"80%
more money spent by WOC on cosmetics, twice that on skincare products" [6]
The Good
Fenty Beauty was released in 2017 by famous artist, Rihanna. Her Pro Filt'r Soft Matte Longwear Foundation included 40 different shades, many of which catered towards deeper skin tones and a variety of undertones, something that many beauty brands often forget when including a more diverse range of foundations. This revolutionized the beauty industry, and started what many call the "Fenty Effect", the diversifying of shade ranges to include appropriate foundation shades for POC. While Fenty Beauty has definitely set the tone for future foundation launches to be more inclusive, there is still so much progress to be made.
The Bad
When Tarte Cosmetics initially released their Shape Tape Foundation, a spin on the cult classic, Shape Tape Concealer, in January of 2018, their initial shade range included 15 shades, only 3 of which were suited for people of color. The lack of diversity in the shades brought much controversy, and many beauty influencers spoke out against the limited range in shades. In a review, Jackie Aina, a Youtube beauty influencer with well over 3 million subscribers said, "Tarte has to be the most whitewashed brand out there, from their marketing to their Instagram. This brand just embodies the exact opposite of what I stand for … They don't do anything that makes people feel included… This foundation launch just reinforced that for me" [7] The brand now sells the foundation in 50 shades, however it was not until many upset consumers brought this issue up, which is problematic.
The Ugly
In 2018, Beauty Blender, a cosmetics company most notably known for the beauty staple, the Beauty Blender, a cosmetics sponge, released its own line of foundations. However, many were disappointed in the very limited shade range offered for people of color. In the Bounce Liquid Whip Long Wear Foundation, out of the total 32 shades offered, only 7 were most suitable for those with deeper skin tones. This sparked a lot of controversy on social media, and many called the brand out for missing the mark with the shades. In a statement by Beauty Blender, they said, "Of our 32 blends, half the shades (16) are formulated for a range of olive and brown skin tones. We truly want everyone to find their perfect match and our founder, Rea Ann Silva, is not only Latina, but a professional makeup artist working primarily with women of colour — so she is an expert in this colour range. Those with tan, deep and dark skin tones understand that finding the right colour foundation is all about matching your undertone and this is where Rea Ann saw the biggest hole in the market — for women like herself and her multicultural family. BOUNCE offers a wide variety of undertones from neutral, warm, cool, and olive and a special ultramarine blue to create a deep rich tone" [8]