A model is calling out makeup artists’ lack of knowledge about Black skin after a mishap left her “looking like a ghost.”
The model, Megan Milan, shared a clip of herself on Saturday with her 717,000 followers. In the video, a makeup artist for a New York Fashion Week photo shoot applies a cream-colored foundation to Milan’s face.
“POV: You’re a Black model,” Milan wrote.
The end result left her face with a white cast that washed out her natural skin tone.
@megan.milan I normally bring my own foundation just incase but i let my guard down. Plus i didnt want to carry a makeup bag all day, this was my first job of the day 😭. I had to go ti Sephora, do my own makeup then come back 😀. #nyfw #modelproblems #blackmodels #blackmodelsmatter ♬ original sound – megan.milan
“I normally bring my own foundation just in case but I let my guard down,” Milan explained in the caption. “Plus I didn’t want to carry a makeup bag all day.”
In the clip, the makeup artist says her work “looks good.” Milan responds that she “looks like a ghost.” She then shows herself tearing up on a FaceTime call. By Monday, the post had over 5.2 million views.
“I’m so irritated. I’m so tired,” she says in another video that shows her wiping off the white makeup. “It’s just frustrating that we have to deal with this all the f*cking time.”
Milan says because the color was so poorly executed, she left the photo shoot and went to Sephora to apply her makeup herself. Another clip shows her wearing a new foundation that matches her skin tone.
“You can’t even tell I just had an entire breakdown,” she wrote.
@megan.milan Replying to @Stace Funny how life works 💗 #nyfw #blackmodel #donnidavy #euphoria ♬ You – Vietra
The incident came during New York Fashion Week, a peak time for models and other fashion industry professionals who work back-to-back shows and events.
“It’s totally unacceptable that Fashion Week can’t hire makeup artists who know all skin tones,” one commenter wrote in response to Milan’s video.
Milan thanked Donni Davy, a white artist who won an Emmy for her work on HBO’s Euphoria, for doing her makeup later in the day.
After Milan applied her own foundation, Davy enhanced her look with “a magical eye and cheeks and a little lip too,” the artist said in her own video.
Davy also gave recommendations for products to help young artists apply makeup to any color of skin.
“Part of being a good makeup artist,” Davy said, “is being able to be discerning and using a critical eye and admit when you’ve made a mistake.”
