The beauty community is on fire once again, as beauty influencers call out the makeup brand Pink Honey for lack of diversity. Olivia Taylor, the founder of Pink Honey, expressed her apologies in a non apology through an emotional TikTok video regarding the lack of diversity on a recent brand trip.

Who are Pink Honey?

For those who might not be familiar, the UK based beauty brand was co-founded by makeup artist Olivia Taylor and her partner Byron Entwistle.

Launched in 2020 the brand quickly rose to fame, especially with products like the Original Superhold Brow Glue, leading to significant online buzz. This popularity has helped the brand gather a substantial following on social media, with over 260K followers on TikTok and 120K on Instagram.

Pink Honey’s mission, as stated on their website, revolves around a passion for fluffy brows and a commitment to creating an affordable, high-quality range of beauty products.

Why are people mad at Pink Honey?

Last week, PH organized a ‘Christmas Staycation’ for 17 beauty influencers. Over the course of this two-day event, the company began sharing online content that appeared to show all 17 attendees as white women.

This prompted criticism from observers who noted that the group of influencers did not seem to represent the diverse demographic of the UK, nor did it reflect the varied customer base of the company.

Did they address the criticism?

Some may think that brands would have learned their lesson after Dramageddon, but no.

In response to a wave of criticism from both fans and content creators, Olivia addressed the concerns in a six-minute tearful video with a non “apology” and also turning off the comments section on their social media accounts. She explained that the selection of influencers for the event was based on their “contributions to supporting the brand’s growth.”

“It’s just that these people who we asked had a real tie to the brand, and that is why they were asked,”

You didn’t think this can get any worse did you?

The dissatisfaction with the indie brand extended beyond its customers. During the two-day staycation event for the creators, each was given a hamper containing products from various small businesses. Among these was Bear Burners, a candle company. They had been approached by PH through an email, inviting them to participate in a “Christmas morning gifting session” with the promise of promotion on PH’s platforms.

Bear Burners shared this email on their account, revealing that PH had requested them to provide 17 candles for each influencer, who collectively had a following of 7.5 million.

However, Bear Burners later voiced their disappointment publicly, as they did not see any promotional content from the event, despite having contributed products worth over £500. In their statement, they expressed feelings of being misled and disheartened, mentioning the significant time and effort they had invested in preparing the contributions.

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