Beauty's Forgotten: The Underrepresented Women in Beauty
Words by Angelica Johnson.
Photo by Oladimeji Odunsi on Unsplash
BROOKLYN, N.Y. - Meghan Ward gets anxious when she shops for makeup because she cannot easily rebuy many products she owns, and she is not alone. "When walking down the makeup aisle, I hope my shade is still available even though I checked on the website. When I do find my shade, I stock up, so I know I have enough product to last,” she says.
Ward, a dark-skinned woman with an olive undertone, and other women of color think the beauty industry should pay more attention to them. Ward has used trial and error since she began wearing makeup at sixteen. There were many times when she wore the wrong foundation shade and reflecting on doing so she says, “It almost looked like my face belonged to a person with a completely different skin tone.” She says she would notice this contrast when she saw herself in a photo or in good lighting.
A controversial makeup swatch image from Becca Cosmetics. Courtesy of Becca Cosmetics.
Makeup artist Bridgette Black says, “While your makeup may look flawless in the mirror, the intense light from flash photography or proper lighting will leave you with a white cast. If there isn’t proper lighting, then it’s difficult knowing if you got the correct shade match.”
Getting the right shade for skin tones is tricky. Black explains that, “Cosmetic brands have made it difficult to find the perfect shade to suit a darker skin complexion. Some foundations will leave you having a white cast because it is too light, and others will have you look orange because it is too dark.”
Ward said she needs to improvise, describing how “[she has] often had to mix two different shades of foundation to match [her] dark, olive undertone skin.”
But the Black Lives Matter movement has sparked a demand for inclusivity and big discussions.
Uoma Beauty, a relatively new company whose motto is, “We believe Beauty Comes in Every Color,” seems like a model for the industry. The founder, Sharon Chuter, issued the #PullUpOrShutUp challenge and urged big cosmetic companies to disclose how many of their employees are black and how many of those black employees are in leadership positions.
Sharon Chuter’s original Instagram post calling for the #PullUpOrShutUp challenge. Courtesy of Instagram.
This challenge prompted cosmetic brands to back up their PR statements about their support for the black community. On June 3, Chuter said, "Your favorite brands are making bold PR statements about their support for the black community. Please ask them how many black employees they have in their organization and how many black people they have in leadership roles. For the next 72 hours DO NOT purchase from any brand and demand they release these figures.”
Makeup artist Nikita Baffour agrees that it is time for action. “Inclusivity is no longer a buzzword, but a call to action that should not and cannot be ignored. Cosmetic brands must reflect the customer base.”
