As much as I’ve been reading about my topic, I never considered what the following article has to say about how social media is changing the beauty industry. I’ve been mainly focusing on the marketing and business side of the changes (which is related to the article) BUT the article focuses on race in the beauty industry. The under representation of people of color is something that I’m totally aware of because I work in the beauty industry. Lancome, the brand I work for, signed Lupita Nyong’o in 2014 to be a model for the company. This is important because she is the first African American beauty ambassador for the brand, but it’s also important because she’s an African American model for a cosmetics company. Lupita’s signing was paired with the brand’s expansion of one of our foundations, offering a range of 35 shades. 35 shades is a lot for foundation, especially considering how wide the range is. It is often very difficult for people of color to find a color match for their skin tone because brands don’t really offer darker shades. Most brands only offer a few shades for darker skin tones, while there’s numerous shades for lighter skin tones.
People of color have fought for more expansive ranges of shades from brands, but few have caught on. This has lead to the creation of brands centered around offering an extensive blend of color. According to the article, this has been paired with the hashtag #blackgirlmagic. This has helped to create a space for people of color to see themselves represented online and in the beauty community. This representation goes beyond seeing one’s self within the community (as a model) and extends into what products are being purchased. For example, lipsticks, eye shadows, highlighters, blushes and anything else that is color looks very different on different skin tones. When brands provide swatches or product pictures, they’re often shown on lighter skin tones. Brands like Colourpop are starting to change this because they offer swatches on all their products on three different skin tones: light, medium and deep. The article cites Cocoa Swatches, an Instagram account that posts swatches of products on deep skin tones so that users can see how a product will look on their skin tone.