GRSJ224/Underrepresentation of Black Women In The Beauty Industry

From UBC Wiki

Throughout time black women have been greatly overlooked in the beauty industry. From cosmetics companies completely disregarding an entire spectrum of women to companies only releasing two shade of color in their cosmetic lines just to say that they were” inclusive”. Black women are constantly fighting for inclusion within the beauty community and not as an extension or afterthought once they have received the appreciation from the white consumers. This Wiki page focuses on the history of the cosmetics history with regards to black women, as well as the many examples of companies that are not doing good with representing black women, and also companies that are shaking tables in the industry. This topic is one that intersects the Woman and her Black heritage, and demonstrates how these two things have caused them to be greatly underrepresented in the cosmetics industry.

History in Beauty

Since the beginning of time black woman have been an afterthought in the makeup industry. It was not until the 1940’s that makeup lines for black women were more common in the industry. When beauty companies would advertise to the black community, they would do so by appealing to them though blemish creams which were actually skin lightening products. In the book Style and Status: Selling Beauty to African American Women, 1920-1975; the author Susannah Walker describes how advertisers at the time “did not see black people as affluent enough to warrant special advertising attention or sophisticated enough to respond to product marketing.” This statement tells us just how much black women where perceived back then. They were seen as people that society does not need to put too much thought into because they are not sophisticated enough to understand primarily because of the colour of their skin. 

Overton Hygienic Manufacturing Co.

Overton-Hygienic Co High Brown Face Powder Ad

The overton hygienic manufacturing company is the first cosmetics company that tapped into the black demand for cosmetics. It was created by a black man named Anthony Overton who was a lawyer and also had a chemistry degree. He recognized that women of colour were not able to find any cosmetics that came in their skin tone, which is what prompted him to create his cosmetics company. He created a “high-brown” face powder that created an uproar within the black community and was booming in sales within the United States and other countries like Egypt and Liberia. The company then extended their line to include even deeper skin tones as well as some lighter shades. Overton was seen as the catalyst that started the conversation of inclusion within the cosmetics industry. 

Lack of Inclusion

Many cosmetics brands have failed the black community with their extremely dismissal shade ranges. Many brands such as Tarte Cosmetics, IT Cosmetics, Beauty Blender and Benefit cosmetics just to name a few, have released complexion products and have completely left out a whole range of women. The most recent discussion in the beauty community surrounds tarte cosmetics foundation launch in January

Tarte Cosmetics

Tarte Shape Tape Foundation Swatches

Tarte Cosmetics faced major backlash in January when they released the highly anticipated Shape tape foundation. This shade range was a complete insult to the black women in the makeup community and caused many beauty vloggers to boycott the brand and voice their anger and disappointment on social media. When Tarte had an exclusive chat with a representative from POPSUGAR, they explained that new colors were in the works and their decision to release the limited shade range initially was because “complexion tends to be paler in the winter and darker in the summer months.” This statement alone caused many people on social media to interpret it and respond with a lot of anger at the implication that lighter skin tones were their priority and that darker skin women can wait until the summer time. Many women asked questions such as “Do all black people have seasonal skin tones?” Tarte responds to all of the backlash they were receiving by releasing a statement apologizing for their lack of inclusivity and also acknowledged the disappointing shade range.

Buying Power

One of the biggest misconceptions is that deeper skin tones don’t spend money on their makeup. This statement has been proven to be false because black women spend an estimated $7.5 Billion on beauty products. Black women spend about 80% more on cosmetics which is almost twice as much as their non-black counterparts. Nielson, an information and measurement company, states that the black spending power is expected to reach $1.5 trillion by 2021. This shows just how powerful the black dollar is, yet many cosmetics brands will choose to completely eliminate this entire spectrum when releasing cosmetic lines. Surprisingly, the black dollar was the reason why diversity was brought into the beauty industry in the first place. These mainstream brands where not even pushing for money inclusion, but saw how powerful the black dollar was. In 1990, Maybelline, the second most profitable cosmetics brand in America created the shades of you line; Which was a makeup line catered specifically for black women. This line did not last very long because in the mid to late 90’s the line was discontinued due to the fact that they were unable probably target and gain the loyalty from this targeted audience. Due to the fact that there were no women of color in their marketing department, and therefore they did not know how to properly appeal to this target. 

Taking steps to move forward: Fenty Beauty 

Fenty Beauty Pro Filt'r Campagin

In recent years, some brands have made a conscious effort to include black women into the beauty industry and not just think of them as an extension of it. One of the most ground-breaking launches came from Fenty Beauty, a makeup line created by singer Rihanna. Fenty beauty launched in September 2017 with a total of 40 foundation shades that gives every woman from the extremely fair to the deepest skin tones an opportunity to find their shade in a well formulated product. The entire collection which included various complexion products such as foundations, concealers, highlighters, and blushes sold out within minutes, with the deepest colours selling out first. This launch changed the conversation within the beauty community and set the standard for any preceding brands that have plans of coming out with any sort of complexion products. According to People Magazine, the launch earned an estimated $72 million worth of earned media value. A story from Vogue also reported that the company had brought in “a staggering $100 million in sales within 40 days.” These numbers just reinforce the fact that black women have high spending power and should not be pushed aside in the beauty industry. 

Following Fenty Beauty, brands such as Too Faced, Huda Beauty, NARS Cosmetics, and Makeup Forever just to name a few, have come out with lines that not only are inclusive to black women, but are also formulated to meet their skin needs. It is definitely a step in the right direction but there is always room for improvement and growth.

References

AFRICAN-AMERICAN CONSUMERS ARE MORE RELEVANT THAN EVER. (2013, September 19). Retrieved from Nielsen: http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/news/2013/african-american-consumers-are-more-relevant-than-ever.html

Barbour, S. (2018, January 19). Tarte Apologizes Following Controversy Over "Shape Tape" Foundations. Retrieved from Cosmopolitan: https://www.cosmopolitan.com/style-beauty/a15583788/tarte-cosmetics-shape-tape-foundation-shades-apology/

Battle, M. (2018, January 17). Tarte defended its Shape Tape line with a truly pathetic excuse. Retrieved from Revelist: https://www.revelist.com/beauty-news-/tarte-defended-shape-tape/11241

D.Smith, S. (2009, May 19). Essence Panel Explores Beauty Purchasing. Retrieved from WWD: https://wwd.com/beauty-industry-news/color-cosmetics/essence-panel-explores-beauty-purchasing-2139829/

Dawson, A. (2014, May 19). New lines for women of color broaden the spectrum of beauty. Retrieved from LA Times: http://www.latimes.com/fashion/la-ig-doobop-20140518-story.html

Demographics. (2013, September 19). AFRICAN-AMERICAN CONSUMERS ARE MORE RELEVANT THAN EVER. Retrieved from Nielsen: http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/news/2013/african-american-consumers-are-more-relevant-than-ever.html

Glum, J. (2018, May 11). Here's How Much Rihanna is Worth- And How She Built An Empire Of Music And Makeup. Retrieved from Time Money: http://time.com/money/5271495/rihanna-net-worth-fenty/

Hope, C. (2016, August 8). The Makeup Industry's Frustrating Cycle of Struggle and Progress for Women of Color. Retrieved from Jezebel: https://jezebel.com/the-makeup-industrys-frustrating-cycle-of-struggle-and-1782880385

Labouvier, C. (2017, October 13). How Rihanna's Fenty Beauty Is Changing The Conversation About Beaut. Retrieved from Allure: https://www.allure.com/story/how-rihanna-fenty-beauty-has-changed-the-beauty-industry

Mandell, J. (2017, November 20). 5,630 viewsNov 20, 2017, 06:33pm Rihanna's Fenty Beauty Named One Of Time Magazine's Best Inventions Of 2017. Retrieved from Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jannamandell/2017/11/20/rihannas-fenty-beauty-named-one-of-time-magazines-best-inventions-of-2017/#6851421030ea

NIELSEN REPORT: "BLACK GIRL MAGIC" AND BRAND LOYALTY IS PROPELLING TOTAL BLACK BUYING POWER TOWARD $1.5 TRILLION BY 2021. (2017, September 21). Retrieved from Nielsen: http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/press-room/2017/nielsen-report-black-girl-magic-and-brand-loyalty-is-propelling-black-buying-power.html

Nittle, N. (2018, January 23). Before Fenty: Over 100 Years of Black Makeup Brands. Retrieved from Racked: https://www.racked.com/2018/1/23/16901594/black-makeup-brands-history

Otchere, M. (2017, November 14). A Brief History on Why Black Beauty Has Been Pushed Aside. Retrieved from Study Breaks: https://studybreaks.com/culture/black-beauty-brief-history/

Ritschel, C. (2018, January 16). Tarte Cosmetics Launches Product Almost Entirely For White People on Martin Luther King Day . Retrieved from Independent: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/tarte-cosmetics-foundations-white-people-mlk-martin-luther-king-day-a8163026.html

http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/1682608/maybelline-discontinues-shades-you

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