Urban Decay's Tweet Accused of Being Insensitive

On Tuesday, cosmetics company Urban Decay posted an image on Twitter featuring the inside of a wrist with lines of color swatches from its eyeliners included in its All Nighter line with the question: “Ready for some Razor Sharp Swatches, UDers?” Since the post was shared, it’s been the subject of a backlash, with many on social media labeling the brand as insensitive.

Users immediately made the connection between the tweet and cutting, an act of self-injury that involves an individual deliberately harming one’s own body. According to a study conducted by the Center for Suicide Research at Oxford University, self-harm is a global health problem and is especially common among girls and women ages 15 to 24. Additionally, 1 in 12 young people, mostly girls, engages in self-harming behaviors, such as cutting, burning or taking life-threatening risks.

Many called the brand out for making an insensitive joke about a serious disorder.

Some of the outraged fans called for the makeup company to delete the offending tweet and others even asked that Urban Decay consider making a charitable donation to centers dealing with self-harm as a form of reparations for the offense. One user pointed out that the tweet could possibly have “triggered” past self-harmers, taking them back to a dark time in their lives.

But not all fans felt this way. Though they were in the minority, some of Urban Decay’s fans went to bat for the brand. After admitting to self-harm, MiniAmandaaa said she didn’t see the tweet as offending. “Coincidences happen,” she writes. Self-described beauty and style “guru” LittleMissStyleGuru tweeted directly to the brand. “Don’t delete the post, some people think bad of everyone.” She also says: “It’s a saying, please don’t listen. They are razor sharp swatches.”

As LittleMissStyleGuru implied, the eyeliners, Urban Decay Razor Sharp All Night Eyeliner, get their name from the precision of the tool. As swatches are typically put on the inside of the wrist prior to application, it isn’t out of place for the label to use this space.

In response, Urban Decay tweeted just that by way of explanation:

“We swatch on the inner arm to show texture & shades. We didn’t intend to reference self-harm as the product is named Razor Sharp Eyeliner,” Urban Decay wrote. Its full statement to Yahoo Beauty says, “Like many beauty brands, we swatch all of our products on the skin to show the texture, vibrancy of color, and range of shades — usually on the inside of the arm. We in no way intended to reference self-harm as the name of the product is Razor Sharp Liquid Eyeliner.”

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