Rihanna’s new line of makeup, Fenty Beauty, was released Sept. 8, 2017 and has caused a huge uproar with its consideration of diversity. After two years of development, Rihanna has managed to release a line of foundations with forty shades, catering to women of all colors.
To other high-end makeup brands: where the hell have you been?
Most makeup brands don’t do all they should when considering darker women. Women of color are always searching for shades that aren’t too dark or light and won’t oxidize, or turn grey on their skin. It seems brands don’t consider any in-between shades when working on the darker side of the spectrum. Rihanna, however, has managed to do so, and it’s quite honorable.
According to CNN, eight of the ten deep foundation shades sold out by Sept. 13. Clearly these women are impressed by more than just the name. They’re pleased they can find the shades that match their skin tones.
Few other brands have done their best to release shades for women of color. There are only some brands of high-end makeup addressing those desires. Makeup Forever too has forty shades of their “Ultra HD” foundation, and we should commend them for it. However, two brands of foundations shouldn’t be the limit that women of color have in regards to their selection.
Beauty vlogger Jackie Aina, who has 1.6 million subscribers, acknowledges how respectable it is for Rihanna to have released a line with so many shades. She’s a serious advocate for beauty products being more women-of-color-friendly, giving her a lot of influence over whether people can trust a brand or not.
“40 is what I think the standard should be for most cosmetic brands, so I really felt like that was one of the things that stood out to me about Fenty Beauty,” she said in a video reviewing the product.
Aina’s claim that 40 shades should be the standard should have people wondering why 40 isn’t the standard. Too Faced very recently launched six more shades of their “Born This Way” foundation, three of which were of a darker tone, and even this line only has 24 shades. Their lack of inclusion of shades for women of color is why Rihanna’s line has been so awe striking.
People are only considering expensive makeup brands. L’Oreal’s “True Match” foundation, known for having an array of shades for many undertones, has 33 shades. Impressive for a drug store brand? Yes. Enough? Not at all.
It runs deeper than just foundation-shade exclusion. People are aware it isn’t just women of color struggling to find their shades. However, we all have seen since the existence of beauty standards that women of color don’t always receive the love they deserve. The white-washed beauty industry just enforces how little they pay regards to women of color by not allowing them to find makeup in their tones.
All women should be able to find makeup in their skin tone. Makeup is a fun for many and it isn’t fair to exclude an array of skin tones from the fun because makeup lines are insensitive to the wants of dark women. Rihanna did well by causing an uproar in the makeup community.
Chantelle Baker is a 20-year-old communication studies senior from Waipahu, Hawaii.
