Patrick Ta’s Transition Blush Controversy Shows How Black Women’s Beauty Work Gets Repackaged

Patrick Ta, the celebrity makeup artist behind a very successful brand, announced a new product called “Transition Blush.” His promotional videos described it as something he created. A three‑step technique for seamless, blurred blush. His words: “I created transition blush to give you that seamless blurred blush application every single time.“

And just like that, a whole corner of the beauty internet exploded, not because blush is controversial, but because Black women have been watching this exact movie for years.

The backlash came fast. Beauty fans, especially supporters of London‑based Nigerian makeup artist Ngozi Esther Edeme, known online as PaintedByEsther, pointed out that this “transition blush” technique looked awfully familiar. Esther has built her entire signature around a bold, gradient blush style that blends the under‑eye area into the cheekbone, using concealer, cream blush, powder blush and brightening powder. She has done it on deep and dark skin tones at a time when the beauty industry still struggles to formulate products for Black women.

And Patrick Ta was not just launching a product. He was reportedly trying to trademark “transition blush.” That is where this stopped feeling like inspiration and started looking like ownership.

Who Is PaintedByEsther?

If you are not deep into beauty TikTok or Instagram, let me introduce you. Ngozi Esther Edeme is a London‑based Nigerian celebrity makeup artist and phenomenal artist. Her clients include Naomi Campbell, Kelly Rowland, Tyla, Doechii, SZA, and Love Island breakout Olandria. Her signature is a soft but bold, highly pigmented, airbrushed blush look that works beautifully on deeper skin tones.

She did not invent blush and she will tell you that herself. In her own response to the backlash, she said: “I did not start anything. That would be ludicrous of me to claim ownership for anything.” But she also said this: “What I did do and what you will not belittle is my influence.”

@paintedbyesther

I’ll only speak about this once.

♬ original sound – Paintedbyesther

That is the key. Esther helped popularise a specific gradient blush technique for Black women and deeper skin tones in the current digital beauty era. She made people excited about blush on dark skin. She showed that Black women could wear bold, glowing, transformative blush, not just a timid wash of colour. Her work has inspired countless recreations, tutorials, and yes, other makeup artists. So when Patrick Ta launched “Transition Blush” and described it as his own creation, it felt to many like erasure.

Why Patrick Ta’s Launch Sparked Backlash

Let me be clear: Patrick Ta is a talented artist. His brand makes beautiful products. But his messaging on this launch was clumsy at best and opportunistic at worst.

“I created a three‑step blush technique to give you flawless blush every single time,” he said in promotional material. The word “created” did a lot of heavy lifting. He did not say “I was inspired by.” He did not say “This technique has been popularised by Black artists, and I am adding my version.” He centred himself as the originator.

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Then came the news that his team reportedly trademarked “transition blush.” That is where the outrage boiled over. You cannot trademark a technique that has been demonstrated by Black women for years. You cannot claim legal ownership over a word that describes a style Esther helped make viral.

And then there is the strange booking story. Esther revealed that someone connected to Patrick Ta’s brand tried to book her for a makeup service. According to her, the representative later asked to record her doing the glam. Esther said, “I cancelled that booking because I found that very strange. Why would you want to record me doing my work?”

She did not accuse Patrick Ta of stealing. But the timing and the request left a bad taste. And in an industry where Black women’s ideas are constantly taken without credit, it is not hard to see why fans saw red.

To his credit, Patrick Ta did later post a comment acknowledging Esther. He said, “I do not own this look. PaintedByEsther is amazing and so talented. She popularised this look.“ That is nice, but it came after the backlash, after the trademark reports, after the marketing had already done its damage.

This Is About Credit, Not Just Blush

Honestly, this situation is infuriating because it feels painfully familiar. Beauty trends rarely have one single inventor. Kevyn Aucoin did bold blush placement decades ago. Asian beauty trends have used gradient blush. Drag artists have played with colour and structure. But Esther’s contribution is specific: she helped popularise this look for Black women and deeper skin tones at a time when mainstream brands still failed dark skin. That deserves credit.

And this isn’t the first time Patrick Ta has been accused of problematic behaviour, including not paying Black and brown creators for their work, as Avana Sunshine and Jools LeBron have publicly detailed. The pattern is unmistakable. Black women create or popularise an aesthetic. The aesthetic goes viral. A bigger brand or more protected figure repackages it. The original creator is told she is being dramatic. The industry moves on once the look becomes profitable.

This has happened with hairstyles (box braids, fulani braids, edges), nail trends (coffin nails, jelly nails), makeup techniques (baking, highlighting), fashion language, slang, and social media aesthetics. The PaintedByEsther dispute is just another chapter in a very long book.

Final Thoughts

The most telling part of Esther’s response was not anger. It was exhaustion. She spoke about being scared to defend herself because Black women are so quickly labelled angry or bitter. She works hard, spends her own money testing products, and has fought to create space for herself in an industry that does not always make room for Black women.

That is why the backlash is bigger than Patrick Ta. It is about the beauty industry that loves Black women’s creativity once it can be sold, but becomes uncomfortable when Black women ask to be credited.

So what can you do? Talk is cheap. The most direct way to support Esther is to put your money where her influence is. She has a current collaboration with MAC Cosmetics, the same brand that gave us the Olandria x MACzine cover and the gradient blush looks she is famous for. These are products she has genuinely worked with, promoted, and helped shape.

If you want to vote with your wallet, here is where to start:

• MAC Cosmetics – Skinfinish Colourstruck Blush – the exact product used to create her signature gradient look.
• MAC Cosmetics – Lip Pencil – for that polished, defined finish.
• MAC Cosmetics – Studio Fix Powder Plus Foundation – oil control, blur matte, camera‑ready.
• MAC Cosmetics – SPF 15 Studio Fix 24hr Matte Foundation – full coverage, all‑day wear.

Every purchase through these links tells the industry that you value Black artistry, not just when it trends, but when it needs defending.

Esther did not ask for a fight. She asked for credit. The least we can do is make sure her work and the products she stands behind, get the recognition they deserve.