Last Updated on January 2, 2022
A Texas woman who reviews cosmetic products on her YouTube channel is on a mission to get a certain color name of eye shadow changed.
Think fast: do you know what hue vermilion, chartreuse or puce would be?
They’re actual colors. Vermillion is a scarlet red that leans slightly toward orange. Chartreuse is a yellow-green. Puce is a sort of a brownish-purple.
They’re actual colors that have been around for a long time.
Now consider these colors: “Vanity Fairest”, “Stiletto”, and “Voodoo.”
Could you even venture a guess as to what shades those names might refer to? They’re real names of colors that a Texas woman named Maurah Ruiz reviews on her YouTube channel, WTSP-TV reports.
I wouldn’t even venture a guess as to which name goes with which shade, but I’m sure someone out there could.
But when this Texas vlogger went to review one particular cosmetic product, she said she was shocked to see that one of the shades carried the dubious name druggie.
Druggie, it seems, is a purple. You can see it and other colors in the palette, which include names like “Sinful,” “Paralyzed” and “Lounge,” here.
But that’s beside the point. Why would anyone want to wear a shade with that name? Is wearing a color associated with drug use considered hip now?
Ruiz told KVUE-TV about her immediate reaction to the color name:
“I just think that messaging, that type of marketing especially to a company that has a lot of young women who purchase their products, I just think it’s very distasteful and it’s not okay.”
Does such a name “glorify” drug use? I think that might be something of a stretch. But at the same time, one might reasonably wonder why a company would want to appear cavalier about drug addiction.
I’d like to think today’s young people would be smart enough not to be influenced by such a thing. But if it were your child or your grandchild, would you want them exposed to something like that?
You know…. friends and I compare notes on shades of nail polish, etc on a routine basis. I wouldn’t want to say I wear druggie, nor would I want my nieces to say it. So I think it is just for a small subset of people and now there are a lot more people hearing about it.
Would she have been better not saying anything about it, or is it a good thing she raised the objection?
Better she said something to raise awareness – I find it very offensive, and really, how often am I offended by something? I don’t use cosmetics at all. But if I did and someone asked me what it was, I’d not be able to say it.
How do I fix the above posting, which put in chopsticks ahead of cosmetics? And my last name?
Done! 🙂
I don’t think it really matters what the name is. It looks like, in this case, the color is part of a collection called “After Dark” and all the color names are supposed to have something to do with that theme. I imagine they think the names are quite clever.
I’m not sure I would have used that particular name but it hardly would prevent me from purchasing or wearing the shade – if I were in the market for expensive eye shadow. (or eye make-up of any type). It’s not like others can tell the name of the shade by looking at you.
That’s a fair point, thanks, Cathryn.