I was thinking about this the other day after I saw a campaign that The Lip Bar did with Ashley Blaine of Netflix’s Dear White People. It’s basically throwing shade at the brands that were not trying to even pretend we existed like five years ago who all of a sudden now have extended shade ranges. It’s almost like our skin tones are treated as a trend. Um, this melanin doesn’t wash off at night.
I also want to point out the Fenty-effect here as well. It’s when brands who traditionally haven’t marketed to us are now all of a sudden seeing the success of Rihanna’s beauty brand who came out with 40 shades out the gate (and may even be producing more) who now want a piece of our chocolate pie.
That Rihanna reign just won’t let up…
But on the flip side, as someone who has been swatching makeup for women like me who have deeper skin tones for yeaaaars, I am happy to see more choices out there. Yes, I have a makeup match that I love at Cover FX and the new Dior Face and Body looks amazing, too, but as a makeup lover and as someone who writes about beauty, I like to show a range of options in varying price points, formulas, coverage amounts, etc. We all can’t be rolling up to MAC for our foundation shades—I mean, look where it got us all before—I’m sure at least 85% of the people reading this were at one time matched to NW45 or NC45…lol. Errbody can’t be NW45 or NC45.
So I’m mostly here for brands actually trying and coming out with what can be viable shade extensions for us. I will continue to throw shade at brands who gas us up with their new shade range and then we see they only added like one dark brown that ain’t really matching anybody (coughAlmaysneeze) or brands who carry deeper shades but RARELY post people with darker skin on their social media (coughUrbanDecaysneeze). Dag, I just looked through Urban Decay’s IG and went back to May 28th and counted THREE posts with women with deeper skin. I don’t follow them on IG so I just noticed. I’ve mentioned before here that I go back and forth with how I feel about Urban Decay. I was a HUGE fan of the brand when they first hit the scene when I was like 16 and their Perversion 24/7 Glide-On Liner is a major staple in my makeup stash (I have searched for ones that are JUST as BLACK black and waterproof like it to no avail). They also have me on some sort of auto send list for PR packages (meaning, I have no clue who the actual person is who sends it, I just know that I get most of their new launches in my mailbox), but going through that IG just now has me disappointed in them. I’ll have to contemplate my next steps with them. I’ll keep you posted.
OK so that went off on a bit of a tangent (haha), but I’d love to know your thoughts in the comments.
I was just thinking about this yesterday. Naah…my loyalty and coins are going to stay with the OG- Fenty! And the ones that made the effort before Fenty- Mac, mufe, coverfx. And the black-owned companies like beautybakerie and lipbar.
BTW…did u see that benefit also extended their shade range too- lol!! Yeah, they can keep that sh!t! Fenty forever!
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Benefit extended their shade range? Let me go look—I can use a laugh…lol
Iman powder foundation was the only one I could wear on my wedding day 13 years ago and they’ll always have a place in my heart and makeup bag (considering I probably wear makeup once a month, that’s a good thing)
Author
Hi Grace!
Yesss IMAN is an amazing brand!
In the UK, Bourjois have only just released darker shades after years of me seeing white women rave about them online and in magazines. Much as I’d like to see if it’s worth the hype, I doubt I’ll buy it because it really is too little too late from them. Are you conscious though that if we don’t give them a chance, it backs up the pejudiced views they had in the first place that the darker shades won’t sell? Im not sure, bit either way they’re not getting my hard earned money!
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Wow Bourjois just NOW came out with deeper shades? I haven’t seen or heard from the brand for a looonog time here in the U.S. so I don’t even remember them having foundations.
So people of darker skin have to accept being an afterthought in order to NOT be an afterthought? foh. It’s something they would have done anyway.
Exclusion of darker skin is something that these companies have been practicing for decades. They don’t need a reason, it’s only serves as justification for a practice that has been years in the making . Furthermore the logic that darker people have to accept being an afterthought in order to not be an afterthought is ridiculous
I was browsing Ulta and Sephora and noticed more shades for women of color. However,I will be staying with Fenty,some African American or drug store brands. I appreciate the try,but if I cannot wear most of your eyeshadows,or lipsticks that’s a wrap.
This is an interesting point. I have reached a point where I feel a certain way about Ulta, for sort of a similar reason. Even though certain brands manufacture foundation shades for darker skins, Ulta seems to make a strategic decision not to carry those shades in store. We know what a wide range CoverFX manufactures so why does Ulta’s in-store inventory stop at G60? They do this with mist brands anything that comes remotely close to matching me is an online purchase. Either that or they carry all the beige and the darkest, reddest shade which also does not work for me. I think if you aren’t trying to include me in people who can shop for their whole face in your store, maybe I shouldn’t be spending much money there.
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I agree about Ulta not having darker shades in store even from brands who sell darker shades, but I have found my Cover FX shade (N110) at my Ulta and then I also checked my sister’s zip code on the Ulta site as she lives in a city in GA that isn’t as diverse, and they have N110 in stock as well.
Though I wish I could say the same for most other brands at my Ulta despite my store being in a VERY Black area, I just wanted to point out that Cover FX is carried in Ulta stores in shades way deeper than G60.
I’m glad you mentioned the Mac shades, for years I was matched to the darkest shades if a brand had my color. Now all of a sudden I’m catogorized as medium dark. Also brands need to do a better job of actually having 40 testers available I’m not ordering foundation online unless I’ve tried it in person.
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Yes and yes!
I think brands all of a sudden putting out darker shades are doing so with their foot in their mouths. All of the BS excuses like darker shades are harder to formulate, black women don’t wear their makeup so they don’t make dark shades (can’t and what’s not offered), dark shades don’t sell as well as others (whe you only offer one or two, duh),blah blah blah. Darker formulations can and have been done. Though it’s obvious when brands want a piece of the pie because they will have 50 shades of beige and 2 darkER shades. Before a line even comes into fruition, a target audience is thought about. Just admit you weren’t making your products for us and stop trying to play us for fools.
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Yup, Joslyn! They were coming up with all sorts of excuses. SMH
BlackUp has been around for a while. You can purchase tester packets online to determine your shade. It’s enough for two days of use and they give you three shades to test. It’s a French line. It’s now sold at Sephora but you can only buy the sample packets online.
Author
Yes, love BlackUp. I’ve done a ton of reviews on them in the past: https://www.thestyleandbeautydoctor.com/category/beauty-health-makeup-hair/makeup-brands/black-up-makeup-brands/