Following several heated controversies surrounding the Youthforia’s 2024, “Date Night Skin Tint”  launch, the brand has been forced to close down after only four years of operation, officially shutting down August 4th, 2025. 

The brand Youthforia first gained traction by its appearance on hit show, “Shark Tank,” airing on season 14, episode 15, in March of 2023. Their unique plant based formulas captivated the attention of shark Mark Cuban and it earned the founder, Co Chan, Cuban’s first ever makeup investment with a $400,000 investment for 5% equity in the company. 

Following this success, the brand was released to the makeup titan, ULTA BEAUTY, in 455 stores nationwide. This platform launched them into the public eye and earned them a steady consumer base and an increasing social media presence. 

This momentum would soon be stopped with their highly anticipated launch, “Date Night Skin Tint” on August 21st 2023. The lackluster release of a limited 15 shades received major backlash and online scrutiny for their lack of diversity and inclusion. Their shocking nine out of fifteen shades being described by consumers as “white people shades,” directly contradicted their claim as being “inclusive.” 

The disappointing release of the shades left an unsavory taste in the eyes of consumers and was only worsened by the release of shade 600 in March of 2024. The release of shade 600 marked the official “death” of the company. 

The release of shade 600 was the desperate attempt at Youthforia trying to correct its mistake of catering towards a white consumer base. The release of the shade was their attempt to gain positive publicity and break into the diverse market. 

The shade 600 first gained negative publicity by the TikTok influencer “Golloria George” in her swatch of the shade. She claimed that, as a dark shade individual, the shade was laughable. She then stated that the shade was “borderline blackface” and a step in the wrong direction for the inclusion of POC in the historically un-inclusive industry of cosmetics. 

Golloria famously commented that the shade 600 looks like “tar in a bottle,” creating a social media uproar and sparking what is, to this day, one of the most successful consumer boycotts in the cosmetics industry history. 

After the publishing of many relevant influencers trying the product for themselves, gaining millions of views and likes, the company faced a massive decline in sales. This led them to slowly decreasing the number of stores, most notably ULTA BEAUTY stores nationwide until they reached their eventual closure. 

This controversy has caused other competing brands to be more conscious of their products, shades, and formulas recognizing that lacking the necessary yellow, red, or other color undertones within a foundation is crucial to selling a successful product. 

This fact was highlighted by the clear lack of appropriate undertones within the shade 600 foundation. This was because the color that was used to create the foundation’s pigment, CI77499, is a black iron oxide. This means that when applied to skin it appears less as a skin like texture and it gives a paint like appearance. This paired with the foundation lacking pigment for undertones and applying on grey to some customers, landed the company and formula into hot water. As its attempt at being inclusive was so disappointing, the makeup community and social media influences began to question and speculate on the company’s target audience and code of ethics. 

Consumers have also pointed out the direct and intentional lack of inclusivity amongst POC, comparing the lackluster Youthforia 15 shade release to a brand such as Haus Labs by pop star Lady Gaga, which launched with an inclusive range of 51 shades. Additionally, consumers ruled out the lack of funds to justify the lack of shades with the launch because the company’s appearance on hit show “Shark Tank” awarded them $400,000 worth of investment, ruling out money as a factor for their negligence. This public outrage led to the closure of the Youthforia company successfully removing their brand and business from beauty stores across the nation.