2018 was known as the year of makeup expansion, especially in terms of foundation shade ranges. Brianna Moné – a contributing black writer for INSIDER – claimed that it “has been quite difficult for darker-skinned women to find a foundation that matches their skin because often they had to fight for a shade that even comes close”. It was only in 2017 when the makeup brands: Fenty Beauty and Huda Beauty came out with 30-40 foundation shades. The diverse and wide foundation shade ranges made it easier for darker-skinned individuals to finally achieve a perfect match. What does this say about the Makeup Industry?
Brianna’s quote is just one example of evidence of how the makeup industry has disregarded black people as they have struggled to find a suitable foundation shade for themselves until late 2017. Paul Gilroy claimed that blackness is seen as “other” and the Makeup Industry proves his theory as dark foundation shades were very limited and there was only a huge variety of shades for white individuals.
Fenty Beauty was launched on September 8, 2017, by Rhianna: a well-known Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Her intention behind having so many shades to offer was to differentiate from other makeup brands that did or do not provide a wide-ranging market and "so that women everywhere would be included". Fenty Beauty was named one of Time magazine's best inventions of 2017. For Rhianna to be the first and only dark-skinned woman to have launched a successful cosmetic brand with the most amount of foundation shades could suggest how unconsciously ignorant white people can be as most brands that received backlash for their lack of darker shades are owned by white people.
In early 2018, the makeup brand Tarte Shape Tape released a maximum of 15 shades of foundation and only 3 shades for dark-skinned individuals. Although instantly criticized, Tarte is one of many makeup brands that were unconsciously ignorant towards the darker-skinned community. The brand received backlash not only by social media users but also by Youtubers and influencers who made videos expressing their lack of enthusiasm and lack of support. One user tweeted: "The tarte shape tape foundation rage is LAUGHABLE" - in other words, they found the foundation range an embarrassment. After apologizing, Tarte later released an additional 10 shades. Tarte having released only 3 shades for dark-skinned proves Gilroy's theory that black is seen as "other".
The cosmetics & beauty industries alongside the fashion industry are often called out for not really knowing how to deal with people of colour - often leaving it to 'specialist' companies. From a media perspective it's interesting to look at how fashion magazines and advertising deals with this (often embarrassingly badly - remember the cringeworthy Dove advert from a few years ago?)
I had no idea that Rihanna had her own range of cosmetics - and again, I'd be particularly interested in how she approaches advertising products & whether she tackles it from a political perspective?
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/08/dove-apologises-for-ad-showing-black-woman-turning-into-white-one