Aisha Nozari
People aren’t happy with Hailey Bieber’s recent TikTok video.
The star shared a clip of the ‘lip combo vibe she’s feeling for fall’, and could be seen painting her pout with a clear gloss before outlining her lips with dark liner.
Her followers were quick to call cultural appropriation and even experts have weighed in, noting that the trend originated in the 1990s among women of colour. Watch Bieber's video below:
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Beneath Bieber’s video, which has so far racked up more than 15 million views, one person wrote: “Give credit where credit is due.”
“Every Latina did this at some point in their life!” echoed a second social media user.
Another added: “Laughs in Hispanic,” and a fourth penned: “Okay what's the name of the Latina you saw with this lip combo? cause this has been a thing since the 90s lol.”
Other comments included: “Old School POC lip combo. Been doing it since 90's,” “It’s giving inspo from every Latina in the 90s vibe lol,” “Every Hispanic/Latina did this” and “Every latina mom has been doing this since the 90s”.
Some TikTokers pointed out that Bieber hadn’t actually claimed to have created the look, with one saying: “I really don’t know why you’re coming at her. She said what she’s vibing with for fall. She didn’t claim to start the trend.”
Someone else noted: “All of y’all saying that she didn’t start this trend but when did she say she started it tho?? She just said she likes this lip combo lmfao.”
“She never said she invented this, she’s just sharing her fall lip vibes,” commented someone else.
Bieber’s video has been a hot topic in the media, with commentators popping up on news channels to better explain why people might have taken issue with the model’s post.
Sandra E. Garcia, a New York Times style reporter, told Good Morning America: "[Black women and Latinas] are being looked at as lesser than any other woman just because of the way they decide to do their own makeup.
“But then another woman, a white woman, does the same thing, and her lip gloss is sold out and she's now the face of the trend."
Jillian Hernandez, a professor at University of Florida's Centre for Gender, Sexualities, and Women's Studies Research, added: “So much Western innovation stems from colonialism. And that's where we get this kind of cultural appropriation."
UNILAD has approached Bieber for comment.
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