L'Oréal-owned Korean makeup brand accused of colouring model's hand to make it blac

A Korean makeup brand has come under fire after being accused of coloUring a model's hand to make it appear black instead of hiring a black person to pose in its ads. Photo / Stylenanda

A Korean makeup brand has come under fire after being accused of colouring a model's hand to make it appear black instead of hiring a black person to pose in its ads.

Stylenanda, a lifestyle and fashion company that includes a cosmetics brand named 3CE, used the shots to promote an orange nail polish. L'Oréal acquired Stylenanda in May this year and has announced plans to expand sales of 3CE products internationally.

At first glance, the images seem to feature two intertwined hands, one of which is black but eagle-eyed social media users were quick to notice something in the photos seems amiss, according to the Daily Mail.

A Korean makeup brand has come under fire after being accused of coloUring a model's hand to make it appear black instead of hiring a black person to pose in its ads. Photo / Stylenanda

In the photos, the palm of the hand is the same colour as the rest of the body instead of being lighter, as is naturally the case for palms and soles.

Makeup influencer Tiara Willis, a teenager who focuses on makeup for people of colour, shared two screenshots of the ads — one taken from Stylenanda's website and the other from its Instagram Story — while pointing out the oddity.

"The graphic designer must've never seen a black hand in real life before," she wrote in a tweet that has since been shared more than 4000 times.

Other Twitter users shared her dismay, suggesting that the hand in the ad was either digitally edited or made to look darker by using makeup.

The DailyMail.com has reached out to Stylenanda and L'Oréal for comment.

"Did they really just dip a white hand in a darker foundation ... that's a yikes from me," one person wrote.

"They blackfaced a hand," someone else tweeted, adding: "Fix it Jesus" next to a string of face-palm emoji.

"It's crazy the absurd lengths these people will go to not actually use black people," another person tweeted. "They really just painted sis whole hand brown and think we wouldn't notice."

One Twitter user deemed the images "embarrassing", while someone else asked: "Why couldn't they just get a black model?? Is it really that hard?"

"Is this hand really doing black face rn? Idk how to process this," another person wrote.

why is the palm black... https://t.co/ZBASxGgWyg

— brayla.rem’mie.nina.riah.merci.tatiana.bree.shaki (@iconickbeauty) July 19, 2018

I looked at my hand twice, turned the light on and off, and was so confused because who palm is the same color and the other side of they hand???!!!? pic.twitter.com/A99ZG5q9b9

— L.E.J.P🖋 (@ErronJ_) July 20, 2018

I had to check my own palm to make sure I wasn't tripping lol https://t.co/JKpQtU6kXH

— Jess (@MariaGaddis) July 19, 2018

Is that hand wearing blackface... https://t.co/axcEdxVi23

— arkham escapee (@chirpsehurts) July 19, 2018

Someone even pointed out that the hand's pinky finger seems to be a different colour from the rest of it.

"Jrbtxbzkcfkrkflssldgkrkd they just PHOTOSHOPPED THE COLOUR ONTO THE HAND I'M DEAD!!!!!!!!!!!! They forgot the pinky," that person wrote next to a close-up on one of the images, which shows the two intertwined little fingers.

L'Oréal, which is headquartered in France, acquired 100 per cent of Stylenanda in May, calling it "a highly desirable brand among Korean and Chinese millennials".

Stylenanda, which also sells clothes, shoes, and accessories in addition to makeup, was created in 2004 in Seoul by entrepreneur Kim So Hee, who was then in her early 20s.

By the time L'Oréal took over the brand, its makeup entity, 3CE, represented more than 70 per cent of its business.

The French cosmetics giant was planning to expand 3CE sales globally within two months of the acquisition in May, after securing the necessary approvals.