‘What’s up everybody, welcome back to my channel. Hi, how are ya?’ *waves star-shaped mirror*

If you’re a fan of Jeffree Star, you’ll undoubtedly recognise that signature opening sentence that he uses at the beginning of all of his YouTube videos. But the ‘what’s up’ and ‘how are ya’ might have had a deeper effect on you in his latest few uploads, regarding his recent product launch.

On May 16th, beauty guru, successful business-owner and YouTube sensation, Jeffree Star, revealed his brand new collection ‘Cremated’ to his millions of followers and subscribers across Instagram and YouTube. Let’s just say that the name of the grey-scale eyeshadow palette has caused quite an uproar, and many divided opinions.

While the world is in the midst of a global pandemic that is killing thousands of people, many think that the timing of this release couldn’t be any worse. It’s not just the brand of the collection that is causing an issue, though. The Gothic palette is home to 24 eyeshadows, which each have names associated with death, including ‘Grave Digger’, ‘R.I.P’ and ‘Death Certificate’.

The world of Twitter sure have a lot to say about the reveal, with mixed opinions on whether or not Star should have delayed the collection further, considering the high number of people who have died due to the Coronavirus. He has been labelled ‘insensitive’ and ‘disrespectful’ by lots of people, but long-time supporter and makeup lover, Becky Howes, is particularly disappointed by his executive decision to launch the palette now.

“I originally saw rumours of a new release on Jeffree’s Instagram, and I was very excited because I have always been a huge fan of his.

“I then learned that the name of it would be the ‘Cremated’ palette, and I was instantly horrified. Jeffree has spoken about how aware he is of the current situation, so I’m a little confused as to why he has chosen now to release a palette named ‘Cremated’, in a time when thousands of people are dying every day.

“I just think he could have been a little more sensitive to the timing”.

Numerous people have taken to Twitter to voice their disbelief on this topic, calling Star out on the bad timing of the release.

Others, including 21-year-old makeup enthusiast, Brooke Walklin, are sticking up for the makeup artist, arguing that ‘Jeffree Star Cosmetics’ had planned for this to be released months ago, and it’s just a very unfortunate coincidence.

“I do believe it’s very bad timing, but companies plan for these releases months and months in advance. I don’t believe they should have just stopped production, or pushed back the release date even further because of the pandemic.

“The palettes [that are] already made would have become out of date, [therefore] losing so much money for the company”.

Jeffree posted a video to his YouTube channel last Wednesday, titled ‘Responding to the backlash over my Cremated palette’, and defended himself and his company over the decision that they made to release the collection during the pandemic.
In the video, he explained that ‘it takes sometimes a year plus to actually make a product’ and that he didn’t create this palette to be offensive.

“For me this is art, and I never come from a negative place”

Jeffree Star – ‘Responding to the backlash over my cremated palette’ YouTube video

He says that he had already planned far in advance that the palette would be available to buy in April 2020, but because of the current circumstances it had to be delayed. However, if the launch was postponed any further than now, it would not have been possible to release until Autumn next year.

Star justified his decision by saying “I never want to give my customers a bad experience. I never want to sell expired makeup”.

Brooke continues with her thoughts on the release of the collection, saying “The ‘cremated’ theme fits with Jeffree’s personality and aesthetic of the brand, so it’s understandable that they would release this palette anyway.

“Unfortunately the pandemic has already cost them and the rest of the world lots of money so why lose even more? I can 100% sympathise with those people who the pandemic has affected, but I don’t believe this palette was made to upset those people.”

Despite the backlash that ‘Cremated’ received, it sold out in under 20-minutes and will be restocked by popular demand next month.