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A make-up technique isn’t just a technique when it comes from a community that has watched its creativity get copied, commercialised, and stripped of its origin story. I’m speaking on the Painted by Esther and Patrick Ta situation because the reaction online is not only about beauty products, it’s about power, credit, and what happens when money walks into the room and suddenly someone else gets to “own” what you built.

I break down the ethics behind “repackaging” a creator’s signature aesthetic, why people reach for words like extraction and modern-day colonisation, and the uncomfortable gap between what is legal and what is right. We talk about brand accountability in the beauty industry, why credit matters for Black creators, and why consistency is the only thing that makes backlash meaningful. If we really believe in consequences, we have to be honest about consumer boycott, spending power, and the ways communities can protest with their purses.

Then I move to Jackie Aina and the question of influence and legacy. Nobody is obligated to speak on every issue online, but when your platform is built on advocacy and holding brands to account, audiences notice misalignment fast. I connect this to workplace politics many of us know too well: established voices becoming territorial, mentorship turning into competition, and ego shaping decisions in public. If you’ve ever felt overlooked, unsupported, or treated like a threat, you’ll recognise the pattern.

Listen and tell me where you land, then subscribe, share, and leave a review so this conversation reaches the people who need it.

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Music (Intro and Outro) Written and created by Nomadic Star

Stationary Company: Sistah Scribble

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