Beauty and Baggage

As a beauty blogger, whenever I try new products I am thinking of not just how they work for me, but how they might work for my readers. Whether a cream blush that lasts all day on my dry skin might slip off someone’s oilier complexion, whether nail polish that chips on me in one day might last longer on someone who doesn’t work in retail. One thing I consistently find myself concerned about is the lack of shade range in the UK beauty market.

Finding the right shade of foundation for your skin tone is frustrating at the best of times, but having reviewed multiple foundations over the past two years, I came to the conclusion that the range of shades, particularly on the British high street, was sorely lacking. And it didn’t end there: lipsticks labeled ‘nude’ that matched only Caucasian skins, a lack of pigmented or deeper toned blushes; it seemed like a whole section of society was being ignored. I had heard from friends that often their only option was to resort to higher end (read: more expensive) brands like MAC.

I also came across a couple of great articles on the lack of makeup for darker-skinned women in the UK: one by Carlene Thomas-Bailey for The Guardian struck a particular chord.

However, as a white woman who, whilst pale, at least has her race catered to both at high-street and high-end level, I felt it was best to ask all of you about your experiences buying makeup and what it meant to you. I received so many great responses, from bloggers and friends and women of all races and skin tones. They shed a light on how different the makeup experience can be if your choice is limited, and also highlighted a few brands that really do provide for all women.

Illustration by Tanya Hendrie

WHERE DO YOU SHOP?

I often don’t give a lot of thought to where I shop for makeup – Boots, Superdrug, department stores, online. I wondered if this was different for women who might be constrained by a lack of shades.

The difference in responses from the women I interviewed was striking. All of the white respondents said they most often shopped for makeup at the drugstore or on the highstreet. One complaint was that shades often didn’t go pale enough, however. Amy, from Manchester, said: ‘I struggle finding a foundation to match my skin. Even the palest of shades I still find too dark!’

I interviewed women of Indian and Pakistani descent who said that while they shopped at the drugstore, they occasionally found it difficult to match foundation shades. Blogger and journalism student Nakita pointed out that ‘many [foundations] are pink toned too so look really odd on my skin. Powder comes up against similar problems as foundation; there are usually 3 shades on the high street, none of which are suitable for my skin tone. ‘

The Black British women I surveyed often said the same thing – that for foundation, high end was the only option. Although many referenced Sleek as a reason to visit the drugstore, some women still preferred the colour variety offered by high-end brands like MAC.

A lack of foundation shades offered by the high-street was the most common reason for Black British women to shop elsewhere,

As Natalie of BeautyPulseLondon notes: ‘ The range of foundations for the woman of colour with a deeper skin tone than Beyonce is woefully underrepresented. I still find it shocking that in 2013 I cannot purchase a shade of foundation to suit my skin tone for less than £15 in Boots - the mass category is failing to serve this demographic. ‘

‘There is always a sense of relief when I find my colour or shade in Superdrug, or Boots. Almost as if I should be lucky that it’s there, when really I believe it should be the norm,’ Louisa of Afroblush argues.

Samantha-Louise, a trainee-teacher from London, adds that high street brands are lacking in lipstick shades: ‘The majority of lipsticks I try are just off – either too warm or too cool, too pink or too pastelly (which makes my lips look ashy or dry). You can get a wide range of reds and a reasonably wide range of pinks, but a lot of high street brands seem to think that their one token purple or orange shade suffices. Also, it is nigh on impossible to find nude lipstick for brown skin on the high street; peach, beige and taupe are not “nude” on me. They’re just not.’

I found this difference important; for me, shopping for makeup is often a case of where I want to go, what I’ve read about, or general browsing. I shop because something has caught my eye or I’ve put it on my wishlist. Even though I am pale, and yellow-toned, as a white woman in Britain I have never truly struggled to find a shade to suit me. If one brand doesn’t have my specific shade, the one next to it will. Whilst it can be frustrating to be pale – and it’s important to note there is not one homogenous ‘white’ shade either, I feel far better provided for than the women I interviewed with darker skin.

The concept of having to consider where you can shop as opposed to where you want to is one that appears to be unique to women of colour. Personally, this is something I have never had to think about other than in terms of budget.

Illustration by Tanya Hendrie

DIVERSE BRANDS

I think everyone with an interest in makeup appreciates brand with a diverse colour range - it means there’s something (hopefully) to suit everyone, and something for everyone’s taste. However, there are certain brands that were mentioned time and again in the interviews that seem to provide for a wide range of women, and deserve to be spotlighted.

Unsurprisingly, when asked whether they felt the ‘need’ to go to high-end brands to find makeup that suited them, the majority of white women said it wasn’t necessary, while the majority of Black, Mixed Race and Indian women said it often was.

However, blogger and student Becki made the point that for very fair women ‘MAC have a really good range of shades, especially as they've just bought out a NW10 in the Studio Fix which is perfect for me. I think NARS Sheer Glow also has a great range. High end products always have a much larger range of shades, and also have ones with different pink/yellow undertones so you can find the perfect match for your skin.’ Blogger Maddy also references Dainty Doll, the makeup range created specifically for very pale women.

Nakita told me that ‘MAC and NARS are particular favourites amongst Asian women and my mum buys foundation, powders and concealers solely from these two companies. Este e Lauder and Bobbi Brown have a great range too. However, as a student, I can't really be forking out a small fortune on makeup! And I don't think that it's really fair that darker coloured women have to spend more money to be able to get makeup that works for them.’

MAC came up often in my interviews with Black women, as did Bobbi Brown, although blogger and businesswoman Natalie argued that ‘MAC does a much better job at communicating this to the woman of colour - by using spokesmodels that are representative of this woman.’

Sam mentioned ‘Illamasqua [which] also has a wide range of highly pigmented products with amazing colour pay-off across the board’

Makeup ranges developed especially for women of colour were also highlighted by blogger Natalie, who likes ‘Iman [who] deliver on product range but sometimes fall short on customer service, distribution and stock availabilty. One brand that has quality product for the woman of colour, that may not be on everyone's radar is blackUp - if you can get over the name - which is reminiscent of the 'blackface minstrels of early 20th century America’

The most commonly cited drugstore brand that delivered on a diverse range of products? Sleek. As mixed-race blogger Chantelle points out ‘Sleek is very good,especially when buying online because it swatches most of its products on light, medium and dark skin tones.’

I have found, with my yellow-undertones, that in recent years drugstore brands have been catering better to my specific skintype; recent new foundation releases by Maybelline, and the Bourjois foundations, are ones I use and enjoy. However, for colour products I’ve never needed to go high end, per se, usually it is just for a specific or more unusual colour not available on the high street.

It is a good sign that there are obviously a strong set of high-end brands that have a diverse range, but it’s disheartening to see that only one drugstore brand crops up often.

Illustration by Tanya Hendrie

WHAT CAN CHANGE?

I asked the women I interviewed what about a brand, other than colour range, attracts them to shop there. For me, it’s often word-of-mouth, blogs, or interesting and unusual adverts or artwork. I also asked them how diverse they thought the highstreet was, and what they’d like to see change.

Personally, I think it’s about time that as many women as possible were able to shop for makeup at the drugstore. Your skintone shouldn’t preclude you from being able to find budget buys, and it’s incredibly unfair that whilst I often have my pick of products, women of colour are forced to spend more money and time to find something that suits them.

What attracted people to a specific brand was varied throughout; from eco-friendly packaging, to no alcohol content for religious reasons, to diverse model representation.

However, everyone I interviewed agreed that the highstreet was not diverse enough – although some said that things had improved in recent years.

Both Raj, 22, and Nakita mentioned No7’s foundation matching service and along with Maddy thought that a key change would be to provide assistants for lower-end brands to help you match your skintone to a foundation.

Several women mentioned Illamasqua and MAC campaigns as a template for other brands to follow. Jade, a teaching assistant, thinks it ‘would be great if they used models of different ethnicities in their advertising campaigns.’

Every woman interviewed thought there should be a wider shade range that extended into both the palest and darkest ends of the spectrum. Blogger Katy argues that ‘instead of doing 3 that look the same, they should try and widen their spectrum!’

Sadiya, a Somali Benefit beauty advisor, also thinks drugstore ranges should be expanded ‘not just with foundations but also with colour products.’

One important way things have been changing and can continue to change is through ownership of beauty brands by women of colour. Louisa thinks that ‘we also need to support independent make up brands for black women and end our dependence on mainstream brands who often don't have our interests at mind, don't offer a competitive price point and who don't always understand our needs. ‘

Natalie has similar thoughts: ‘Change will also be instigated by more women of colour attaining positions of influence within the British Beauty industry and starting their own business to satisfy this consumer demand - as only we can articulate our wants, needs and desires. This is one reason why I started Keziah CONNECTIONS to bring together like minded women who are passionate about all thing beauty and to facilitate the progression of such women within the industry.’

I also spoke to Bonnie, a representative of Models of Diversity, who campaign to include more people from all races, levels of ability, shape and size in modeling. Bonnie echoes the thoughts of many of the women I spoke to when she says that ‘with the accesibility of the internet we are able to source anything.’

In a presentation given by one of the women I interviewed, Natalie N. Clue and Dr. Yana Johnson MBE, it was pointed out that the ethnic population represents 14% of the overall population of the UK – or approximately £96.6 million of potential market value. They also noted that on average, Black British women spend six times more on beauty products than their Caucasian counterparts.

In 2013, I feel like this is unacceptable. Things need to change at a faster rate than they currently do. The highstreet would do well to take note of diverse brands who use a range of models and cater to everyone – because otherwise, with the availability of products online, people may take their business elsewhere.

And that’s just the business standpoint – the right thing to do is to represent all women and address their needs. It would be excellent to see more brands owned and run by women of colour, but as well as that I feel like ‘mainstream’ brands need to address the issue.

This post would not have been possible without the time, effort and contributions of all the participants.
I'd like to thank everyone who took part and encourage you to check out their websites and blogs, either by the links in the post or the ones below.
Feel free to leave your own thoughts, recommendations and reactions below. Let's have a discussion!

Thank you to:
Tanya Hendrie, illustrator. (@tanyahendrie)
Amy, Arati, Jade, Raj, Sadiya, Sam and Samina.

Becki from Dirty Face Beauty.
Bonnie from Models of Diversity. (@ModsOfDiversity)
Chantelle from Mixed Beauty.
Josie from L'Amour Josie. (@lamourjosie)
Katy from Sirens and Bells. (@sirensandbells)
LiLi from Let's Get Lippy. (@LetsGetLippy)
Louisa from Afroblush. (@afroblush)
Maddy from Maddy Scribbles. (@maddyscribbles)
Nakita from N Style & Beauty (@nakita_sian)
Naomi from Naomi Gabriella (@naomigabriella)
Natalie from BeautyPulseLondon (@beautypulse_ldn)