Beauty Influencer Accused of Stealing After Using Hair Product Designed for Black Women

A TikTok beauty influencer was dragged online for allegedly stealing hair products from people of color because she used a hair product created by a Black-owned brand in one of her beauty tutorials.

TikTok beauty guru Danielle Athena recently enraged social media users for using “Mielle Rosemary Mint Scalp and Hair Strengthening Oil” in a viral TikTok video. Her critics claimed Athena, a White woman, had stolen the product, as it was intended for “people of color.”

Though the hair product had been advertised by its brand as a product for “all hair types,” social media critics echoed the criticism and prompted the beauty vlogger to delete the video.

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The video caught the negative attention of one Twitter user whose charge that Athena was stealing from Black women started the backlash.

“White women steal from black women and just be doing s—,” the user, @aprettyPR, tweeted.

In a lengthy Twitter thread on the subject, the user explained her frustration with Athena using the product, tweeting, “And it’s not simply about her oiling her hair. But we’ve seen it 2x where [White women] get a hold of a ‘black’ product and then the company changes the formula to better suit them. leaving black women in the dust. it’s ok to annoyed by it.”

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Still, users on Twitter argued that Athena’s video is preventing Black people from accessing the product as it was intended.