Black Woman Says Ulta Beauty Makeup Artist Told Her She’s ‘Too Dark’ for Products

A black woman seeking makeup application services at an Ulta Beauty store in New Jersey says an employee told that her “skin was too dark for most colors in the store.” Now, she’s calling for the beauty store chain to give its workers’ diversity training.

Ebony Kankam London, an expecting mother from Houston, Texas, told KTRK-TV that she traveled to the East Coast for a baby shower on Dec. 28 planned by her mother-in-law. She says she went to the Ulta Beauty store a day before to book a makeup appointment and confirm that their makeup artists were comfortable working with her skin tone.

“Sometimes with darker skin, some people don’t feel comfortable [or] don’t know what they’re doing,” she told the ABC News affiliate. “So, I went in the day before just to see if they could achieve the look I was wanting.” However, she says the makeup artist assigned to her did a botch job and criticized her complexion.

“So today at Ulta Beauty in Holmdel I went in to get my makeup done for my baby shower. I brought in a picture for reference and was told that my skin tone was too dark for most colors in the store,” Kankam London wrote on Facebook and Instagram. She also shared side-by-side images of what she wanted and the look she ended up with.

When London told the makeup artist that she was dissatisfied with her work, she says the staffer “got really upset” and told her that “was the best she could do” because “her skin was too dark” for most of the products in the store.

“In a store full of people who didn’t look like me I felt sad and upset,” Kankam London wrote on social media. “Like my skin tone was a problem.”

The employee also asked her if she had ever had her makeup done professionally. Kankam London told her that she did and even shops at Ulta Beauty, but the staffer didn’t believe her.

In a separate update posted on Facebook on Monday, Kankam London said she was contacted by a manager at the Holmdel store “who is apparently biracial and witnessed the entire situation” but she “didn’t want to make a big scene” by interfering. Kankam London added that the store manager told her that she felt “comfortable doing black makeup” and offered to do her makeup over along with a bag of sample lotions as compensation. Kankam London, however, declined to get her makeup done at the store since she was returning to Houston, reports NBC News.

Ulta said it was in contact with Kankam London in a statement published Thursday on Twitter.

“Guest satisfaction with our services is a top priority,” a spokeswoman said. “We never want to hear that a guest has had anything less than a great in-store experience. This is our responsibility and we take it seriously.”

Ulta provides “ongoing artistry education, and diversity and inclusion trainings across the organization, which is an important commitment that we recognize requires daily action and accountability,” the spokeswoman said. “We remain committed to provide a welcoming, inclusive environment where our guests can feel their best.”

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Hasbro toy company announces Death Row Records ownership after Suge Knight appoints Ray J to run it

The legendary toy company, Hasbro, is officially the proud owner of Death Row Records – the iconic west coast music label once associated with artists Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre and the late, great 2Pac.

Just a couple of days before the New Year, on Dec. 30, Hasbro finalized a $3.8 billion merger that placed Canadian studio Entertainment One (eOne) under its ownership. The acquisition places Death Row under Hasbro, after eOne purchased the music label back in 2013.

Entertainment One scooped up Death Row Records’ extensive music catalog after the company declared bankruptcy back in 2006. Death Row Records was originally founded by Dre and Suge Knight back in 1991. While the famed producer has gone on to flourish in other successful business ventures, namely his “Beats By Dre,” product line, Knight, now 54, is currently serving a 28-year sentence for voluntary manslaughter.

READ MORE: Ray J responds to rumors that he’s asking Trump to pardon Suge Knight

Back in October, it was announced that singer Ray J would oversee Death Row in the future. In a statement to The Blast, Knight stated, “I respect Ray J and his business dealings, that’s why I choose him as one of the guys to deal with the music side of the future for as Death Row Records, anything to do Death Row.”

He continued, “It’s great to have him ‘cause he will be putting out this incredible album and I heard it before.”

Fast forward a few months later, and in an official statement of their own, Hasbro announced that it would be acquiring eOne.

READ MORE: Suge Knight makes major deal with Ray J for rights to tell his story

“We are excited about what we can do together and see tremendous opportunity for shareholder value creation through this acquisition,” Brian Goldner, Hasbro chairman, and chief executive officer said in the company’s press release.

Goldner continued, “Our businesses are highly complementary with substantial synergies and a great cultural fit. The addition of eOne accelerates our blueprint strategy by expanding our brand portfolio with eOne’s beloved global preschool brands, adding proven TV and film expertise, and creating additional opportunities for long-term profitable growth. We are pleased to welcome the incredibly talented eOne team to our Company.”

 

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Black Chicago man and other people of color, come forward, to call out clergy abuse

While very little has been done to aptly investigate and penalize predator priests, far less has been done to help vindicate victims of clergy abuse, especially those of color.

However,  Terrence Sample, a Black male Chicago native, recently broke his 33-year-silence on his own abusive past.

“Somebody had to make the effort,” Sample said in an in-depth interview and investigative piece with AP News, where several victims of color spoke out on their abuse.

“Why wasn’t it the church?” Sample rhetorically inquired.

READ MORE:Italian priest, and 2 Kenyan men who say he’s their father

According to Sample, growing up, he was one of six children in a family of few resources. At the time, the priest who assisted his family helped the Samples with tuition, clothing and money, while also promising them a better life. This same priest would also go on to abuse all six of the children.

Out of all of the Sample kids,  no one spoke up out of fear of losing the very few resources being provided by their priest. It wouldn’t be until a recent investigation, nearly three and a half decades later,  that Terrence Sample would even speak up.

As reported by the Associated Press, of the 88 dioceses that responded to their inquiry on clergy abuse, only seven knew the ethnicities of victims, and only one out of the 88 collected pieces of data, as it pertains to race, as part of their reporting process on clergy abuse, despite the fact that nearly half of the nation’s followers of Catholicism are people of color.

According to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, Native Americans, African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, Pacific Islanders, and Hawaiians make up nearly 46% of the faithful in the U.S. However, despite said reports, the Catholic Church has made almost no effort to track the victims among these demographics.

“The church has to come out of the shadows, into the trenches to find the people who were victimized, especially the people of color,” Sample stated. He continued, “There are other people like me and my family, who won’t come forward unless someone comes to them.”

READ MORE: Pope Francis places slave who escaped and became priest on the path to sainthood

Brian Clites, a professor at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and a leading scholar on clergy sexual abuse, states that the church has demonstrated a known pattern of funneling predator priests specifically to economically disadvantaged communities of color, where the victims have far more to lose in the event that they report their abuse.

“They are less likely to know where to get help, less likely to have money for a lawyer to pursue that help and they are more vulnerable to counterattacks” from the church, which will hire investigators against the survivors, said Clites in reference to victims of color.

READ MORE: Catholic church paid Black abuse victims $235K LESS than white victims

It’s been noted that on top of the general trauma that comes with being a victim of abuse, the taboos on sex and sexual abuse within the African American community, also impedes on more people of color, coming forward.

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