By Kwamesha Joseph
Somewhere in a local Sephora stands a black girl, her brown cousin and their friend with albinism, waiting in excitement to be matched for foundation.
They’ve watched countless YouTube tutorials by some of the most popular beauty influencers in the world, each raving about a particular foundation. Arms extended, chins tucked and knees bent, they are ready to plunge head first into the excitement and creativity that the beauty community has to offer.
To their dismay, they find that they have stepped onto a diving board that is supposed to help spring them forward, but remains rigid: they cannot find their shade. Still hopeful, the three young women shift from brand to brand, trimming down the list that they have created for themselves, but they are met with the same news.
Out of the plethora of brands present, they are only given a fistful of options and, after assessing their skin needs, are left to choose between two foundations of which they don’t care for the finish, but they settle, as this is all that they have.
As a makeup artist, and someone who, up until now, could only find my perfect foundation shade in Lancome and the black-owned brand, AJ Crimson, I can assure you that the aforementioned scenario happens entirely too often. While it can be said that millions of people undergo at least some sort of struggle finding their foundation shades, the rates in which this happens are extremely disproportionate in relation to people with albinism and people with brown to black skin, especially because mixing foundations is, often, not even an option.
Musical artist Rihanna acknowledged that.
A few days after the launch of Rihanna’s long anticipated brand, Fenty Beauty, my dear friend and rising beauty influencer FacedByKareem raved on Snapchat about how phenomenal the foundation is. He said, “Out of the two years I have been doing makeup, I have never found a foundation that was this spot-on with shade matching while also being suitable for my oily-skin. Rihanna took the time to make sure that everyone would find their perfect match.”
Needless to say, I ran to Sephora the next day.
The brand features the Pro Filt’r face primer that both hydrated and smoothed my skin flawlessly. It acted as the perfect base for the corresponding foundation that provides buildable coverage, and a lightweight, comfortable soft matte finish. The best part? It comes in a whopping 40 shades. The consistency was definitely more on the watery side, but it dried down very quickly, and once it did, it felt as though it had set itself (for the longevity of your makeup, though, I always recommend setting any liquid foundation with powder). Once the foundation dried, it was a perfect match for me, the same way it was the perfect match for Krystal Robertson, a woman with albinism. For the first time ever, I wasn’t even the darkest shade, which meant it would even work for women darker than me!
The brand’s website features an impressive shade finder to assist one in deciding which shade to purchase based on his, her or their undertones.
The foundation retails for 34 dollars, so in comparison to other high-end brands that range from 40 dollars and up, the price is reasonable.
The Killawatt Freestyle highlighters come in a number of different shades and finishes. Some are duos, pairing a subtle highlight with a more intense one, while others are single highlighters. However, out of all of the shades available, Trophy Wife is a shade of gold with slightly green undertones and a shimmery yet metallic finish that is unlike anything I have ever had in my collection; it is currently my favorite highlighter to date. Not to mention, this treasure is wrapped in aesthetically pleasing packaging.
Although the primary focus of the launch was skin, on Oct. 13, Fenty Beauty will be releasing its holiday collection, which features an eyeshadow palette and other cosmetic goodies and I am #HEREFORIT!
The frequency at which the darker shades of Fenty Beauty’s foundation are sold out is a cogent demonstration of our buying power, so the sale disparity excuse for dark skin tones is no longer acceptable. Rihanna, sis, on behalf of the three girls, as well as other brown and black women like myself, thank you for highlighting that we exist, for showing brands that inclusivity always wins and for reassuring them that we belong in the beauty community just as much as anyone else does.
