products, have dry lips, etc., things like this can happen.
And her response did not sit well with upset customers.
Other beauty lovers started reviewing Hill’s products. And they found countless problems with the lipstick, too.
So, apparently, both influencers and non-influencers received poorly vetted products.
Even so, Jaclyn Cosmetics reported that “less [than] 0.1%” of the lipsticks had issues. The viral backlash forced Hill to record a response video addressing the controversy.
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Hill and her team agreed to issue full refunds in 2019.
People who purchased products from the cosmetic line also received their shipping and tax fees. It seemed to be an attempt at making amends.
Some supporters appreciated the efforts.
Others, however, refused to buy the Youtuber’s products again. On her Instagram, Hill announced that she moved her operations to another cosmetics lab. Hopefully, the change prevents these types of scandals going forward.
2. Huda Kattan’s Alleged Lack Of Diversity
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In November 2017, YouTuber Jackie Aina, who has over three million subscribers, finally posted her review of the Huda Beauty Faux Filter Foundation which was part of Huda Katan’s highly-rated cosmetics line.
And many beauty lovers were excited to watch Aina’s review of the foundation.
In fact, the Los Angeles, CA, beauty guru earned a reputation for telling her viewers the real truth about many different brands and products. So, unsurprisingly, when Aina included her Faux Filter Foundation review in a video about insanely popular makeup, a lot of people tuned in.
Aina’s words weren’t entirely complimentary, though.
The Faux Filter Foundation line boasted a large range of shades from the lightest pale to the darkest brown. However, Aina pointed out that, up until the foundation launch, the Huda Beauty brand seemed to lack diversity.
So she seemed confused by the sudden switch to inclusivity.
The Youtuber looked at the brand’s social media presence and reportedly couldn’t find much representation for people of all shades. She went on to say:
I have a hard time distinguishing when someone really truly does celebrate diversity and when they are pandering.
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Her concerns were not invalid.
Aina wondered if Katan’s brand just wanted to cash in on the diversity movement, as Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty released a whopping 50 inclusive shades around the same time. Could it be true that the Huda Beauty line didn’t really care about creating makeup for those with darker skin?
Aina wasn’t the only one asking questions.
Other people pointed out the seeming hypocrisy of the beauty range. Moreover, Aina’s Youtube review of the product garnered over 3.7 million views. Revelist even did a social media deep dive and reportedly discovered that Huda Beauty’s previous social media images consistently lacked diversity.
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Since Aina’s call-out, Huda Beauty increased the representation of all people on their social media channels.
But we can’t help but wonder if the change would have ever occurred if Aina didn’t use her large platform.
3. Kylie Jenner’s Questionable Face Scrub.
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Before it even launched at the end of May 2019, Kylie Jenner’s “Kylie Skin” skincare line was raising eyebrows (not in a good way).
People were a bit weirded out by the fact that she included a walnut face scrub in the collection. First off, manual exfoliants are apparently out (rather chemical exfoliants are totally in, BTW). And secondly, crushed walnuts have been proven to cause more harm than good to skin — especially if used too frequently.
Jenner recommended customers use the walnut scrub two or three times per week to achieve “baby soft” skin.
However, as many estheticians and dermatologists predicted before the scrub was even released, this exfoliating product could do some serious damage.
Why?
“Nuts or nutshells can create micro-tears in the skin, damaging the delicate barrier and triggering inflammation, which can exacerbate skin conditions like acne, eczema, rosacea, or even lead to premature aging,” NYC-based dermatologist Dr. Whitney Bowe told People.
“One of the biggest skincare mistakes people make is to over-scrub or over-exfoliate their skin.”
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Despite the concerns on social media, Kylie Skin sold out — walnut scrub included. Do your skin a favor and resist purchasing the scrub when it restocks.
4. James Charles’s Morphe Palette
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James Charles, who was at the center of some major drama with former-BFF Tati Westbrook, dealt with scandal, too.
In late 2018 after he announced he would be releasing a palette with the makeup brand Morphe. It was an exciting time for the YouTuber, who was crowned the first male Covergirl in 2016, as well as for those who have followed him for years.
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However, upon posting his palette’s reveal video, people began accusing James Charles of faking his swatches in order to make his product look better on film.
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Charles eventually admitted that he double swatched some colors because he had to get additional shots.
Charles even went so far as to post a live swatch reveal on his Instagram to quell fears that he was selling a potentially defective product. As it turned out, he wasn’t and everyone is seemingly really pleased with the Morphe x James Charles palette. It has a 4.6-star rating on Ulta.
5. Jeffree Star’s Hairy Highlighter
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In January 2017, Ciera Jewel, a Jeffree Star Cosmetics fan, tweeted photos at the YouTube beauty guru showing off a thick hair she found in her Skin Frost powder highlighter. She had hit pan by the time the hair emerged, and was thoroughly disgusted — um, same!
The didn’t handle the situation well either.
Neither participant seemed to be professional about the matter. Instead, they let their emotions dictate their behavior.
And when that happens, things are bound to get messy.
Indeed, Star blocked Jewel on Twitter and sub-tweeted her in a series of since-deleted posts.
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It got even uglier. Jewel accused Star of having poor customer service.
Then, as Teen Vogue reported, Star accused Jewel of cyber-bullying.
However, the issue was eventually settled and Jewel received a full refund for her faulty purchase.
Later that month, Star spoke to Seventeen.
He explained that the embedded hair was most likely not from a human. “A brush tool (like a paintbrush) is used to clean the machines in between every time they press the powder down,” he said. “So sadly a tiny bristle fell into one of the machines.”
6. Zoe Sugg’s £50 Holiday Advent Calendar
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YouTuber Zoe Sugg, who goes by Zoella on YouTube, isn’t always considered a beauty blogger.
However, she does produce “a little bit of everything,” as her YouTube banner states. And she dipped her toes into the beauty community in the past.
Her view and follower count prove she’s doing something right.
She even went so far as to produce her own line of beauty products, including a collaborative makeup line with ColourPop Cosmetics. That collection released in February of 2019.
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But in November 2017, Zoella released a controversial holiday advent calendar.
It was sold at the U.K. drugstore chain, Boots, for a whopping £50. Almost as soon as the advent calendar hit shelves, fans and followers of the YouTube star felt outraged.
They couldn’t believe Zoella.
She promoted a seemingly subpar product for a substantial amount of money. And the calendar only contained 12 doors with underwhelming prizes like a pen, room spray, a cookie cutter, and a notebook.
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She then released an explanation within a scheduled vlog, which caused many to accuse her of “hiding” her apology.
Her bit about the advent calendar begins at around 33 minutes.
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Zoella claimed she had no say as to how much Boots was going to charge for her product. After the public outrage, Boots ultimately dropped the price of the calendar to £25.
7. Kylie Jenner’s “Dollar Tree” Brushes
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When Kylie Jenner released her $360 Kylie Cosmetics brush set in 2017, everyone talked about it.
Specifically, the exorbitant price turned heads. In fact, the internet freaked out so excessively that Jenner was forced to respond via Twitter and break down the cost of the set.
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However, were her brushes worth the $360 when it comes to quality?
According to Jeffree Star, no.
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Star reviewed the natural-hair brush set in a December 2017 video, which has over 11 million views.
He said that people were better off saving their money. In a since-deleted tweet, Star asked Jenner for a refund and was reportedly removed from the Kylie Cosmetics PR list. The shade.
8. Huda Kattan’s “Easy Bake” Controversy
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In July 2018, Huda Kattan’s brand Hude Beauty released a line of loose setting powders called Easy Bake.
She named them after the makeup-setting technique called “baking.” The marketing for the line was dessert-themed, which piqued the interest of fans of another makeup brand called Beauty Bakerie.
That brand’s products are marketed entirely with baking references.
As soon as Huda Beauty released the first promotional image for Easy Bake on Instagram, the comments section was flooded by people accusing Kattan of ripping off the independently owned Beauty Bakerie. Plus, a black female entrepreneur founded the company.
Remember Huda Beauty’s issue with a lack of diversity?
This didn’t help. To make matters worse, this launch came mere months after Huda Beauty published a blog post entitled, “Why Your Vagina Gets Dark And How To Lighten It.”
And that’s not the most questionable part.
The post featured a picture of Nicki Minaj. And many people felt Kattan and her team were promoting a narrative that suggested lighter skin is better. Purportedly, Huda Beauty did not agree with that sentiment.
But that’s how the since-removed post came across.
Huda Beuty seemed to steal an idea from a Black-owned makeup brand. And apparently, the company didn’t expect any backlash. No wonder the internet was shocked.
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Huda Beauty reportedly did not respond to the allegations that she ripped off Beauty Bakerie.
And maybe it was just an honest mistake.
However, Beauty Bakerie posted an image on Instagram that stated, “Everyone’s invited to the baking party, even Huda.” They definitely took the high road, and we’re not mad at that.
9. Laura Lee And Manny Gutierrez’s Lie About Buying Products
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In 2017, Laura Lee and Manny Gutierrez (AKA Manny MUA) headed to a Morphe store to “buy” an arsenal of new makeup brushes.
And the beauty bloggers made sure to emphasize the word “buy” within the footage of the trip recorded via SnapChat. The problem was that viewers noticed that neither Lee nor Gutierrez actually bought anything. They got their entire haul for free.
This wouldn’t have been such an issue if they weren’t repped by Morphe and had commission codes with the brand.
Basically, in their video, they encouraged fans to buy brushes using their codes, knowing that they themselves didn’t have to purchase the brushes and would ultimately be making a profit off their fan base.
A lot of people found that kind of scummy.
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Lee and Gutierrez tried to cover their tracks but gave conflicting stories. Gutierrez said they got the brushes for free in order to do a giveaway. Meanwhile, Lee said they received the brushes as gifts after running into the founder of Morphe.
But they never mentioned either story in the video footage.
Both Lee and Gutierrez ran into more trouble after a series of old racist tweets were found on Lee’s feed. And when Manny MUA found himself in hot water with both Jeffree Star and fellow makeup guru Gabriel Zamora.
10. Kylie Jenner’s Face Wash Tutorial Dupe
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On May 29, 2019, Kylie Jenner posted a Twitter video demonstrating how she uses the Kylie Skin foaming face wash.
Unfortunately, the tutorial, meant to encourage her fans to try the $24 product for themselves, ended up being super shady. Not only is the 35-second video heavily filtered, but Jenner seemingly doesn’t know how to properly use her own product.
She doesn’t nearly take enough time to actually wash her makeup off, as is evidenced by the foundation left on her towel.
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And there was a lot of foundation left. No filter could blur that away.
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Some people thought this flub had meaning.
It could be proof that Jenner wasn’t confident about her own product. Alternatively, she may not know much about skincare, overall. Neither scenario is exactly great for business.
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And yet, no matter how off-putting Kylie Skin and its publicity seem to be, the product still sold out. Hopefully, most consumers didn’t experience any problems. But we’re still not sure.
And we might not bet our skin on it.
Hopefully, other beauty bloggers who wish to launch makeup lines observe all of these beauty blogger makeup scandals. A little bit of honesty and thoroughness can go a long way.