Latest / Mini Scroll / MINI SCROLL: Tarte Cosmetics Hermes backlash, Amaya Colon vs. Sandra Shehab + Youthforia (finally) addresses Shade 600

Transcript

MINI SCROLL: Tarte Cosmetics Hermes backlash, Amaya Colon vs. Sandra Shehab + Youthforia (finally) addresses Shade 600 · Mini Scroll

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  Hi everyone, welcome to Mini Scroll, the daily Internet
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  culture podcast bringing you the biggest stories from social
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  media, the creator economy and the digital space.
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  Every Monday through Thursday. I'm your host, Lauren Meisner,
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  the founder of the youth digital media brand Centennial World.
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  Welcome back to Mini Scroll everyone, and I am so excited to
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  let you guys know that I believe as of today, our podcast is now
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  available on video on Spotify. So if this episode is not a
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  video episode for you on Spotify, then please know there
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  was a glitch. I couldn't figure out how to get
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  the video on Spotify yet, but I will work on it for tomorrow.
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  But if there is a video, then I figured it out and we are live,
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  which is really exciting. So if you guys like to watch the
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  podcast now you will have two options, Spotify and YouTube.
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  All right, let's just get straight into the store for
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  today. So the first story that I have
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  for you guys is that Tarte Cosmetics is facing backlash
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  once again for gifting influencers, this time Hermes
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  bracelets in a latest PR campaign.
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  So Tarte Cosmetics is going viral again for APR campaign
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  that swept TikTok last week. Tarte is still doing lavish
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  gifting and trips for influencers.
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  And last week they really stepped it up when they sent
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  Hermes bracelets to select influencers in their PR packages
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  among their new products. So this obviously rubbed some
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  people the wrong way. And to be honest, I feel like
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  any PR related things like gifting or trips or anything
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  around tart now just rubs people the wrong way because of the
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  Tarte Dubai trip and all of the controversy around that.
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  I just think for some reason, even though lots of brands do
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  brands trips, I mean, I understand tart strips are
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  really lavish and over the top, but a lot of brands do brand
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  trips. A lot of brands take influencers
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  away. And I just think the reputation
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  that chart developed on TikTok specifically because of Tarte
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  Dubai, because of that like cultural moment that happened
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  with Tarte Dubai. And just like the discourse
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  around it, even though it was not anything different from what
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  we've seen from Tarte in the past.
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  It just it became this cultural moment and now that reputation
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  is like seared in the collective hive mind of TikTok.
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  So anything PR related that Tarte does with influencers,
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  people just go absolutely insane.
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  So chart they sent, like I said, these are mez bracelets.
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  And of course people are like OK, it's a cost of living
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  crisis. Like this is so tone deaf.
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  However, then the controversy was taken up A notch when it was
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  revealed that yes, a lot of influencers got these Hermes
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  bracelets along with the new product, but some influencers
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  got gold plated necklaces with their names on it.
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  So not Hermes bracelets. Like nothing close to an Hermes
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  bracelet. And then one influencer actually
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  said that herself and some others got bags of candy with
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  their PR instead. So everyone was like what the
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  hell is going on? And now there's these, like,
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  conspiracy theories around it. So the three main theories going
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  around on TikTok about like why Tart would have done this, why
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  they would have gifted some influencers something as lavish
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  and expensive and shocking almost as like an Hermes
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  bracelet. And then others like a bag of
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  candy with their new product is number one.
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  They gifted influencers who make them the most money, the Hermes
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  bracelets. So whether that's influencers
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  over the course of the year who have had like a campaign with
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  them, like sponsored content where, you know, their links
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  like popped off and they sold lots of product or influencers
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  who consistently have affiliate links for Tart and they're
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  making them the most money. And then, you know, the
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  influencers who are making them less money got the bracelets and
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  then the influencers who are making them the least money, but
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  they still want to have a good relationship with them.
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  They sent them the PR and they had candy in the PR box.
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  The other theory is that it could be that the influencers
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  that speak about Tart the most like organically, like use them
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  in their get ready with me videos and stuff like use their
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  products without being paid or without it being PR.
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  You know, they gifted them Hermes bracelets and it kind of
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  went down the wrong like that based on like how frequently
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  these influencers are mentioning them and stuff like I am sure a
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  brand like Tart where influencer marketing is like all that they
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  do, I'm sure sure that they are keeping track of metrics like
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  that. And then the third theory, which
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  I think is the most unlikely is that Tarte did this.
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  They chose intentionally to gift some influencers a lavish gift
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  and others not so much because they knew that when these
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  influencers unbox things on Tiktok, that it would be like
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  this kind of controversy and this kind of shocking moment
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  where was like, Oh my God, you know, Hallie got an Hermes
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  bracelet and Ken got a necklace. Like, what's going on here?
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  And I mean, if that is the strategy, it works.
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  That is literally what everybody's doing.
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  But I'm going to say that's probably not the strategy.
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  I think they wouldn't intentionally be creating a
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  strategy that would isolate or kind of harm their relationship
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  with other influencers. I think it really was just based
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  on metrics and sales is my opinion.
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  OK, the next story that I have for you guys is that Amaya
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  Collin has been accused of home wrecking her best friend and
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  fellow influencer Sandra Shehab's relationship.
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  OK, so Amaya and Sandra were besties and they started posting
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  together around 2019. They're both beauty and
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  lifestyle influencers. And Sandra actually competed on
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  America's Next Top Model and her family has a lot of influence, a
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  lot of ties to Hollywood. So because of that, Sandra had a
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  bigger following and more influence at the time.
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  So she really took Amaya under her wing and helped kind of
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  build her career. So in 2019, Sandra started
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  dating a man named Josh. And in 2020, Sandra and Josh got
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  engaged. And that same year Amaya started
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  dating Sandra's brother Adam. So this is now like an Amesh
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  foursome basically. So now this week, Sandra has
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  taken to TikTok to shed some light on what happened between
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  the four of them as the couples have all split.
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  So somebody wrote in her comments.
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  They wrote, didn't Amaya Kalan sleep with your fiance and
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  brother? And then she just like happened
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  to respond and basically confirm this.
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  She said Yep and her and my ex fiance are still together but
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  they're scared to put it out there.
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  He was actually my husband. To make matters worse.
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  I should have put it out there and exposed her but I'm better
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  than that. So now people are taking this to
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  mean that first of all, Sandra and Josh got married secretly
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  sometime after 2020. Obviously it seems like they
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  split in 2021. I think that's when they
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  publicly like made it clear that they were over.
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  And so they obviously got married before 2021.
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  So maybe like at the end of 2020, beginning of 2021,
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  something like that, they got officially married.
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  So they were officially married. And then her best friend Amaya,
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  allegedly, according to her this TikTok comment, slept with her
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  husband and they're still together.
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  So this is a bit niche, but people are losing their minds.
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  It's just that kind of like niche creator tea that just pops
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  off on TikTok and then it's going to die in like 3 seconds,
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  you know? So now of course, Amaya's TikTok
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  comment section is filled with people asking her to address
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  this. She has not addressed it yet.
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  I don't think she will after this, but I'll keep you guys
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  posted if she does. OK?
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  The last story that I have for you guys is that the Euphoria
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  founder has taken to TikTok to finally address shade 600.
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  Fiona Kochan, the founder of the beauty brand Euphoria, has
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  addressed the backlash her company received back in April
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  when it released a foundation shade called Shade 600 that was
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  revealed to be almost entirely blackface paint.
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  So this shade was released after the brand faced criticism for
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  its limited foundation shade range to begin with.
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  And Fiona also made this insensitive video, which I feel
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  like it's not getting enough attention around this story.
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  The shade so obviously just had like no undertones and they
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  actually didn't have a model. So they had a Swatch in the
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  place of where a models photo would be, whereas all the other
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  shades had a model associated with it.
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  And people were kind of like, what the fuck?
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  And then Fiona made this video like on the search, like on the
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  hunt basically for somebody who would suit shades 600.
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  And she made this TikTok video where she was like running
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  around a mall and like swatching it and trying to like find
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  random people that it might suit.
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  And she ended up finding a guy And then they did this like
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  photo shoot and he ended up being the face of shade 600.
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  I don't know if it has ever been addressed, if that.
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  I mean, I'm assuming that was part of the campaign.
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  Like I don't think that that video was like in response to
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  people being like, where is the model?
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  Like, I think that they released the shade range and they
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  released that imagery knowing that that would cause people to
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  be like, where is the model? And then they could release this
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  video off the back of it. I do think it was part of the
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  strategy, but it's still very unclear, at least to me.
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  But yes. So anyways, now Fiona has taken
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  to TikTok several months later on Friday, to finally address
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  everything. But a few months ago, we had an
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  issue with one of our foundation shades, and what happened was I
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  wanted to rush the process to create this straight extension
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  so that it would align with another lawn.
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  Because of that, there's just a series of missteps both on our
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  process as well as how fast I was making our labs work where
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  it just kind of snowballed into just this huge mistake.
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  I just want to be clear, there was never any ill intent when we
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  were creating any of the shades, but a few things did slip
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  through the cracks. And for that I am genuinely,
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  genuinely sorry. But this product really offended
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  you guys. It really hurt you guys.
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  And for that I will always be very sorry for doing that.
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  In the past few months, I know you guys are probably wondering
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  where have I been when all of this was happening?
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  It was right as I was giving birth to my son and I knew that
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  this was a very serious topic that required a lot of thought,
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  a lot of learning, a lot of intention.
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  And I just, I knew that immediately going out and
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  talking to you as right as I was giving birth in that moment, it
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  wouldn't have done this topic justice.
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  Again, I am so sorry that my actions really offended you
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  guys. Take full accountability for the
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  issue. We've really used this time to
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  really reflect as a company, to learn and to grow and ensure in
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  the future like this never happened again.
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  So this video did not go over well.
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  I'll read some of the top comments, like the most liked
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  comments. One comment says I think the big
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  issue is you have not once said I am not proud of the product I
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  released and I'm disappointed in the impact it had on this
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  community. Also as someone who is a makeup
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  brand, it doesn't seem like you enjoy makeup like at all.
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  It's interesting how the word community has been said multiple
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  times throughout the video but nothing about Euphoria is based
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  in community. Saying quote this product really
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  offended you guys is crazy too because as a makeup brand you
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  should be offended by the product you put out.
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  Someone else said way too little and too late, especially after
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  the blatant gaslighting regarding the issue.
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  I hope all the people that were defending this feel foolish.
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  And someone else said ma'am we're dealing with YSL right now
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  we don't have time for this. I actually don't think I spoke
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  about that on a mini scroll, but YSL released this lavender blush
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  that is so light. And the point of these blushes
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  was they were claiming they were marketing them as you know, that
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  they would suit like every skin tone.
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  And even people with very light skin we're putting them on and
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  they're like, this is too light even for me.
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  So the fact that they're trying to say that this would suit any
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  skin tone, including darker skin tones is like delusional.
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  And anyways, it it caused a lot of uproar.
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  I don't, I actually don't know why I didn't speak about it but
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  I don't think I did on mini so I guess that's what this comment
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  is referring to. But yes the comments are mostly
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  just people being like this took way too long to address.
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  It's been so many months, I guess I am surprised that they
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  decided to address it this far on you know, I feel like
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  sometimes the move for these big brands as if they don't address
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  it right away, they just never address it.
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  And sorry, I shouldn't say big brands because euth 4A is not a
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  big brand in the scheme of beauty brands.
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  But you know, it's a pretty well known brand.
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  And yeah, I am actually surprised that they would bring
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  this up again because I do think sometimes the mentality around
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  PR, especially if you have APR professional that's helping you
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  is just like don't say anything cuz then it will die.
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  So if you bring something back up again, then that's starting
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  the conversation all over again, which obviously it has, at least
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  on this podcast. Anyways, guys, that's it for
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  today. Thank you so much for listening
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  to Mini Scroll. Please remember to rate, review
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  and subscribe, especially if you guys got this video on Spotify
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  and you liked it. I really hope you guys will
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  leave us a review. I'm trying to get to 500 reviews
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  on Spotify. So please just hit that little
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  star. It would mean so much.
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  All right, guys, I love you and I will talk to you tomorrow.
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  Bye.