Out of the 20 major department store makeup brands, only four of them have colors that work well for women of color.
The student organization Fashion At Oswego, created by junior Imani Cruz, conducted a makeup tutorial Monday at 8 p.m. The Marano Campus Center classroom was transformed into a busy student studio where girls of all colors learned a bit about lipstick and contour lines.
The presentation began by introducing the evening’s two makeup artists. Each girl made herself credible to the crowd by telling about her history and experience with makeup. Gbemi Abiola and Raven Cruz both had experience doing freelance makeup work for shows and private events. Each also credited their learned skills from YouTube tutorial videos.
The two introduced palettes of different concealers and foundations in creams, liquids and powders for the face in addition to lipstick colors from both drugstores and department stores.
Abiola used the back of her hand to show participants the swatches of lip color, revealing how the inexpensive drugstore brands are often very close in color to the designer lip sticks, which can often be triple the price.
They localized the tutorial, telling the crowd which products they had bought from the Oswego Walmart, like the foam foundation applicator. Cruz said it cost $6 instead of $25 and Abiola added that it even worked better and had an angled side.
Abiola said it is always worth it to take a risk on a makeup product because if a buyer is not satisfied, they can return it for their money back. She also mentioned an important tip: don’t put a liquid or cream foundation over a powder one as this can make the skin appear cakey.
The female students in the crowd all went home knowing a bit more about makeup, how much to spend and where to get it. But the women also left the room knowing it might be a while before more brands begin to cater their colors to match darker skin tones.
The hosts presented information that showed women of color spend an average of $2 billion more per year than white women on cosmetics because they are often buying colors that don’t work for their skin tones. Abiola even mentioned a black star who had a bad experience with a makeup artist who couldn’t provide dark foundation for her skin. The model was asked to bring her own foundation to the runway dressing room.
“The overarching theme of this event was to spotlight the diversity in makeup and show the lack of diversity in large makeup brands like in drug stores,” Imani said. “You never see swatches in darker skin, it’s almost always on lighter skin and white skin. And I wanted to show that even if you are darker, you can still look beautiful.”
The tutorial highlighted how to use products in a healthy way, avoiding breakouts, over drying or over moisturizing. The girls discussed lip exfoliation, color correcting techniques for the face and tips for covering hickies.
More than just tips on how to look good, Imani Cruz spoke about the topic of representation in the media.
“I think it’s all about representing yourself on TV and if you see someone that looks like you, it can make all the difference in your self esteem and in the way you carry yourself,” Cruz said.
