A Glamour Magazine article about including more diversity in beauty and fashion featuring Leomie has really stuck to me. I’m still hyped and still moved to implement this movement of “embracing ALL” to the fashion world and society as a whole, thumb and it just excites me to know that there are people in the industry that are woke and are thinking in the same direction as I. Lots of people in the public eye have such an advantage to spread knowledge and change certain issues, but not enough have.
Leomie stated “I’d love to become an ambassador for a makeup brand. But I‘d be more than just the face. I’d use it to speak up about the beauty industry and work to make sure every young girl can walk into a makeup store and find her shade. Literally if that’s all I accomplish, it’d make me happy.”
This is the exact vision I have at this point in my life. Creating a platform in beauty for all women, especially those of color, to feel comfortable in today’s society of excessive beauty trends, is vital. I live for skin care, makeup, hair care and anything that embraces the true essence of a woman’s style, and I know I am not alone. I live in Sephora, stalk beauty enthusiast/editors, and read fashion publications whenever I see an ethnic woman grace the cover just to put you in perspective. This is not to cut down on anyone, but it’s not often that we see much variety in terms of skin color in high end fashion magazines, but it’s imperative that this “variety” becomes the norm because it is. Creative directors, designers, and artists must learn to represent all individuals as opposed to the typical “type” that we always see. It is so important that this kind of culture is created and concrete to our youth, to our future.
I’m mostly concerned that beauty brands are not satisfying their entire audience of women, only a selected group. Yet it has been proven that corporations are significantly suffering from losses as they continue to forget about their black consumers. I thought if not politics, religion, or status it was makeup that could bring women together but unfortunately it doesn’t. I just want to be able to go to any makeup counter and find my shade, because every counter caters to lighter skin tones but not dark. I’ll never forget a high school friend (Caucasian) laughing when asking if a certain brand even made my color because I’m darker than her, and ironically they didn’t. It’s upsetting to see very little improvement or growth within these industries.
Obviously lots of recent campaigns have featured black women to make us feel more restored but have you taken the time to understand us, skin needs, color tones, hair textures etc. as you would other women ? It seems that creators are changing more for popularity rather than the better or essentially what’s right! The fashion enterprise must move to become inclusive. Without evolvement and open minds this industry will die out, and become meaningless.
Written by Jazzmine Thomas
Instagram: @jazzminemariee
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