I’m sure you’ve seen in the news, on social media, on the radio about the racial injustice going on in the world right now. That this is not just a moment in time but a movement supporting our friends of color in equality. That they have encountered systematic racism and injustice for too long. So how is the beauty community responding to this?
For many years I would say the beauty community and cosmetic companies helped aid systematic racism, whether they did they intentionally or not. Up until at least two to three years ago many cosmetic lines didn’t offer a variety of shades for people of color. Where the rest of the cosmetic line was about 10-20 differing shades for more fair skin. They had the same three shades with three varying under tones for our friends of color or no shades at all like the image above.
Fenty Beauty by Rihanna was one of the first beauty lines that offered a variety of 40+ shades to accommodate every person of every color and that wasn’t until 2017. Three years ago, we just started creating more shades.
It honestly wasn’t until beauty influencers on YouTube were pointing it out that companies to expand their shade range. One of the leading members was Nikki Tutorials, who has a following of 2.1 million followers on twitter, speaking out about her lack of support for the brand Tarte after they released only 15 shades of foundation. Only 3 of them being for people of color.
I think we’ve seen a lot of growth in this area though especially through the Black Live's Matter movement. More company’s eyes are being open to the injustice happening in America so hopefully this will change the trajectory of the beauty industry to be more inclusive.
Brand like Glossier, e.l.f, Ulta, Anastasia Beverly Hills are donating to foundations like The NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, Black Lives Matter, Equal Justice Initiative ranging from $10,000 to $500,000. Maybelline also donated and is with the movement despite their lack of shades in the past. Hopefully the movement will permanently change the beauty world and not just be something that they are doing to make it look good to the public eye.
We have to remember to help keep companies accountable to their actions and what they say if we want a change to occur in the beauty realm. I want equality in our beauty company and for women to feel empower of all different shades.
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