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Revisiting the controversy behind Valkyrae’s RFLCT skincare line, public backlash, and how the influencer addressed the fallout.
In October 2021, popular streamer and content creator, Rachel “Valkyrae” Hofstetter revealed her new venture called RFLCT. It was marketed as a line of skin-care products designed to protect against the effects of “blue light pollution” from screens.
The products targeted gamers and digital content creators who spend significant time in front of screens. However, the claims quickly drew backlash and criticism from experts and Valkyrae’s own fanbase as well. This backlash stemmed from the lack of scientific evidence provided by the company.
Valkyrae was at the forefront of the accusations and backlash as the co-founder of RFLCT. Dr.Dray a popular doctor on YouTube stated that blue light affects the eyes, which in turn affect the sleep-cycle of screen users. However, the effect to the skin is very minimal compared to the blue light emitted from the sun. Dray also commented on how the ingredients of the RFLCT products do not protect you from blue light.
Rachel mentioned that the company’s co-founders met her through her agent. Ideavation Labs, the researchers behind the products met with Valkyrae, where she suggested a product aimed at the blue light. The co-founders and Valkyrae worked on RFLCT for two years before release.
Valkyrae Responds to the Controversy
Rae decided to go live and explain her side of things to the community. In the livestream she stated that she had watched the research with her own eyes for six months. She was told that the studies and research would go live on the website with the launch. However, the website only referenced a single WebMD link. Rachel later asked the reason for this, to which the labs stated that the research would be stolen if it went public.
“When RFLCT dropped, it was critical and crucial for there to be information and there was nothing but a WebMD link. I was confused. Obviously. So, I had meetings with them after that, the past few days. I didn’t want to speak, or like, stream because, like, I needed to see how the website was going to be updated and that’s when I learned that their studies can’t be publicized.”
Users also commented on how the research takes a one-second Google search to find out about the claims. Valkyrae, responded to these comments by saying:
“I saw a lot of comments of people saying, ‘It only takes one second on Google to research this.’ We didn’t do one-second of researching. We ran our own studies. We did our own research. We did it. Not me, I didn’t do it. They did it. But I saw it.”
The streamer also stated how the comments and criticism have affected her mental health. Valkyrae mentioned that she got to know more about who her real friends are.
“I’ve been so mentally fried the past few days. It’s been an experience. I think the thing that gets to me the most is seeing like, who my real friends are. I think that was the thing that’s been startling the most, is like, the people that I play with all the time, the people that actually worried about my well-being.“
Valkyrae Steps Away From RFLCT
After receiving criticism, Valkyrae decided to step away from the brand and deleted all the posts endorsing RFLCT. The streamer mentioned in a stream in November 2021, that she had separated in a clean break from the company. She announced that over 400 stores are pulling RFLCT products.
RFLCT was officially shut down on October 30, 2021, with them announcing that they believe in the formulation but have taken time to reflect on the situation.
“While we believe in the formulations created, after further reflection, we have decided to move forward on new paths, effectively terminating the RFLCT band.”
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