jane iredale’s launch of Global Beauty

Last week jane iredale launched Global Beauty; colors geared towards ethnic women. Shades in this palette include: Autumn, Butternut, Caramel, Chestnut, Coffee, Fawn, Latte, Maple, Mink, Riviera, Teakwood and Terra.

I decided talk to two wonderful beauty bloggers I know to get their input and their feelings about makeup in the marketplace for women of color and varying races.

I spoke with Patrice Yursik, otherwise known in the blogging world as the very wonderful and insightful Afrobella, and Lianne Farbes a talented makeup artist and the blogger behind The Makeup Girl.

When I asked Patrice her thoughts on makeup for non-caucasian women she replied,

“For me, it’s not just the lack of makeup available, it’s also the blatant
lack of representation in magazines and other forms of media. Afrobella was inspired by the fact that there was nothing else available for me to read. I wanted a fun-to-read source of information for women of color who care about all issues beauty-related. For some reason, they don’t seem to sell Vibe Vixen, Honey, Mahogany, or any of few magazines targeted to black women here in Miami. So far, my feedback has been tremendous, which tells me that the void I noticed was bigger than I thought.

I think things for women of color are improving in terms of representation on the store shelves. I see hallmarks of progress everywhere – Pat McGrath working with Max Factor, L’Oreal’s H.I.P line (which seems to be tremendously successful, the shelves are always empty when I go to Target), Queen Latifah repping Cover Girl, Missy Elliott and Eve repping MAC. Still, there’s so much farther to go. I’d love to see more affordable drugstore brands make products that cater to a wider range of skin shades. Brighter colors, stronger pigments, makeup and hair care products specifically made with the natural ethnic woman in mind. Women of color spend tremendous amounts on hair and beauty products, and we’re still an as-yet-unrealized market. Global Beauty certainly sounds like a step in the right direction (I’d love to try this stuff!) and I hope more companies take note.”

Lianne had similar feelings:

“Like Patrice, I started my blog because as much as I love reading all the other beauty blogs, I didn’t see any that were written by women of color for women of color. As a makeup artist, I feel like I try and appeal to all ethnicities as the majority of my clients are from all walks of life.

That being said, I do feel like the climate is changing. I remember being a teenager and wearing Lancome dual finish and the color being completely wrong! We have certainly come a long way in that regard. I have noticed that drugstore lines have come a long way, but we still have a long way to go. Even though Pat McGrath is with Procter & Gamble now, there still aren’t a full range of shades available. L’Oreal HIP is doing quite well but I feel like that may be the only drugstore line that truly has a full range of shades – I call it poor girls MAC! It seems like if you want something to match, you have to pay $$ for it and to tell you the truth I don’t mind that, I would just prefer an option. I can’t just walk into the CVS and pick up some powder and sometimes that sucks because you don’t always want to spend $$ on makeup! Dept store lines like Prescriptives, Bobbi Brown and MAC paved the way for color experimentation from others and they are catching up but overall, it is still slow going. I have many friends that will only wear MAC for that very reason…..they are scared that other cosmetics just won’t match and for a black woman, there is nothing worse than looking ashy.”

It looks like jane iredale is on the right track and tapping into a market that has gone virtually ignored for a long time. Creating her Skin Care Makeup line that is inclusive and not exclusive, will make for very happy women all across the globe.