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Addison Rae accused of SCAMMING her followers after 'blue light’ protection spray promo

Screen Break Blue Light + Anti-Pollution Protection Mist claims to guard skin from the blue light emissions from electronic devices

TikTok Star Addison Rae, 21, is feeling the heat on social media for releasing a facial mist that claims to guard the skin against the blue lights emitted by screens. The social media star's ITEM Beauty By Addison Rae claims its Screen Break Blue Light + Anti-Pollution Protection Mist was designed to guard and relieve the skin from the blue light that comes from electronic devices like cell phones, computers, and TVs.

The TikTok star has an incredible 86.6 million fan following and not everybody could see the usefulness of her product. Twitter users aren’t happy with the beauty product launch. Addison was compared with another influencer, streamer Valkyrae, who launched a similar face and skincare line last year and immediately had to pull it out after she received backlash and people called her debut a 'scam,' insisting that there is partial evidence that the blue light emissions by the electronic devices are even harmful to the skin in the first place. Trolls are calling Addison's product 'RFLCT 2.0' after Valkyrae's beauty line RFLCT.

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In October 2021, Valkyrae announced on her social media that she had started her own beauty line called RFLCT collaborating with Ideavation Labs. The beauty line announced several products with BLPR, a 'blue light protection factor.' It was branded like an SPF which protects one from UV rays, but instead of protecting against harmful sun rays, the brand claimed that the product 'protects against blue light pollution emitted from screens. 

Valkyrae's product received a lot of backlash from social media users, with some calling it a 'scam' since it has yet to be proven that the blue light that comes from screens is even harmful to the skin. Valkyrae's had to take down her product RFLCT altogether, with a note on its website reading, “While we believe in the formulations created, after further reflection, have decided to move forward on new paths, effectively terminating the RFLCT brand.”

Now social media users are blaming Addison for the same, accusing her of 'lying' to fans and mocking her saying she missed the memo from Valkyrae's scandal just a month ago. Addison released her own blue light protectant, which is a 'hydrating mist clinically shown to protect skin from artificial HEV blue light and daily pollution' reads Sephora's website. “This refreshing formula relieves screen-fatigued skin with a shielding boost of hydration,” the description reads further. It claims to have ingredients such as ashwagandha root, niacinamide, and dandelion extract and costs $20.

Here's how Twitter users reacted to Addison's new beauty product launch. A user criticized the TikTok star for her product launch and questioned the product's credibility. He tweeted, "There is currently no evidence that blue light is harmful for skin. Why is this product needed?" All the noise around this release also brought influencer Valkyrae to distance herself from this line, considering she had received backlash for a similar product. She even jokingly removed 'rae' from her name to prevent any kind of association, as she tweeted, "IM REBRANDING TO JUST VALKY LOL HOW IS THIS REAL?! I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s the same company"

While a user on her post commented, "Bruh, I swear to God if this product blows up the cause of last year's drama... How can TikTok influencers get away with everything? I hate this dystopian world..." Another user took Valkyrae's side and slammed Addison, he tweeted, "Valkyrae got scammed by the company Addison is scamming us, she probably just took the money to do the ad doesn’t really know anything about the product."

According to a report in eSports, all the noise on social media may have caused the French beauty products retailer Sephora to remove a recent listing for Screen Break ‘blue light’ protection spray after criticism from the gaming community. They report that the listing for the Screen Break product now goes through to the Sephora homepage instead, and no Item products can be found on the retailer’s website. Screen Break is still up on the Item website, however.