MAC Cosmetics posted a photo on their Instagram page of a woman wearing their “Royal romance” lipstick. However, the brown-skinned model’s full lips sporting the dark blue shade of the company’s lipstick prompted a storm of racist comments, which have now gone viral thanks to screenshots from Mic deputy news editor Ashley Alese Edwards, which were posted to Twitter on Wednesday.

And unfortunately racism speaks many languages

 

Soon, others chimed in with responses to the racist trolling, and the backlash also sparked a larger conversation on the cultural double-standards when it comes to beauty — where black women have been ridiculed for many of the features that are natural to us while women of other ethnicities are applauded for the same looks. From the media’s obsession with Kim Kardashian’s butt implants to her little sister Kylie’s dramatic lip injections, folks came through and called out the madness and the irony of it all.

To date, MAC has yet to release a statement on the controversy. The photo remains on their page, but many of the racist and offensive remarks have been deleted. A similar situation took place on Adidas’ Instagram recently, where a Valentine’s Day themed post showing two women in matching sneakers embracing sparked many offensive comments. Adidas has been celebrated for keeping the post up and deleting many of the hateful comments.

What do you think MAC’s response to the negativity should be? Should the brand release a statement? Comment below with your thoughts.