November 18, 2025 by Chloe Brown
Growing Up in a Beauty World That Didn’t Include Black Girls
Growing up as a Black girl meant stepping into a beauty world where I rarely saw myself represented. Beauty aisles, magazine covers, and product ads were shaped around lighter skin and straighter hair. Even something simple like looking for black make up options felt like an effort rather than an experience. My introduction to beauty was shaped in the margins, built from products never designed with girls like me in mind.
I began experimenting with makeup in my late teens, but shopping for it didn’t feel exciting. Most brands didn’t carry anything close to my tone. The only thing available was whatever I could borrow from my mother. The first foundation I ever used was from Fashion Fair, one of the few early brands created specifically as make up for black women. Even then, the shade didn’t match my undertone, but it still lived proudly in my small black make up bag, because it was all I had access to.
Magazines and Media That Erased Our Presence
As a kid, I consumed fashion and beauty magazines with fascination, yet page after page forgot to acknowledge girls with deeper complexions. No discussions about undertones. No styling guides for textured hair. No advice tailored to black women make up routines. Even beauty tips that were meant to be “universal” failed to translate onto melanin-rich skin.
The absence wasn’t subtle. It was loud, constant, and shaping.
The Emotional Weight of Shade Matching
The Endless Search for Foundation
By the time I began choosing my own products, shade matching felt like a battle I never signed up for. Every foundation leaned too orange, too red, too light, or too dull. Makeup artists often looked at me, looked at the display, and chose something “close enough.” When I questioned it, they told me to fix it with powder.
Finding essentials for my own black make up bag became a repeated cycle of disappointment. It wasn’t just about the wrong shades — it was the message underneath: beauty wasn’t made for me.
Why Matching Deep Skin Tones Was So Difficult
Deeper complexions couldn’t be boxed into two or three tones, but for decades, that was exactly how the industry treated us. Undertones were misunderstood or ignored. Products oxidized in ways other skin tones never experienced. Something as simple as preparing a polished look for a make up for black dress event became unnecessarily complicated because products didn’t complement deeper hues.
The Turning Point: Brands That Finally Saw Us
The Rise of Black-Owned and Inclusive Beauty Lines
The real shift happened when voices grew louder, and Black women demanded visibility. Brands like Juvia’s Place and Uoma Beauty changed the rules. Their shade ranges were created with intentionality — not as an afterthought. They described undertones clearly, formulated shades thoughtfully, and offered products that genuinely worked for melanin-rich skin.
Suddenly, make up for black women was no longer hidden in neglected corners of the beauty aisle. It was celebrated.
The Fenty Effect
In 2017, Fenty Beauty launched with 40 foundation shades and forced the industry to confront its blind spots. It opened the door wider, showing what true inclusion looked like. But before Fenty, pioneers such as IMAN Cosmetics, Black Opal, and Fashion Fair laid the foundation for inclusive beauty. They created space long before the industry recognized the value of deeper skin tones.
How Early Beauty Messages Harmed Black Identity
Beauty marketing aimed at Black women often carried a message disguised as advice: straighten your curls, lighten your skin, soften your features. These messages told us that our natural selves needed correction. They created deep emotional impacts that lasted through generations.
Loving our own beauty — from textured hair to deep skin — became an act of resistance. Even practicing black women make up techniques became a statement of self-acceptance.
The Industry Must Truly Listen to Black Women
Beyond Shade Ranges
Yes, we’ve seen more inclusive releases. But increasing the number of shades is only step one. True inclusion requires involving Black women in every stage of product development, testing formulas on melanin-rich skin, understanding undertones, and eliminating issues like grey cast or oxidation.
Products should belong in a black make up bag without requiring mixing, layering, or compromise.
Listening as a Standard, Not an Exception
Black women shouldn’t need to speak up repeatedly to be acknowledged. But when we do, brands should listen — genuinely. Feedback should translate into formulas, shade expansions, and better distribution.
Black Buying Power: The Market Many Ignored
For decades, companies underestimated the spending power of Black consumers. But the numbers tell a different story: Black spending power in the UK is around £100 billion, and the BAME community contributes roughly £300 billion annually. Black women purchase beauty products for daily life, professional settings, and special moments like make up for black dress occasions. Our influence isn’t marginal — it’s monumental.
The Moment I Learned My Voice Could Change Things
One of my defining experiences was searching for a powder that matched my undertone. I visited countless stores, many of which were sold out or didn’t stock deeper shades. When I finally found the right one, it was across town. After venting to a friend, she told me to write to the brand. I did, and they responded with an apology and a promise to improve.
That moment taught me that progress doesn’t come from silence. Speaking up is the first spark of change.
Diversity Must Be Built Into the System — Not Added Later
Real Inclusion Means Structural Change
Today, I’m encouraged by the progress made, but the path ahead is long. Diversity must be anchored into product development, marketing decisions, shade system design, education, and brand identity. It cannot be a seasonal slogan or a temporary campaign.
Beauty Should Celebrate Differences
Beauty becomes meaningful when it uplifts every woman. Inclusion ensures that the next generation won’t feel the erasure many of us grew up with. When every skin tone, undertone, and hair texture is represented authentically, the beauty industry finally becomes what it should have been all along — a place of celebration, not exclusion.
Because in the end, black make up, make up for black women, black make up bag, make up for black dress, and the entire world of black women make up is more than cosmetics.
It is identity.
It is culture.
It is resilience.
It is power.