What Happened At The Boston Sephora? The 'Sephora Blackface Incident' Explained

Earlier this week, a video surfaced online that showed a group of teen girls allegedly doing blackface with the tester cosmetics in Sephora as an adult chaperone watched and took pictures of the controversial incident. Needless to say, the video has quickly gone viral and sparked controversy on social media platforms like TikTok.

From there, the story gets even more contentious. Here’s everything you need to know about the Boston Sephora Blackface Incident and why it's sparking backlash against the well-known cosmetics corporation.

What Happened In The Boston Sephora?

On February 8th, 2024, a TikToker caught an incident on video in a Boston area Sephora. The video shows a woman, who was believed to be a Sephora employee, telling off an adult woman who had accompanied a group of teen girls into the store.

As for why, here's where it gets controversial. The woman (or even multiple adults, by some reports) was taking a picture of one of the white teen girls who had covered her face in foundation and concealer samples meant for dark skin.

According to witnesses, the teen girls seemed very aware that what they were doing was blackface. At least three of them are seen on video with their faces covered in dark makeup, and they were even making animal noises.

How Did Sephora Respond To The Blackface Incident?

Four days after the incident, Sephora corporate employees first reached out to the Atlanta Black Sun. They gave the following statement:

“Sephora’s top priority is to create a welcoming and inclusive shopping experience for all. We are extremely disappointed by the behavior of these shoppers at our Prudential Center location, and as such, they were asked to leave our premises. Under no circumstance is this type of behavior tolerated at Sephora.”

However, the woman in the original video who confronts the group (who also turned out to be a traveling vendor, not a Sephora employee) spoke out and said the Sephora employees actually allowed the group to check out and leave voluntarily. This was confirmed by the original poster of the Sephora TikTok, who posted a follow-up video after the original was repeatedly taken down.

What Are People Saying About The Sephora Blackface Incident Online?

Naturally, people were pretty unhappy with Sephora after hearing about this part of the story and reading the statement. They believe that Sephora made up a statement to make their company look better, ignoring the reports that the teens and mother were allowed to remain in the store while wearing blackface with Sephora's own cosmetics.

For a while now, some Sephora shoppers have been arguing that the chain should "ban children" by instituting an age restriction in its stores. They've jumped onto this incident as an example of why they believe the ban should be enacted. This has become a subject of debate online.

Obviously, making a store adults-only is easier said than done, since much of Sephora's customers are teens. At the same time, it seems to many that it's reasonable to expect employees to prevent scenarios like what happened in Boston.

Either way, people seem to argue that something needs to be done, based on this ridiculous situation that millions have now witnessed through TikTok.

For the full history of the Boston Sephora Blackface Incident, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.