Better Than Sex mascara. G-Spot blush. Spank Me eyeshadow. Shade names are to beauty products what creepy music is to slasher films: a vehicle that can be used to drive up the shock value. Frankly, whether a pink-speckled nail polish screams "Pussy Galore" to you is irrelevant — the moniker only needs to be marginally related to the item at hand to be hilarious. So can you really blame a brand for giving a seen-it-all-before colour a provocative name? Apparently, you can, because the internet is up in arms over Kylie Cosmetics' latest launch.
When the company announced yesterday that it would be releasing five matte blushes in a range of colours — from bright fuchsia to ballerina pink — on Friday, fans lit up. Then, they read the shade names. Then, some got upset. Two in particular caused an uproar: "Barely Legal," a dusty rose, and "Virginity," a deep fuchsia.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
can kylie jenner not sexualize young women w her blush names like "virginity" and "barely legal" like ........
— edamami (@purgatories) March 21, 2017
Now I do love @KylieJenner but I do find labeling something"Barely Legal" inappropriate especially when the theme is so sexual. pic.twitter.com/vkVQ3Cfue5
— Farah ☥ (@farahorsomethin) March 21, 2017
how could you call a makeup product 'barely legal' ? kylie jenner should be fucking ashamed of herself
— Liz Buckley (@MissLizBuckley) March 21, 2017
Seriously @KylieJenner, choose better names for your products. You have 12+ year old fans! "Barely Legal" "Virginity" ?
— Girl About Toon (@GirlAboutToon_) March 21, 2017
People called them out for crossing the line from sexy to inappropriate, and blamed Jenner for trying to normalise her relationship with Tyga (the two are eight years apart). One Twitter user even went so far as to say, "Kylie Jenner named one of her blushes "barely legal" maybe just to remind everyone?"
There's no word yet from Jenner or her brand regarding whether or not there will be an update to the products launching this Friday, but if we had to speculate, we imagine the savvy businesswoman knew exactly what she was doing this go-around. After all, no one (except the POTUS) knows better than the Kardashians that nothing sells quite like a nice mix of sex and controversy.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT