Make-up has been used in women’s beauty since 6000 B.C. through different cultures, places, beauty standards, and within social classes. Over the years, make-up has been formed in the beauty standard all over the world, especially in the United States which has around 5,000 different beauty related industries. Although makeup has been around for decades, black-owned make-up products and the production weren’t introduced until the early 1900s. In modern times, make-up inclusivity has been thriving through small businesses on social media and even bigger companies looking for the best way to include everyone, into their brands.
“I think something that is really important about having makeup inclusivity is that like it is the whole point of making sure that everyone is included because make-up is for everyone and it’s a way to express yourself, so it is unfair to not have ways for everyone to express themselves or only have a certain group of people express themselves,” replied Bee Byrd, LHS student.
The most recent controversy on social media involves the make-up brand Youthforia, which was founded by Fiona Co Chan back in 2021. Often being a new beauty brand it can be difficult to understand certain aspects that go into making the products that people can use, but the most important is to be inclusive about your brand. In 2023, Youthforia first released a shade range of around fifteen which was deemed non inclusive. This received quick backlash due to it falling short of including darker skin tones, and was hoped to be fixed later. However, this issue was not fixed. A while later after the first release, Youthforia came out with about ten new shades between the original shades 590 and 600. After an update to the shade 600, which was claimed as the darkest shade they released, it was taken apart as this shade was an equivalent to ‘black face’. Unlike other brands with darker skin tone ranges, it had a grey undertone within the shade and that resulted in the shade receiving even more backlash. Although it was an issue, the owner often tried to reason with the choosing for the shade, but would overall not change social media’s thoughts. So here at LHS, Island Fasel, LHS student, was asked her view on the viral controversy, and the dangers of a small shade range she replied with,
“It can make people feel irrelevant in a way, because if you look at basic color theory to make a skin tone even when you’re painting, or anything like that, you need various different shades.”
It is clear that make-up has grown tremendously since the early 1900s, as there are more brands coming out to fit people of all different skin tones, skin types, and even different genders. Even though certain brands continue to ignore these issues, improved make-up brands like Fenty Beauty, MAC Cosmetics, Rare Beauty, and many more offer make-up that fits almost everyone within the make-up community.
