Chloe Gerhard | Writer
February 3, 2023
In the past week the Internet has been taken by storm in an unlikely series of events involving a recent beauty guru advertising scandal. January 24th, beauty Influencer Mikayla Nogueira posted a TikTok review of the new L’Oréal telescopic lift mascara. This seemingly unremarkable video has now 52 million views and has brought many out of the woodwork to discuss. Why has this three-minute video caught so much attention? Viewers noticed the length and volume of her lashes were mysteriously enhanced further than that of what a mascara can do, and many have heavily theorized that the undisclosed addition of false eyelashes could be the explanation.
The Internet and its brutality was not timid to pounce at this creator. Junior Bella Dahlquist gave her take on this heated situation, “I mean I think if we’re going to start criticizing Mikayla then we should start criticizing all influencers because without a doubt nearly all of them have done something similar to her situation to some degree.”
Many were confused as to why she could not just review the product and not add enhancements to make it look better. Some even theorized this was all pre-planned by L’Oréal and Mikayla Nogueira. The people of the internet speculate this because the L’Oréal telescopic lift mascara is sold out in most stores and has become a household name thanks to this controversy.
Junior Jordyn Banks states “I don’t care that Mikayla put on fake eyelashes because I wasn’t going to buy the mascara anyway, but I think that it’s becoming less reliable to trust big influencers like Mikayla”
Obviously false advertising is not new so why has this L’Oréal telescopic lift mascara ad become such a prominent topic on social media? With the new age of advertising through creators many have noticed viewers trust influencers more than a direct advertisement from the brand itself. When a creator falsely advertises it feels more personal and harmful. Additionally consumers feel as though they have a connection with the creator because of the nature of their job that involves the sharing of their life.
Hopefully something good will come out of this situation and consumers will be more conscientious of what they are spending money on and if they were falsely influenced to make the purchase. It’s important to hold people accountable for their actions but where is the line drawn between accountability and bullying? This line gets especially blurry on the internet. Overall with the new found attention and flourishing telescope mascara sales one could wonder if this situation was positive or negative for Mikayla Nogueira, only time will tell.
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