“Social media is incredibly powerful. If you can scroll past the never-ending pet and celebrity memes, you’ll find something that’s unified people and given birth to communities that have empowered its members to become agents of change. Take the hashtag, #blackgirlmagic for example.” Read more at Allure.
Read More“Fashion companies may garner publicity and good will when they feature curvy models. Ostensibly, beauty companies would not get that same bottom-line boost, because bodies aren’t involved in their advertising imagery.” Read more at The New York Times.
Read More“Balanda Atis, who is also African American, is manager of L’Oréal’s Women Of Color Lab. She’s also no stranger to the frustration of finding the perfect foundation fit and it’s a big part of the reason why she’s super dedicated to creating the best foundation shades for women of color. She even helped to develop the perfect foundation shade in the Lancôme Teint Idole collection for actress Lupita Nyong’o.” Read more at Essence.
Read More“The term nude in fashion and beauty implies a universal skin tone, but has traditionally only existed as a pale pink shade with yellow undertones, like Pantone's Nude. The shade became popular in the 1920s and 1930s for undergarments, but is still a common term today — just see Maison Margiela's bodysuit and Vera Wang's halter dress for example — and many brands continue to define it under such narrow terms.” Read more at Fashionista.
Read More“Things took an ugly turn on Wednesday, when a photo the brand shared elicited a slew of racist comments from a section of the brand’s 8 million plus followers. M.A.C shared a backstage photo of a Black model wearing its Matte Royal lip color at the New York Fashion Week on Wednesday evening. The close-up photo focusing on the model’s lips was quickly bombarded with with racist slurs.” Read more at Digiday.
Read More“When Mr. Masahiko Uotani first announced his appointment as chief executive officer of Japanese cosmetics company Shiseido to his two daughters, they had some advice for him. ‘They told me, “Great company, but the younger generation of women is not necessarily familiar with the Shiseido brand.”’ The 144-year-old company is one of the oldest and most established brands in the beauty industry. Because of its rich history, the brand has a loyal following among mature women who have grown up with it.” Read more at Straits Times.
Read More“Online searches for ‘halal makeup’ were virtually nonexistent before 2013 and have held a steady interest since, at least based on Google Trends. Market research predicts that the halal makeup market in Saudi Arabia is projected to grow 15% between 2015 and 2020. Many owners of halal cosmetics companies believe the term applies more broadly to a lifestyle that is ethical. When it comes to the actual makeup, halal products are free of any ingredients that have pork or contain alcohol, but other details vary.” Read more at Style.Mic.
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“At this week’s CEW Beauty Insider event in New York City, a panel of multicultural beauty market leaders discussed the transition to a psychographic and needs-based cosmetics and personal care business. Lifestyles, beauty preferences, and individual needs influence consumer choices now much more directly than simple demographics or regional conventions do. And the flourishing multicultural beauty market has a lot to do with this shift.” Read more at Cosmetics Design.
Read More“In one of Seoul’s busiest neighbourhoods lies Myeongdong 8-gil, better known to locals as ‘Cosme Road.’ It’s been dubbed as such because of the countless cosmetic stores that line up the street, from The Face Shop, Skin Food and Nature Republic to Innisfree, Missha and Etude House. One brand, however, is unlike the rest. Talent Cosmetic, which currently operates six stores in the district, sells a range of beauty products from matte lipsticks and BB creams to cleansing oils and sheet masks. In December 2014, it became the first Korean makeup company to obtain halal certification from the Malaysian government.” Read more at Business of Fashion.
Read More“‘Where do you fit in?’ asks the copy on a tube of Miss Jessie’s MultiCultural Curls. ‘You have a multitude of textures, or come from a beautiful mix of different ethnicities, but cannot find styling products that work for your unique curls.’ This is a problem for people with thick, curly hair. Until relatively recently, mainstream beauty aisles were stocked with all manner of gels and sprays targeted to (usually white) women with straight-to-wavy hair looking for volume and texture. For any other products, there was the ‘ethnic’ aisle, stocked with heavy oils or chemical straighteners. If your hair fell in between, well, good luck.” Read more at Racked.
Read More“The angry rumblings and confused lamentations are all over social media. They’re coming from diehard customers of Fashion Fair cosmetics, a brand founded in 1973 to cater to African American women at a time when major makeup companies essentially ignored them. Where is the Bronze Loose Powder? Where’s the Perfect Finish Souffle Makeup? What about the Brown Sugar Foundation Stick? Customers who rely on Fashion Fair for exact skin tone matches and perfectly flattering lipsticks have been unable to locate their favorite products — or any products at all.” Read more at The Washington Post.
Read More“Behind the scenes, at the headquarters of L’Oréal Paris, Lancôme’s parent company, [Lupita] Nyong’o’s appointment signaled a broader effort by the cosmetics giant to stay ahead of consumer demand by placing diversity and globalization at the center of its strategy. [...] One of the keys to this strategy is L’Oréal chemist Balanda Atis, who created the (literal) foundation for Nyong’o’s Lancôme campaign and now heads L’Oréal’s Women of Color Lab in Clark, New Jersey.” Read more at Fast Company.
Read More“For decades, most cosmetics brands didn’t go after minorities. Instead, they made products catering to a narrow margin of skin tone and color, and left a handful of companies dedicated to multicultural women to deal with the rest of the shades. That’s starting to change, with both mainstream and ethnic beauty lines going after a more diverse customer. It’s a profound shift: The women who were once all but ignored by the majority of the beauty market are now being wooed at every counter.” Read more at Bloomberg Business.
Read More“Your mailbox just got the chance to be way more interesting. Essence magazine announced they will launch their own beauty box subscription service called Essence BeautyBox. It will specialize in products and beauty advice for women of color and offer subscribers a monthly box of five beauty products curated by the magazine’s beauty experts, with advice and tips and tricks.” Read more at Mic.com.
Read More“For over a decade, Parisian makeup brand Black Up has been providing French women of color with luxury beauty products, and starting today, it’s officially available at Sephora. While brands like Milani and Iman have concentrated on foundation shade matching, Black Up is the first makeup company solely dedicated to enhancing darker skin tones.” Read more at NYMag.com.
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