Anyone who wears makeup knows that finding the correct foundation shade to match your skin tone presents a nearly impossible task. Take beauty guru and makeup artist James Charles — he has millions of followers on Instagram, just about the same number of subscribers on YouTube, and he’s a CoverGirl model — but he still can’t find his perfect foundation shade.
This hopeless feat, while fixable with the right amount of support from the good people at Sephora, is still an unwinnable fight for many with darker skin tones. For years, makeup brands have neglected the darker-skin-tone population by neglecting to make foundation shades that cater to the demographic.
By limiting foundation lines to cater to the white consumer, companies adopt a notion that is unethical, unfounded and even discriminatory.
These unprincipled brands defend their foundation products by citing difficulties in production and that consumers won’t buy darker products. Both claims ring false — darker-skinned consumers will buy foundation if brands make it, and forward-thinking companies have now proven that foundation can be made for all skin tones.
Fenty Beauty, the makeup brand founded by the amazing and all-powerful Rihanna, released its “Pro Filt’r” foundation line in 2017, which included a whopping 40 shades. Fenty revolutionized the makeup industry, proving to brands and consumers that foundation can come in all colors and all undertones.
Fenty effectively said to everyone, “Hey, it’s about time everyone gets a chance to wear makeup, no matter the color of their skin.”
Rihanna set the modern standard for makeup. Now the question is, did companies rise to meet that standard? Well … kind of.
High and low-end brands still make makeup that favors lighter skin tones like Tarte’s “shape tape” and a number of Kim Kardashian West’s KKW Beauty products. And even when makeup brands do make the effort to produce inclusive products, the quality of those products sometimes falls short, such as with Morphe’s “Fluidity Foundation.”
On top of making quality, inclusive foundation shades, brands must adopt Fenty’s initiative and take it to another level. A number of brands have already done this by casting a more diverse modeling team to advertise their products.
Companies can also easily make their brands more accessible by creating ranges of products that cater to a wider array of skin tones. Lipsticks, powders, bronzers and blushes can be inclusive, too.
Some may ask how something like lipstick can be more inclusive. Can’t everyone wear the same shade, regardless of their skin tone? While this is technically correct, lipstick shades can favor people with lighter complexions due to undertones. Undertone refers to the color underneath the surface of the skin. People can have cool, warm and neutral undertones, which can make colors look “better” on some people than it does others.
Ever wonder why the color blue looks so good on you? You’ve got your undertone to thank for that!
Lip shades tend to have pinker undertones, or undertones that commonly favor people with lighter skin. People with darker skin tend to gravitate more toward shades with orange and blue undertones, but a number of companies don’t make colors with these undertones because they’re “too loud.”
I call bull! Lipstick should be available to everyone, no matter their skin tone and no matter the undertone they have.
So why is this important? It’s just goop you put on your face, right? Wrong.
Makeup provides a way for women and men to express themselves. It allows people to feel beautiful and gain confidence. A correct foundation shade lets someone understand they have a place in the beauty industry and, ultimately, society.
I invite and challenge all makeup brands to start developing inclusive products. It won’t hurt sales, and it’s not impossible to achieve. Shade numbers are infinite, so why not make as many of them as we can?
