How a Little Beauty Blog Made a Difference in the World

Photo: The Mulleavy sisters of Rodarte

"This is about as sensitive as Toys "R" Us releasing a line of toy guns and calling them Columbine and Dunblane.” - Beauty Mouth Blog

The background info:
This summer, mobs of beauty bloggers took a situation into their own polished and manicured hands. What situation, you’re wondering? The September 2010 collaboration of Rodarte and makeup giant MAC. The Mulleavy sisters of Rodarte say they drew inspiration for this collection from the culture of Mexico, and so they gave powder blushes names like Quinceanera and frosty coloured nail polishes names like Juarez and Factory. And that’s when it all started.

The Nail Biter:
Critics and bloggers such as Jessica Wakeman of the blog, The Frisky, began calling MAC/Rodarte “tasteless” upon the launch of the nail polishes Juarez and Factory. Why? Juarez is an impoverished Mexican factory city located across the border from El Paso, Texas, not only famous for its bloody Mexican drug wars, but also for the number of young women who have been murdered, gone missing, or been raped over the years. Most of them are employees at the town’s factories and go missing on the way to or from work. Activists have been trying to pressure the Mexican police, but they allegedly show no response because the victims are poor women. With Amnesty International doing its best to gain justice for the female victims and even Jennifer Lopez, who starred in the film Bordertown, playing a reporter who writes about the murders, the Juarez murders are actually no big secret.

What Now?
MAC/Rodarte issued apologies and said they would change the offensive names of the products, and even promised to donate $100,000 to a non-profit organization helping the women in need in Juarez. However, MAC went even further to later announce that it had decided to cancel its collaboration with Rodarte entirely.

The Eye-Opener?
Many of the writers who initially raised awareness about the issue were not paid by big fashion publications. They were everyday people who cared enough and decided to do something. Just Google this fashion misstep, and you will find numerous blogs lashing out at the insensitivity of Rodarte/MAC. And after the intense public pressure, MAC’s cancellation of the collaboration proves that something as small as a beauty blog can make a big difference in the world today.