Popular streamer and internet personality Valkyrae (Rae), announced the release of her new skincare band RFLCT on October 19th, 2021. The skincare claimed to protect users' skin from “blue light pollution” emitting from their device's screens. Backlash quickly ensued. Many of her supporters and commentary channels on YouTube began to question the necessity of blue light skincare and the lack of research about blue light on RFLCT’s website. The brand was deemed a scam by a majority of the internet while many of Rae's ‘stans’ waited for her to speak on the situation.
Rae issued an apology via a Twitch stream that was subpar at best and disingenuous at worst (please note that this paragraph and others from this point on are my opinion on the apology and facts given).
The first point of discussion I'd like to raise would be Rae’s first argument, of many, that lacked substance. In my opinion the argument of ‘I have so much money I could retire today, so why would I promote a scam to make more money?’ seems quite ignorant. Frankly, this comment was also arrogant and gave no sufficient evidence in Rae’s favour.
Another topic mentioned in the stream that caught my attention was the lack of research presented by RFLCT on their website. Rae stated that the company that worked to produce the skincare line (Ideavation Lab) had done their own research surrounding how blue light can affect your skin. The issue is that their studies haven’t been vetted or proven by any scientists outside of those working with Ideavation Lab and their studies can’t even be published! This was further worsened when RFLCT updated their website with a web.md link as ‘scientific research’.
Despite my critical tone throughout this, the only moment of the stream that genuinely frustrated me was when Rae began to ‘call out’ friends who she felt hadn’t blindly supported her through the controversy. This was utterly uncalled for and set a bad example towards her young audience!
On the other hand, having such a sudden backlash would be hard for anyone to handle! I would strongly consider watching the apology and forming your own opinions.
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By Daisy Brown (any pronouns)
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