South Korean fashion and beauty brand Stylenanda is being slammed after sharing an ad campaign for orange nail polish, which seemingly features a white hand they colored with brown foundation.
On July 18, the now-deleted advert was shared by a Twitter user, who captioned the images, “what in tarnation” alongside a pair of eye emojis.
What in tarnation 👀 pic.twitter.com/8RULkX8vi0
— Formerly Bald Headed (@MissDarcei) July 18, 2018
The images in question appear to show the hands of two models–one with fair skin and the other with brown skin–wearing orange nail polish, in an effort to appear more inclusive and show what the polish looks like on a range of skin color. However, the company is being accused of using makeup to darken the hand of one of the models instead of casting a Black model.
If you look closely at the picture, the palm of the “brown” model is the same color as the rest of her hand save for her pinky figure, which lacks color. According to science, the palms and the soles of feet of every individual regardless of race lack pigment and in most cases is always lighter than other parts of the body. A bit of knowledge, Stylenanda missed when trying to present themselves as a diverse brand.
One user wrote, “Why is her palm so brown. Please don’t tell me they ‘foundation-ed’ it dark?”
Wait why is her palm so brown. Please don't tell me they "foundation-ed" it dark? 😲
— DTG ❇️ (@ARMYs_musings) July 19, 2018
Another made a joke about the graphic designer never seeing a Black person’s hand.
When the graphic designer has never actually seen a Black hand irl😂😂😂 https://t.co/CM91E5z919
— Pussy Pathological Come Lie in It🐈⬛♠️ (@BasicBlaecGirl) July 19, 2018
The company has not commented on the issue and removed the polish color from their website. Check out other reactions to the post below.
Brands outsource these things to advertising agencies. They could've easily found a black person… No excuse it doesn't matter if they don't employ a black person they could've found one
— (not) isabella (@metacosmicmami) July 20, 2018
https://twitter.com/SkinyVegetarian/status/1019988867573723136
Why is the “black girl’s” pinkie finger white bro couldn’t even black face the whole hand I’m upset 🙃 pic.twitter.com/0BR4nvLvHq
— the young master (@beautifulxenemy) July 19, 2018