For decades, it’s been rare that a black woman has been able to find her “perfect” shade in a reasonably priced foundation. The makeup aisles are flooded with shades of olive and ivory.
The more melanin you have, the less options you have.
MAC and Bobbi Brown are two of the few mainstream makeup brands that cater to women of all colors.
This year, MAC is collaborating with Mariah Carey, Ariana Grande and Taraji P. Henson to create makeup lines in their names. There will even be a tribute collection for Selena Quintanilla.
The brand’s abundance of shades cover most skin
complexions.
However, MAC foundation prices range from $30-$40.
When you can’t afford to cough up that much money, it’s nice to be able to run to the drug store and pick up a cheaper brand of foundation. Yet, many black women don’t have that luxury.
If a dark-skinned woman went into the CVS on Highland Road to buy herself a matching foundation, she’d have a really rough time.
Many drugstore makeup companies seem to think “colored people” are all the same color.
All dark-skinned women are not “mocha” — and, foundation selections should reflect such.
According to Glammonitor, beauty blogger Yvonne once found it impossible to find her perfect shade of Maybelline in a drug store after many attempts.
“It was frustrating because I wanted to try all these drugstore foundations that I see other YouTube gurus reviewing and talking about,” Yvonne told Glammonitor. “I wanted to try it out myself because the foundations I had were higher-end so they’re more expensive.”
There are lines that cater specifically to black women — Fashion Fair, SheaMoisture, black|Up Cosmetics, IMAN Cosmetics and many others. Still, these brands don’t give you the luxury of running to your local drugstore.
And, these companies created to fill the void in the industry will be used against us. When black women begin to complain about lack of diversity within the industry, the counter argument will be that there are makeup lines exclusively for them, which “isn’t fair”.
The black community should support these black owned businesses, but that’s not the problem. It’s the principle — a white woman should be no more likely to walk into Walgreens and find her perfect shade than a black woman.
Makeup is just another industry where black women are underrepresented. And, another form of institutionalized racism.
Hopefully, the makeup industry will soon become more diversified.
Clarke Perkins is a 20-year-old political science sophomore from New Orleans, Louisiana.