Over the weekend, Fenty Beauty launched three brand new Killawatt highlighters. *Yay*. But right now, on Instagram at least, there’s more shunning than there is shining.
The brand’s OG highlighter range has already been a mahoosive hit with beauty aficionados – because gotta love that foil finish. But, the latest additions have come under fire over one of the shades’ name.
New to the highlighter party are, ‘Afternoon Snack/Mo’ Hunny’, ‘Penny 4 u Thots’ and ‘Geisha Chic’. That latter one though, didn’t go down so well…
Fenty Beauty announced the launch on its Instagram account to a furore of comments starting with…
“I’m really excited for this launch, however this shade name ‘Geisha Chic’ is not great because it ignores the history, full weight, and overall experience of being a geisha. I’ve been waiting for colour like this, but I don’t want to question my judgement if I purchase this product with the current name. Please change the name so I can shine this summer with this heat!”
And that wasn’t the only comment – another ‘grammer chimed in, too, saying, “Love Fenty, and this colour is GORGEOUS. I’m slightly uncomfortable with that name though.”
Followed by: “Yeah speaking on behalf of East Asians: nice colour, but the name? Really? This is a brand that wants to be inclusive, and yet… lol I put faith that RiRi learned from her ‘princess of China’ days but I guess not”.
And for your reference, Geishas are an ancient Japanese tradition, involving formal training from as young as 6 years old. The traditional costumes and makeup worn by geishas give them their distinctive appearance. Their primary role is entertaining via traditional art, dance and singing.
In response to being put on the spot like that, Fenty Beauty has since been taken down the post but has appeased the situation by personally responding to those who commented and then issued a follow up statement:
“We hear you, we have pulled the product until it can be renamed. We wanted to personally apologize. Thank you so much for educating us.”
There you go, all is well in Fenty land. Now, move out the way, we’re getting our highlights on…
Next, take a look at the Urban Decay x Game of Thrones collection.
