In this era of all things digital, social media has transformed how we communicate, consume content, and connect with the world. Platforms like Instagram, X (formerly known as Twitter), MySpace, and Facebook laid the framework for the emergence of social media, but none have evolved as rapidly as TikTok. Originally starting as a lip-syncing app in 2016 under the former name Musical.ly, it has since exploded into a global phenomenon, reshaping trends, empowering creators, and influencing industries from music to fashion. TikTok has redefined how viral culture is created and consumed and has changed the lives of many who cross its platform. Today, it’s not just a social media platform – it’s a form of expression that allows big and small creators the opportunity to get their names out there to the rest of the world through their curated content.
Makeup content creators crafted a genre that has always garnered lots of attention – no matter what social media platform it has been on. With the emergence of TikTok, it came as no surprise that makeup creators made a place for themselves there as well. As a person of color, it can be a challenge to find products that work for our complexion and that create the same flawless results they do for more fair-toned complexions. For ages, many big brands have gotten away with slacking off on supplying inclusivity and not having a wide shade range accessible for their audiences. The question that remains in the back of everyone’s minds is: does the power of inclusivity drive sales? One thing that’s for sure is that Gen Z is tired of brands ignoring the need for more shade ranges in makeup, and this is the era of putting our foot down. Enough is truly enough.
Content creator Golloria is one Gen Z makeup creator who does not stray away from using their platform to make their voice heard on the issues in the makeup community. Golloria is an African American, Austin, Texas native, and makeup content creator known for her review videos that garner millions of views. With a wide variety of different subgenre videos, their content ranges from foundation reviews to blushes, lipsticks, and even “Get Ready with Me”s (GRWM) that we all know and love. In this era of social media, and with Gen Z being the generation known for not biting their tongues on the injustices we see going on, Golloria created a platform of her own to speak up on the exclusion of shade ranges for darker complexions in the makeup community. With her willingness to speak up on topics that many have, for ages, had to bite their tongues on, she has amassed a following of 2.5 million on TikTok in such little time and has been a topic of discussion with big brands and consumers.Â
Credits @golloria on Instagram
Her current, most notable video is the honest review she made about Youthforia’s darkest foundation shade back in April of 2024. After previously sending Golloria a PR package back in October of 2023 containing their foundation shades that were 10 shades too light for her, she called them out, asking for a more inclusive product with a darker shade option. After the video and backlash, Youthforia released a – or so they claim – wider shade range and came out with the darkest color of foundation that was similar in shade to that of a black paint bottle. Golloria used her platform to call out the brand for, basically, playing in her face, believing that asking for inclusivity in their shade options meant releasing something that, in no shape or form, matched anyone of African American descent. With that video alone, she amassed 43.1M views, creating a topic of discussion for consumers. There was a discourse between one party feeling the shade was almost similar in shade to that of blackface, while the other party felt that Youthforia did the best they could in giving their POC audience a shade catered towards them. The general consensus was that the foundation seemed like a mockery to the Black community and that the product didn’t work for our complexions at all. With this discussion in the air, many people started to realize how a lot of brands do not cater to all skin shades and tones and that they aren’t inclusive for everyone who wishes to wear their products. This opened the eyes of many, leading consumers to start doing more research on the brands they were giving their money to as a form of protest against the injustice. From the Youthforia criticism, they faced a vast amount of backlash, leading to their product sales decreasing from the release of the video alone and even some of their products being dropped by different retailers. While some people tend to think that social media does not have an impact on things going on in the world outside of their phones, this is an astonishing example of a brand being held accountable for their actions. This also serves as an example of consumers using their voices to get the message out to other brands that they are not willing to give their money to a certian brand if that brand isn’t willing to make their items accessible to everyone.Â
After the success of this video, Youthforia has yet to regain the tremendous support they once had after their appearance on Shark Tank. Following this video, Golloria’s follower count continued to rise more and more each day, with supporters listening to her reviews first on a product to verify its inclusivity, along with her continually-posted content calling out other brands that lacked a sense of awareness, like Youthforia. In recent news, she posted a video calling out major brand Giorgio Armani for, once again, failing to consider the shade ranges needed for their target audience. With the newest release of their blush color options, they reached out to beauty creators and sent over PR packages for them to create honest reviews – and Golloria did just that. In the video, we see her swatch two shades that show up on her skin in an almost chalk-like appearance, which is clearly unsuitable for buyers with darker complexions. Though this video didn’t garner as vast a crowd as the Youthforia video did, this video alone became a topic of discussion among users on Tiktok’s “For You” page. This video again sparked a discussion of why brands keep continuously sending these products to their darker brand ambassadors, knowing that they do not work well on everyone. Some people viewed this as brands using creators as a source of free enterprise to critique their brands without having to pay them and also not weighing in the hate that content creators receive from the brands’ loyal supporters for calling out the brands they know and love. Compared to the previous video, this one sparked a lot of backlash, with people in the comments claiming that people can’t be upset about a lack of inclusivity when inclusivity also includes having shade range options available for lighter complexions. With this video being so recent, Giorgio Armani has yet to speak up on the blush shades and it is all currently playing out in real time. At the moment, Golloria has taken a step back from social media as a result of the disheartening comments left on the video, with people claiming she was doing too much and that not every product needs to be made to cater to the Black community’s needs.
With the immense back and forth, Golloria’s video created a discussion that started a ripple effect of different videos being uploaded, with people explaining their viewpoints on the situation. While inclusivity can be subjective to whoever is watching, the main question that stands is: do you think the power of inclusivity drives sales? If so, which specific crowd of people is benefiting from this?