K-Beauty Brand Is Under Fire For ‘Blackface’ in Nail Polish Ad

Stylenanda has apologized for the incident, but their Instagram comments continue to be flooded.

K-beauty Stylenanda is being criticized for making a hand appear darker, rather than using a darker-skinned model for their 3 Concept Eyes nail polish ad.

The ad in question was for a gradient-like orange nail polish that works for lighter and darker skin tones.

 

People started to notice that the palm of the darker hand was quite unusual.

The bottoms of our hands and feet are covered with a thick layer of dead skin, causing UV rays to stimulate less melanin — giving the skin a lighter appearance than other areas.

 

As a result, netizens suspected they painted a person’s hand darker rather than hiring a dark-skinned model and were understandably upset.

 

The ad even had some people double checking their own hands.

 

Stylenanda has apologized for the incident, but their Instagram comments continue to be flooded with debate over the issue.

 

The product has been taken off their website, however, the images remain on the products that have already reached their customers.