Following Last Year’s Shade Range Controversy, Youthforia Is Shutting Down

The beauty industry’s biggest news of the day: Youthforia, a Gen-Z-focused beauty brand that launched in 2021, is shutting down. Founder Fiona Co Chan announced the news on Monday, August 4, sharing a brief statement on the brand’s e-commerce website and Instagram account.

“It’s been a dream to create such a beautiful brand, but unfortunately, I’ve made the hard decision to shut down Youthforia,” writes Chan. “I look back at these past few years with such love and appreciation. Thank you for being part of that journey—and I appreciate it so much.” As part of the closure, the brand will be offering 50 percent off everything on the website—no code needed.

I unfortunately can’t say that the news comes as a huge surprise. Despite its initial massive success, particularly with the pH-balancing blush, the brand has been on rocky ground following its Date Night Foundation launch last fall. After launching only 15 shades (a far cry from the industry's standard 40), the Youthforia community quickly called out the brand. In response, Youthforia launched an additional ten shades just seven months later, including a true black with zero nuanced undertones as the darkest option, a hugely misguided attempt to make the range more inclusive.

Content creators, like Golloria George, were quick to call out that the hue was more reminiscent of “black face paint” and was not wearable. Her video accumulated 3.5 million likes, and prompted further backlash from cosmetic chemists, beauty influencers, and makeup artists across the board. An apology from the brand didn’t come to pass until four months later. The entire debacle has clearly taken a toll on Youthforia’s business, contributing (likely in addition to the current economic policies and rising tariffs) to the brand’s closure.

Sadly, the Youthforia foundation saga isn’t a new narrative. There’s a constant waterfall of products that leave me, and the rest of the MC beauty team, questioning how sunscreens that leave a white cast, a narrow shade range, or shoddy, irritating formulas got through so many rounds of approval without someone speaking up. It’s unfortunate that it’s a conversation we’re still having in 2025, but it’s also the reality. Mishaps, like Youthforia’s, result not just in a single sku getting backlash, but consumer bases rejecting an entire brand’s integrity.

It’s becoming increasingly imperative for brand’s to sort out these glaring product development issues (that frankly, shouldn’t even be up for discussion in 2025 in the first place) before setting out to market. (Tumblr’s State of Community 2024 Report notes that 85 percent of Gen Z consumers say it’s important for a brand to develop a sense of community.) Today’s consumers aren’t just numbers on a screen—social media has given them a voice and they’re not afraid to call a brand on its BS.

If the solution isn’t going to come from within, at least some brands are having the foresight to look outside their employees. Catering directly to—and in tandem with—consumer bases has a positive payoff. Case in point: Tower28’s newest blush drop, co-designed by creator Toni Bravo, the “CEO of Blush,” is going viral. Rare Beauty, one of Sephora’s best-selling brands, is known to seed still-in-development products to their creator community—addressing concerns before products hit the market. The Face Shop partnered with beauty influencer Glamzilla, known for full face beats, for on-the-go cleansing wipes that are already receiving positive reviews.

It’s not so much about more cooks in the beauty kitchen but rather the right ones; inviting the ones who haven't always seen themselves reflected in the beauty community. That is the only way the industry can continue to improve and grow more inclusive, educated, and ultimately offer better products for all beauty fans, regardless of skin tone or type. Youthforia’s rise and subsequent fall is, unfortunately, the perfect example of that.

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