A Stockholm-based beauty company is embroiled in controversy following the release of its newest spray tan product. The skin coloring solution developed by Emmaatan, which is managed by Emma Patissier Alm, features colors like bronze and caramel. However, some have noted the colors also include dark chocolate and dark ash onyx that turn pale skin much darker than expected. Some say, it's almost as if the spray tan is encouraging blackface.
Spray tanning solutions like the ones developed by Emmaatan are supposed to be the safer alternative to getting bronzed without the repercussions of soaking in the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays. However, netizens are criticizing Emmaatan's spray tans due to the color choices, especially after seeing the results shared by the company on the internet.
"That's my skin color in a bottle. Wh-why...I don't know whether to cry or rage," one Tumblr user wrote. "I thought it was like a beauty product being shown on different skin tones BOY WAS I WRONG," another comment said. "It's funny that they think it's ok for them to be black but not for black people to be black?"
Here's a sample of Emmaatan's spray tan:
Doing some tanlines for a living
A photo posted by •Spraytan Specialist• (@emmaatan_) on Feb 11, 2016 at 8:06am PST
However, one Swede explained that the choice of skin shades isn't about being black. "There's not so much sun here in Sweden, so Swedes consider the sun rays as gold," a netizen who goes by B shared. "Having a tan or a tanned body instead of a pale one, which is common in this dark nation, means that you've been able to pay for a vacation to a sun soaked place and that is associated with the 'good life,'" the commenter added. "This tan spray is one of the many cost effective solutions Swedes are taking up."
The beauty product's owner learned of the comments on the internet and addressed the controversy on Instagram. "I'm in chock [sic] for the response I've gotten and may have responded and commented the wrong way because I expect Ppl to know u dont get black from tanning products," Alm's statement partly said. "I've got a lot of feedback and mostly been called 'black face' and 'racist.' Ppl looks at my pic I've posted and without a blink assuming we desire to look black, I understand why it might seem that way and I apologise for the miss understanding my pic may have approached."
Alm also explained the way her spray tan solution works stating that at least 20 to 30 percent of the dark shade turns lighter soon enough. "My color isn't going for black it's going for a natural golden tan when you wash it off," she added.
