Woman: Holmdel Ulta Told Me I Was 'Too Dark' For Their Makeup

HOLMDEL, NJ — A young woman from Texas had a negative experience at the Ulta beauty store in Holmdel last Saturday, after she went there to have her make-up professionally done and was instead told by a store make-up artist that her skin was "too dark" for most Ulta beauty products.

When Patch called, employees at the Holmdel Ulta directed us to Ulta corporate, who said in a statement they will be "retraining" their make-up artists.

The woman is Ebony London, 31, who lives in Houston. However, her husband's family lives in Holmdel and London said she returns often to visit them. They were in town most recently over the holidays, which happily coincided with her baby shower. London is eight months pregnant and her mother-in-law threw her a baby shower last Saturday, Dec. 28.

Before the shower, London decided to "treat myself and have my make-up professionally done at Ulta," she said. The Ulta Beauty is located at Holmdel Commons on Hwy. 35

"I went in Friday and brought in some photos of what I wanted. I talked to the manager and said, 'Hey, is this something you guys can do?' They said yes. So they booked me for an appointment on Saturday."

At that appointment, things did not go well from the very start, said London.

"I have very dark skin and I always bring my own foundation with me just in case. The makeup artist immediately said it was the wrong foundation for me. She said it was too light. I told her I use it all the time, and she insisted it was too light."

Then, after 45 minutes in the chair, the woman asked her how she liked it.

"I told her it was not at all what I expected, and that it did not look professionally done," said London. "She said it was the best she could do because 'I was too dark and none of the make-up in the store would show up on me.' She also asked if I had ever had my make-up professionally done before and I told I had; I showed her photos from my wedding where my make-up looked gorgeous."

"She didn't say anything and instead asked if I had ever bought anything from Ulta before. I got out of the chair and showed her the different products I've used. She insisted that all those products were too dark for my skin," said London. "I even did skin tests where I showed her they were not. At that point she got upset and said she had been doing make-up for 25 years and never had anyone unsatisfied. Another artist then came over and fixed it."

London said she paid the $60 for the service and left. Her father-in-law was waiting outside and she was now late for her baby shower.

Here is what London requested, and here is how she looked last Saturday:

She said when she Facetimed her mother afterwards her voice was cracking.

"I felt really embarrassed. I hadn't felt that way in a long time," she told Patch. "We've progressed in society. So many brands have make-up that fits my skin tone. I was shocked to be back in that space. No one in the store really looked like me, so I already felt uncomfortable. It was like my skin was the problem. It made me feel terrible."

"I know how it is when I go to Holmdel," she continued. "Not many people there look like me. But I feel like if the woman didn't know how to put make-up on someone who looked like me, she should have just said I don't have the skills or the training to do this."

London posted about the incident on Instagram and Facebook and her posts were shared 2,500 times. She said she's also received many comments, emails and messages from women of color who said they had had similar experiences at Ulta. She said when she tweeted to the company about the incident, they apologized and gave her a full refund. The store manager at the Holmdel Ulta also called her the next day, on Sunday, London said, and said she was biracial and that she witnessed the entire thing that day.

"She apologized and said she knows how to do black makeup and said she didn't want to intervene because she didn't want to make a scene," she said. "That part bothered me. If she saw this whole thing happen, why not say something? I felt they dropped the ball."

Here is Ulta's entire statement on the Holmdel incident:

“We are in contact with Ms. London regarding a disappointing experience she had in one of our stores. Guest satisfaction with our services is a top priority, and we never want to hear that a guest has had anything less than a great in-store experience," said Ulta in a statement. "We recognize that there have been times when individuals have not experienced the inclusive environment we strive for in every Ulta Beauty location, and we take that very seriously. We stand for equality, inclusivity and diversity and when we hear that we are not meeting that expectation, we want to understand what our guest is feeling, and hold ourselves accountable to do better. We will be taking additional steps towards continuing our depth of training and education of our stylists and make-up artists in our stores to meet all of our guests’ needs and create an inclusive experience for everyone. It is our responsibility to listen, learn from our guests and improve always. We want every individual to see themselves and feel welcome in Ulta Beauty.”

London said she put the issue out of her head and "had a great baby shower."

"I just felt like it was back when my mom, who's 60, was buying make-up and all the make-up had a grey tint or a red tint," she said."It felt like this was a step back in time."