After seeing all of the amazing works on Wattpad about the Black Lives Matter movement, I've decided to create my own. This project is going to be a series of posts, essays, and links. I want to focus on everything from police brutality to the Black...
Makeup first started with the ancient Egyptians. Kohl and lipstick were used. Kohl was like an eyeliner and was very popular.
But today we're talking about the makeup that we all know. The mass produced makeup. The makeup that many of us have access to today, whether in malls, drug stores, large shopping centers, or online. That history of makeup began at the turn of the 20th century. Yet, it took until the latter half of the century for women of color to get products, and still today the major companies like Maybelline and L'Oreal don't have shades that match those of many women of color.
Also a quick disclaimer- I will use the term "women of color" throughout this piece, but no matter your gender identity, I understand that all people of color have trouble with makeup, not just women. Gender identity shouldn't determine whether you wear makeup. If you want to wear makeup, go for it. Yeet the gender stereotypes out the window. They suck.
The cosmetics industry has failed people fo color. I got inspiration from PurpleINK973 to do a little research on my own. What I found wasn't necessarily shocking, but rather just flat out upsetting.
In the 1940s you began to see some makeup for black women. Except, it wasn't actually that great. It was skin lightening makeup and treatments, which in turn oppresses the idea that dark skin is beautiful and encourages the image that white women are the standard of beauty. In the 70s you saw the black is beautiful movement, and you began to see darker shades of makeup being created. However, as Tobi Oredein says in her Ted Talk about being black and buying beauty products, the standard for beauty is white women. She talks about how in the workplace, black women's hairstyles are seen as "unprofessional." She talks about how in 2016, box braids became a huge trend because of the Kardashians. She talks about how she once saw an Afro in a beauty magazine, and it was sported by a white woman. Tobi Oredein talks about how when she was younger she adored makeup and went with her mother to get it. Then she mentions how she always loved seeing beauty commercials. She talks about the day she first went to buy makeup for herself, and when she realized that her whole life the image of beauty given to her was entirely white. Oredein realized that the reason makeup was so easy for her mom was because her mom was white. She is black.
In one video I watched, which was a project to show how the cosmetics industry needs to step up their game, a black woman went to Target and tried to get some makeup for a full look. She had to take the darkest colors available, and yet they all were still very light on her.
If you are black woman, especially a black woman with darker skin, you likely cannot go into your local superstore and get makeup that matches your skin tone.
I decided to look at the makeup ads by big companies L'Oreal and Maybelline.
Here's what I found:
L'Oreal- after watching a couple ads, I found where they really fell short. Hair. Hair mist. The standard of beauty in those commercials are types 1-2 hair.
Maybelline- again, hair. I don't see many women with types 3-4 hair in their ads.
https://youtu.be/-8ysN7AKAnE
This ad is supposed to be inspiring. In this ad in particular, most of the women are white, and while one black woman is shown consistently, she has straight hair. Now of course she's beautiful, but I think it would be nice to show black women with types 3-4 wearing natural hairstyles
Also, in the foundation commercial it's apparent how difficult it may be for women of color to find their shade. I mean-
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uhhhhhh.
It's a million shades of beige and then one dark color????
*Sigh.*
When I look at Maybelline ads from the early 2000s, they do have some black models, but if the commercial must focus on one person, that one person is white.
One thing I noticed in both companies, which I've mentioned before is that none of the black models have types 3-4 hair. And while having black models is a start, many girls probably still can't entirely see themselves in the beauty standardst that are televised. So in the work place, natural hair is considered "unprofessional."
Also a note to all of my readers with natural 3-4 hair types- Your hair is gorgeous. Just absolutely beautiful. Don't let anyone ever convince you it's "unprofessional" because your hair doesn't look like white women's, it's their fault that they don't see the beauty in your hair. Your hair is beautiful and should be appreciated by society rather than dumbed down.
I just often see white beauty standards in these commercials. Now I did find one L'Oreal Paris commercial with dark skinned women with natural hair and an Asian model. The main model was a black man. This was for the L'Oreal Paris X Balmain lipstick collection.
However, it's clear that white beauty standards are still main values in the cosmetics industry. Brands are scared that having darker foundations in a larger range of shades will hurt business. However, one star proved them wrong.
Rihanna's Fenty Beauty line was a hit with people of color. Why? Well, for starters her line actually had makeup that matched their skin tones. Many of the darker shades sold out quickly in store and online. I mean, I don't see why beauty companies are scared to have darker shades of foundation.
And no, it's not harder to make.
The color of foundation comes from rationing the levels of four key ingredients: Titanium dioxide, iron oxide red, iron oxide yellow, and iron oxide black. You just have to have different ratios for different skin tones.
So it's time that other beauty brands look at Fenty (which has 50 shades of foundation) and see that they need to start adding products that are inclusive for all of their customers, not just light skinned customers.
Moral of the story? It's time the cosmetics industry takes a lesson from Rihanna.
RESOURCES https://youtu.be/F63N3qAe3Jo Ted Talk with Tobi Oredein on how the beauty industry has devalued black women. I'd highly recommend taking a listen.
https://youtu.be/v5e4gwDGrNk Black beauty experts explain how the beauty industry has failed women of color.
https://youtu.be/5DvYeEtB7FU Ja'Cee Hall shows just how hard it is to find beauty products as a woman of color in mainstream beauty places. (The specific store is Target and yikes... Target needs to step their game.)
