Let’s talk about shade range. I am sure there are tons of thoughtful posts about this circulating the internet, but I have yet to tackle it so here goes.
In the past year I have gotten deeper and deeper into makeup; and consequently, have become more aware of the obvious shade representation problem in the beauty community. My skin is considered medium deep. So, thats to say I can find makeup that works for me but it took me ages to find a bronzer deep and red enough for my skin tone. Others, have a bit more trouble. My friend Regina is one of those people. She has beautiful dark, rich skin that makeup companies tend to ignore. Her most recent challenge has been highlighting and contouring. The highlight shades are too light and the contour shades aren’t dark enough. Why should Regina have to forgo a part of her makeup routine because of slack makeup companies? But like most brown makeup lovers, she hasn’t given up. It’s been a lot of trial and error but she has been making it work with what she has and that MELANIN POPPIN.
There is a recent dismissal of brown girls that pops into my head. Tarte had a whole new launch. Their Rainforest of the Sea Collection. The foundation that launched with the collection, Rainforest of the Sea Water Foundation Broad Spectrum SPF 15, sparked my interest. Like who doesn’t want a light weight foundation that is full coverage…that’s ideal for me. Well once the swatches started coming out I knew it wasn’t in the cards for me. The deepest shade is like 6 or 7 shades too light for me. I am always baffled why bigger companies don’t produce more shades. I mean…like I KNOW. I KNOW. (Black Lives Matter) But from a marketing stand point it seems foolish. They are missing so many sales from darker women. And if other brown beauty lovers are like me and hold a grudge, the companies lose my sales until they begin to expand their shades. I forreal just started shopping with Too Faced again once they added shades to the Born This Way Foundation.
Shoutout to some of my favorite companies that think of the beautiful dark girls. Bobbi Brown, NARS, Lancome, Estee Lauder, Jeffree Star, and Beautylish. That isn’t all of them but just some of my favorites. Thanks for reading, leave a comment telling me your favorite inclusive companies. Until next time!
toriandrea 
Thank you for talking about this… There really is no universal face color. I’ve become more aware differences in make up shade since moving to Korea. There is quite a push for lighter skin tones (women here go as far as skin bleaching). And a lot of my friends have trouble buying face makeup products here, because it’s never dark enough! I bought a contouring kit from the ever famous K-makeup brand, Dr. Jart, and it’s even too light for MY pale ass skin. It’s also always been cumbersome to me that the definition of a “nude” color, is definitely not a nude for everyone: (http://www.nola.com/fashion/index.ssf/2010/05/what_color_is_nude_fashion_deb.html).Lipsticks, bras, and band-aids come to my mind first. Regardless, I am glad you were able to find a couple of brands that work for you (NARS and Jeffree Star love love LOVE).
LikeLike
Yeah! Its incredibly frustrating as a consumer and person of color to have to navigate life where our beauty standards are entirely Eurocentric. There has been some noticeable growth but not nearly enough. Thanks for your thoughtful comment, I enjoyed reading. And I hope you found a contour kit that works!
LikeLike