Makeup brand ‘extremely sorry’ for liquid blush name

If you ever experience imposter syndrome and worry you’re the worst person for a job, never fear — the list of people who approved the name for this liquid blush puts any minor mistake you’ve ever made to shame.

Hong Kong-based company Woke Up Like This (WULT) is in hot water after releasing its “Face Dab” collection of liquid blushes, all named after “inspiring, famous women in hopes to inspire WULT customers to live their dreams and break through gender barriers.”

The different blush names included Virginia Woolf (“In Woolf’s Words”), Melinda Gates (“Lift Like Melinda”) and Frida Kahlo (“Viva La Frida”). But it was the decision to release a “Dream Like Anne” color in honor of Anne Frank that’s stirring up controversy from around the world.

“WTAF!?” journalist Claire Coleman tweeted in response to Ben Freeman. “I am just STAGGERED that at no point in the creative process did anyone on the Woke Up Like This team, or ANY of the other hundreds of people involved say ‘ummm guys, this might not be appropriate.'”

WULT released an apology and removed the “Dream Like Anne” blush from its website.

“The miracle of her legacy, ‘The Diary of a Young Girl,’ is that even in the face of extreme hardship, isolation, and ultimate tragedy, her seminal expression of hope for the future continues to inspire generations,” WULP told Insider in a statement.

“We are extremely sorry that paying tribute to her in this way appears to have caused offense and is considered disrespectful. Our intention was quite the reverse, to bring positive energy and shine a little light through unprecedented testing times during the global pandemic.”

Anne Frank is one of the most well-known victims of the Jewish Holocaust after the posthumous publication of her diary in 1947. “The Diary of Anne Frank” gives vivid descriptions of what Frank and her family endured while hiding from Nazis in Amsterdam.

The release of the poorly named WULP blush, unfortunately, coincides with a recent report that Gen Z and millennials don’t know much about the Holocaust.

According to a survey conducted by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany, there is a “shocking” lack of knowledge about the Holocaust among Americans between the ages of 18 and 40. The survey concluded that 11 percent of the 200 interviewees in that age group though Jewish people were responsible for the Holocaust. In reality, 11 million people died at the hands of Nazi soldiers.

In positive beauty news, In The Know profiled the founders of the Mirror Beauty Cooperative, a safe space for Latinx and LGBTQIA+ workers — read about it here.

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