Influencer Susan Yara slammed for touting brand she secretly owned

With almost two million followers across Instagram and YouTube, Susan Yara is one of the biggest names in the beauty world.

The US influencer was famous for sharing unbiased reviews on skincare products and routines, as well as her family life.

But now Yara is facing backlash from fans after it was revealed a brand she had touted for months was actually secretly owned by her.

Since April, Yara has mentioned a new brand Naturium in her videos and social media posts, praising its products and ingredients.

Screenshots of a post by Yara on her Facebook page in April show her comparing Naturium to cult skincare brand The Ordinary, saying its products have "higher quality ingredients and feel nicer on the skin".

In screenshots posted by YouTuber Kenna, Yara tells a fan she found out about the brand from a "PR mailer" and offered followers a discount code to use if they wanted to buy any of the products.

But in a YouTube video last week Yara announced that Naturium was "my skincare brand", sharing reactions from other influencers to the news that she owned the brand.

In the clip, Yara said that she didn't disclose the fact that she owned Naturium before because she "didn't want it to be an influencer brand" and wanted to get "honest and true feedback from everyone".

But fans weren't happy with her reasoning for the nondisclosure, slamming Yara for misleading them.

Several pointed out that Yara could be found in breach of US law, as the country's Federal Trade Commission stipulates that influencers must disclose any relationship they have with a brand.

In response to the backlash Yara released a tearful nine-minute video in which she apologised profusely to fans over Naturium.

Yara said that she hadn't been a "formal founder" of Naturium until a few weeks ago.

"The first thing I want to say is that I am very, very sorry for any disappointment, for any upset that you might be feeling, for any distrust that you might have for me right now," she said.

"This was never my intention when I put my announcement video up over the weekend."

Yara said that it was only when she saw others "put it all together" and show her promotion of Naturium over the past few months that she realised "how bad" it looked.

"I think that your disappointment is justified and I realise that I have made some pretty bad mistakes."