Before making a purchase, have you ever jumped on TikTok or Instagram to check out what people are saying about a product? Maybe you even looked up your favorite influencer’s review before deciding.
Chances are, you, I, and most of us do the same when shopping for that new makeup product or the latest launch from our favorite brand.
Did you know this approach is called "social search"? Gen Z is now using platforms like TikTok and Instagram as their go-to search engine for discovering products and doing research before making a purchase, often preferring them over traditional search engines like Google. In fact, 46% of Gen Z and 35% of millennials choose social media first.
Simply put, social search is like Google for Gen Z, and brands are taking notice. Now, can you believe that a brand which not only landed a Shark Tank deal but also targeted Gen Z could still miss the mark on using social media effectively?
In this blog, we'll dive into the infamous Youthforia foundation controversy and explore these questions:
- How did Youthforia come into the spotlight?
- How did a short TikTok video force the brand founder to apologize; not once, but twice?
- What actions did the brand take after all that social media feedback?
- How did the brand rely on social monitoring, yet miss out on true social listening?
- And finally, how did it all spiral into a full-blown PR crisis?
I’ll also show you how Youthforia could have used social listening to turn that PR crisis into an opportunity to outshine its competitors.
While the world was inside throughout the pandemic , Youthforia emerged to transform makeup.
The story goes back to 2021 when founder Fiona Co Chan, feeling the weight of lockdown, sparked an idea that would change how we see beauty. Instead of just covering up imperfections, she dreamed of makeup that cared for your skin like a nurturing skincare routine.
In a fun yet serious twist, Fiona even slept in her lab samples (with her husband joining the experiment) to see firsthand how the products could work wonders overnight.
Youthforia has the slogan "makeup you can sleep in". Amidst the uncertainty of a global crisis, Youthforia was born: a brand dedicated to bringing care, creativity, and a touch of joy into your everyday beauty routine.
But there’s more to the story. Fiona is passionate about Green Chemistry and steering clear of fossil fuels, making eco-friendly choices a key part of Youthforia’s DNA. Her innovative approach even earned her the title of Eco Beauty Hero and a Disruptor from the Byrdie Eco Awards.
At its heart, Youthforia is a blend of creativity and care, a brand built on fun, friendship, and genuine love for both your skin and our planet.
In the brand's own words, Youthforia is about makeup that’s more than just color; it's innovative skincare that’s playful, eco-friendly, and rigorously tested (yes, they literally sleep in it) so you can look good, feel good, and do good every day.
In 2023, Youthforia made a splash on Shark Tank with its bold claim- makeup you can sleep in. Fiona Co Chan wowed the Sharks by showcasing their signature BYO Blush, the world’s first color-changing blush oil, and explaining how their plant-based, renewable formulas care for your skin while delivering high performance.
Even though she was nervous, her confidence shone through as her Youthforia makeup held up flawlessly all day. Entering the tank with an ask of $400,000 for 5% equity, she closed a deal with Mark Cuban for $400,000 for 8% equity.
Youthforia made Shark Tank history as the first makeup brand to strike a deal with Mark Cuban, who broke one of his own rules by investing in a product he didn’t personally use.
As part of the deal, he even offered to do in-store demos, a promise he fulfilled at the launch event for the new foundation in his hometown of Dallas, Texas.
Before understanding how the brand was scrutinized all over social media, let's first know which product it was.
In August 2023, Youthforia launched its first-of-its-kind Date Night Skin Tint Serum Foundation; a product available in 15 shades (ONLY) with a mostly neutral range and slight undertone variations.
(In case you are wondering, what’s an "undertone"? It refers to the subtle hues beneath your skin’s surface that help determine the best makeup match.) This meant it was designed to work with a wide variety of skin colors.
The foundation offered medium, buildable coverage and a gorgeous glass skin finish that made your skin look smooth and radiant, all for $48 in a 35ml bottle.
Fiona Co Chan explained that while many brands offer foundations in warm, cool, or neutral tones (warm tones lean more orange or yellow, cool tones more pink or red), she wanted to create a flexible range that could easily match anyone.
In her research, many customers said other foundations were too orange, too pink, or too red, so Youthforia focused on a neutral base with slight variations that adapted to each person’s skin.
To make sure it truly worked for everyone, they tested the shades on 120 real people, everyone found their perfect match. Youthforia also invested in high-quality ingredients to create a silicone-free, oil-in-water emulsion loaded with 68% skincare benefits.
Not long after launch, an influencer’s TikTok video put Youthforia in the spotlight. While Chan’s idea behind this launch was making the right shade simple and accessible, this only backfired on her.
When I mentioned 15 shades ONLY above, I meant it. While the brand claims to be inclusive, how can 15 shades of foundation be enough to truly cover everyone?
Now, let's talk about how Rihanna did it right with Fenty Beauty. Fenty’s debut was a game changer as they launched with a 40-shade range (which later expanded to 50), backed by a diverse marketing campaign that left no one out.
This bold move wasn’t just a hit with consumers; it reportedly raked in $100 million in just over a month, and Time magazine even named it one of the 25 Inventions of the Year.
Suddenly, 40 shades became the new standard in the beauty industry, anything less was seen as lacking, while brands pushing beyond that were celebrated.
Many brands expanded their limited foundation lines to be more inclusive of every skin tone in what has been dubbed the “Fenty effect.”
And now, here comes Golloria George, a popular content creator with a combined following of about 5 million across TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram (3.2 million on TikTok alone).
Colorism has been part of her content from the very beginning, and she’s known for her strong, unbiased opinions. She actively reviews makeup for darker skin tones, and as a deeper-toned girl herself, people trust her when it comes to cosmetics and skincare recommendations. Her audience sees her as fair and balanced rather than sensational.
Golloria put Youthforia to the test by reviewing their darkest shade (at that time): 495. It turned out that this shade was not a suitable match, which highlighted that tone inclusivity wasn’t properly considered.
She also pointed out that the shade looked totally different in person compared to the website, essentially calling out a case of false advertising.
Tiktok: video link
Soon after Golloria’s video went viral, the beauty industry began questioning just how inclusive Youthforia really was. Consumers started asking tougher questions, and all eyes turned to the brand for answers.
Founder Fiona Co Chan stepped up and issued not one, but two apologies. When one apology isn’t enough, it usually means something went seriously wrong the first time or there’s more to address.
And if you are wondering what applies here, both are true in Fiona’s case. This also shows that the brand was actively engaged in social listening, a practice we’ll dive into in more detail later.
Fiona explained that expanding the shade range was part of the plan from the very beginning. In her video, she referenced a September 2023 Allure article to show that the brand had real plans to add more shades soon.
In a video which she later deleted, she mentioned that the initial drop was a “proof of concept” to see if the brand could succeed, a way to test if people liked the formula and to gather feedback for further improvements.
She mentioned that the 15 shades were meant to leave room for direct input from consumers and that the process takes time. Fiona even noted that seasonal changes can affect how shades look (for example, summer shades might differ from winter ones, especially if your undertone changes as you tan).
Image: A TikTok user mentioning “Why do we keep hearing the same apology over and over”.
However, many were upset by the idea of a “proof of concept” and this explanation didn’t sit well with everyone.
An industry expert and OG beauty guru Jackie Aina called it an excuse, arguing that using 15 shades as a test meant that people with darker skin tones were treated as an afterthought.
Jackie suggested that instead of a test market approach, Youthforia could have launched with an even ratio of light, medium, dark, and deep-dark shades (which they didn't have).
Jackie Aina’s TikTok: video link
Fiona later uploaded another apology video, sharing that when she started Youthforia, her vision was to create a space where individual beauty could be celebrated and everyone felt accepted.
With this foundation launch, she admitted, the brand fell short of that vision. She made it clear that being a small business isn’t an excuse for making some customers feel unseen or excluded, an outcome that’s simply unacceptable.
In her video, Fiona acknowledged that the brand did a poor job and emphasized that she’s learning from the mistake. She also stressed that the photographs on the website truly represent the shades they sell, Youthforia would never alter the tones in its photos.
Finally, she assured us that more inclusive products are on the way and that she remains committed to listening to community feedback (later we will discuss about it- Social monitoring or Social listening?).
By now, you must be thinking that Fiona learned her lesson and would take a calculated step to restore Youthforia’s image. Expectations for the next launch were sky-high but she chose a surprising route.
According to a March 2024 article in Beauty Independent, instead of releasing new shades gradually over 24 months, Youthforia and its factory sped things up and dropped 10 new shades in just four months.
The initial launch in 2023 had featured 15 shades, and in response to criticism, the brand expanded its range. Yet, instead of fixing the issues, this quick relaunch sparked even more backlash.
Things heated up when popular content creator Golloria George reviewed the new range in late April 2024.
She tried the darkest shade, 600 Deep, which was meant to be more inclusive. Clearly upset, she applied the foundation on one side of her face and black face paint on the other revealing that both looked nearly identical. According to Golloria, this shade wasn’t just too light; it resembled black face paint, or was even darker.
In her own words, “Which side of my face is the black face paint or the Youthforia foundation? Tea, you can’t tell. You know why? Tar in a bottle,” she declared while holding up the foundation bottle.
Her video went viral, gaining over 11.6 million views in less than 24 hours. In a follow-up that now has more than 3 million views, Golloria tested the second-darkest shade, 590, which she found too red for her skin tone again, a clear mismatch.
This TikTok fiasco spread like wildfire, leaving the industry shocked at how Youthforia could stumble again on inclusivity. The controversy escalated so much that the brand was forced to disable comments on social media.
This whole incident quickly spiraled into a massive PR crisis. Suddenly, beauty creators and influencers were all over social media, talking about what went wrong. In one video, cosmetic chemist Javon Ford broke down the difference between Youthforia’s lighter shades and its darkest shade.
He pointed out that the lighter shades used several color ingredients, the basic mix needed for lighter tones; while the darkest shade only had pure black pigment: Black Iron Oxide. "This foundation only has pure black pigment," he said, adding that this was a problem that could have been easily avoided. He bluntly noted, "This brand does not care about us."
The debate heated up. Some creators accused Youthforia of doing this on purpose, especially when compared to brands like Fenty and Nars, which set high standards for inclusivity. Meanwhile, a few users defended Golloria’s video, questioning her take on the issue.
Matters got even more complicated when shoppers realized that the darkest shade, 600 Deep, wasn’t shown on any model on the website. Instead, in Feb 2024 not long before the launch, a TikTok video (now deleted) showed Fiona scrambling to find a model whose skin matched the foundation.
She eventually found one at a mall in Dubai. But once customers got their hands on 600 Deep, they quickly understood why matching was so hard. Many criticized the stunt, feeling that the brand made the shade first and tried to see if this could be used for humans afterwards.
The video clearly captured Fiona’s panic as the shade proved way too dark, with some even suggesting that the model shade match was faked using editing.
By now, you’ve seen that Youthforia was definitely watching the social media chatter. When influencers started to criticize the brand, Fiona jumped in to respond. But here’s the problem: while they were active on social, they were only doing social monitoring not real social listening.
Let’s first understand what is the difference between Social monitoring and social Listening?
Social Monitoring keeps you informed of real-time mentions, hashtags, and keywords. It’s like having a radar that alerts you when your brand is mentioned, allowing you to react quickly.
Social Listening goes deeper, analyzing consumer sentiment, motivations, and long-term trends to uncover what’s driving conversations and how to act on them strategically.
While some people use these terms interchangeably (which isn’t quite right), there’s a clear difference between social monitoring and social listening. Let’s break it down:
Social Monitoring is Reactive:
Imagine a customer tags Starbucks in a comment, complaining about poor service. A team member quickly jumps in to apologize and ask for more details. That’s social monitoring keeping an eye on comments, trends, hashtags, and brand mentions to respond in real time.
Social Listening Goes Deeper:
Not every comment directly tags a brand. Social listening digs into the broader conversation. It’s about understanding trends, patterns, and overall sentiments to uncover unmet needs and identify gaps in the market. This deeper insight helps you see the bigger picture.
The difference is key: while social monitoring lets you react quickly to what’s happening now, social listening helps you anticipate what’s coming next. Together, they give brands the full picture needed to stay competitive.
Want to dive deeper? Check out our blog on Social Listening vs. Social Monitoring.
Since you now know the difference between social monitoring and social listening, let’s analyze how real social listening could have saved Youthforia:
Heartfelt Apologies Over Buzzwords: Instead of saying “proof of concept” as a way to explain the launch, Fiona could have learned from other brands that made similar mistakes and faced serious backlash.
In simple terms, rather than using technical jargon to cover up the mistake, she should have taken full responsibility and shown genuine understanding of the criticism. This would have resonated far better than a polished PR statement.
Understanding the Sentiment: While Fiona kept an eye on the chatter, she missed the real emotions behind the words. For many with darker skin tones, a foundation line focused on lighter shades feels like a dismissal of their unique beauty. It’s not just a color issue, it’s about feeling ignored.
Had Youthforia truly listened, they would have grasped these deeper sentiments and adjusted their approach with empathy.
Avoiding the “Tar in a Bottle” Fiasco: The relaunch with the infamous “Tar in a Bottle” moment was a disaster that could have been avoided. Instead of just reacting to online chatter, deeper social listening could have shown why brands like Nars, Hau Lab, and Fenty are celebrated by people of color.
By really studying what competitors are doing and understanding what makes their products resonate, Youthforia could have learned valuable lessons. This insight might have helped them adjust their approach, stand out in a crowded market, and truly embrace inclusivity.
Read more about how to use social listening on platforms like Twitter, Reddit, and TikTok.
In short, if Youthforia had really listened and not just monitored they might have turned a PR crisis into an opportunity to build trust and stand out in a competitive market.
It's wild to see how a brand that once pitched itself on Shark Tank as universal ended up failing at being truly inclusive.
This case study shows that in today’s world where consumers are vocal and woke brands must really tune in to what people are saying.
Fiona had plenty of chances to prove that the claims of overlooking darker skin tones were wrong. But by being only reactive instead of getting ahead of the issue, she missed the mark and set a clear example of what not to do.
Remember, a single video can go viral in just a few hours, sparking a major crisis overnight.
Social listening isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s a must for any brand that wants to build lasting relationships with its consumers. Sure, there’s always room for improvement, but true progress comes from truly listening to and acting on customer feedback.
What do you think could have been done differently to avoid this fallout?
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