If you don’t often turn to YouTube for makeup tutorials or beauty tips, you may have no idea who Jaclyn Hill is or know that there's a controversy surrounding her new makeup line.
If you're not familiar and need to get up to speed, here’s everything you need to know about a makeup scandal involving YouTuber Jaclyn Hill.
Who is Jaclyn Hill?
Jacyln Hill is a 28-year-old professional makeup artist who started her own YouTube channel with makeup tutorials, beauty tips and tricks. Her most-viewed video is the “Get Ready With Me & Kim Kardashian,” video where the two do their makeup together.
Hill has previously done makeup collaborations with BECCA Cosmetics and Morphe Cosmetics.
What is Jaclyn Cosmetics?
Jaclyn Cosmetics is Hill’s long-awaited line of cosmetics, which launched May 30, 2019. The first collection was made up of twenty $18 nude lipsticks and reportedly sold out within days of the launch.
Initially, Twitter was in a frenzy over the launch. Hill's followers tweeted, “Does this mean Jaclyn Hill Cosmetics will have a diamond collection?! take all my money, I’m ready,” and, “Over here refreshing Youtube like a maniac because @Jaclynhill drops her reveal for Jaclyn Hill Cosmetics at 4PM!!!!”
However, after the launch, photos surfaced that showed manufacturing issues with the lipstick and a new YouTube scandal ensued.
What was wrong with Hill’s line of cosmetics?
The clean and sturdy packaging was praised upon release but the actual products were not as immaculate. Shortly after customers began receiving products from the make-up mogul, photos popped up all across social media showing defects in the lipsticks.
The defects reportedly included black dots, white fuzz, lumps and even melting.
What did Hill do in response to the released images?
The YouTube star did what she does best and took to YouTube. She posted a video on June 12 explaining what caused each of the issues. The black dots were caused by oxygen bubbles, the lumps from the mixing of the product not being thorough enough and the white fuzz from the sanitary cotton gloves the lab workers wore.
All of her explanations pointed to the lab she chose to work with to produce her cosmetics line, and she assured fans she would be taking a hiatus, switching labs and producing only quality products in the future. The video wasn’t received well by fans who saw her as only trying to defend herself. She then went dark on social media until June 22, when she posted an Instagram story promising full refunds to all customers.
The post read, “I felt so much pressure and panic to get a video up…I have made the decision to give every single person who purchased one of my lipsticks a full refund. I think that’s the best thing I can do at this point…there’s a lot of people out there who love their lipsticks, and that’s great, but I don’t care. I’m going to be issuing a full refund, including shipping and tax, to every single customer from Jaclyn Cosmetics….I don’t care about the loss of this money…you know how embarrassing this is for me. I will do everything in my power to make this right moving forward and learn from this lesson God has given me.”
Her company posted on Instagram and Twitter to reassure customers that they would be receiving refunds, writing “Jaclyn Cosmetics takes consumer feedback very seriously. We’ve reviewed the quality issues related to our So Rich Lipsticks & believe our production did not meet our brand standards. We’ll be issuing a full refund (inc. shipping charges) to everyone who purchased the product.”
What happened to Hill’s social media?
After her promise of refunds, Hill deleted her Instagram and Twitter, leaving only her YouTube channel available to the public. The influencer admitted in the past that she is “scared” of her own channel because the comments can be cruel, so it’s likely she removed her social media to avoid reading the backlash.
However, fans may be even more upset at her absence. One tweet read, “@Jaclynhill just deleted her Instagram and Twitter. Girl in case you see this please have in mind that you’re not just an influencer any more. You’re a CEO of a freaking company that sold possibly contaminated products. Going radio silent it’s completely unprofessional.”
Another wrote, “So @JaclynHill deleted her Twitter.. lol good solution to the new health crisis you’ve created with your brand."
Hill's mother was there to back her up though.
What did Hill’s mother have to say?
Hill’s mother, Robin Sumrall, took to Instagram after her daughter abandoned social media with an explanation for curious (and angry) fans.
Her post read, “Please know that Jaclyn needs time but she will be back stronger than ever! She is surrounded by love and support and she will get through this! She will dust herself off, learn from her mistakes and try again. After all...she has a dream to fulfill and as long as I have breath in my body I will always be her cheerleader!" along with the message "Disrespect will not be tolerated here."
What happened when Jaclyn Hill resurfaced?
Hill made her long-awaited reappearance via YouTube, of course. She addressed the reason she went dark and the steps she is taking to ensure the same issues never happen again.
She admitted her launch was a failure and that she didn't have a big enough quality control team to deal with with amount of product she was creating. "I was way too overconfident in my launch," she said in her YouTube video. Over the past few weeks, she's apparently been very busy making sure she's not overconfident this time around. "I have fired so many people, and I have hired so many people in this past month."
She claims to be starting fresh, which is where her social media comes into play. She says she went dark on social media so she could rebuild, not because she was hiding from her problems. Whether or not that's true, we will likely never know, but stay tuned for more Jaclyn Hill tea now that she's back in action.
