Black woman slams Ulta Beauty after being told she’s ‘too dark’ for makeup in store

At a store in New Jersey, a woman says the cosmetics retailer mistreated her and made her feel unwelcome because of the color of her skin

Ny Magee

Jan 2, 2020

An Ulta Beauty Store in New Jersey has been called out by a Black woman who claims an employee said her “skin was too dark for most colors in the store.”

In Instagram and Facebook posts, Ebony Kankam London detailed her Dec. 28 experience at an Ulta store in Holmdel, near the Jersey Shore.

The Houston native had traveled to attend her baby shower and hit up Ulta to get her makeup done for the occasion, NBC News reports.

“I brought in a picture for reference and was told that my skin tone was too dark for most colors in the store,” she said in the posts that featured side-by-side images of what she wanted and the look she ended up with.

“So this was the best she could do,” London wrote.

“In a store full of people who didn’t look like me I felt sad and upset,” she said. “Like my skin tone was a problem.”

When London noted her displeasure with the makeup artist’s work, the female staffer “got really upset and said she had done makeup for 20 years and never had anyone be unhappy.”

In a separate update on Facebook on Monday, 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.

An Ulta spokeswoman noted in a statement that the company has been in contact with London regarding her unfortunate experience.

“Guest satisfaction with our services is a top priority,” the 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.”

The statement noted that Ultra 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.

London doesn’t believe Ulta is doing enough when it comes to diversity training, and wants to company to educate its staff on the various skin tones and textures.

“What I would like to see happen is for there to be more training on working with women of color so that we don’t feel like we don’t belong,” she said. “Especially when we spend so much money in those stores.”