The Persistent Problems Facing Indie Makeup Brands Developing Inclusive Shade Ranges

When 38-year-old LaTrice Moore began to dabble in makeup as a girl, she’d search for foundations that matched her mocha caramel coloring at drugstores and often walked away empty-handed.

“A foundation for my shade may have been the darkest shade available, and there were never many options,” she says. “Based on my experience, I decided I wanted to start my own line. It’s not only going to be inclusive, but it’s going to merge innovative technology with the inclusive formulas to really help your skin.”

It’s taken twice as long and 50% more money than Moore expected to finalize daVu Beauty, her forthcoming line. Over the course of 15 months, she dropped her first manufacturer and secured a second manufacturer. She has nailed down about a third of daVu Beauty’s complexion shades with her current manufacturing partner, but has yet to sign off on the darkest ones.

“We have finally gotten something that could match light women of color. Before, it missed the mark completely,” says Moore. “I think it’s a shock for them how deep they had to go to get the product to work on a lighter complected person. Perhaps that’s because of a lack of exposure about what deep versus light means in different groups of people.”

Hue Noir
Products from the brand Hue Noir, which is available at Target and has 25 shades of True Hues Flawless Finish Foundation.

In a beauty industry waking up to the needs and market impact of minorities (black and Hispanic shoppers outspend their white counterparts on a relative basis in several personal care categories), the capacity to execute beauty products for them lags the capacity to execute beauty products designed for white consumers. The problem is especially acute for emerging makeup brands with scarce resources and fewer manufacturers to choose from than large beauty companies.

Melody Bockelman, founder of Private Label Insider, estimates there are two private-label labs in the country indie brands can rely on to deliver truly diverse shade ranges. She says, “Natural hair is a big thing, and there are a number a natural haircare specialists in the U.S. There isn’t as many specialty color chemists in the U.S., and those that are there are don’t specialize in darker color skin.”

“There’s a limited amount of chemists who specialize in creating products of women of color, and they don’t really understand where they’re going wrong. With the lab, we are on revision number 10. They’re genuinely trying, and it dumbfounds them every time it doesn’t work.”

According to Bockelman, a longtime contract manufacturing expert assisting Moore with daVu Beauty, obstacles arise once an indie beauty brand founder endeavors to produce shades beyond pale. “I’m working on another line for an Indian woman who is struggling. It’s women of color across the board [who struggle],” she says. “There’s a limited amount of chemists who specialize in creating products of women of color, and they don’t really understand where they’re going wrong. With the lab, we are on revision number 10. They’re genuinely trying, and it dumbfounds them every time it doesn’t work.”

Moore recalls requesting a lab to produce a shade to match her skin tone, which she describes as medium. The lab supplied her with a beige formula much lighter than her complexion. “I met with them in person and sent a photo as well. I think it was just a type of product that isn’t widely made for women of color,” she says. “We still have a way to go to hit my skin tone.”

Melody Bockelman inclusive
Melody Bockelman, founder of Private Label Insider

Paula Hayes, a chemist and founder of Hue Noir, a color cosmetics brand with 25 shades of True Hues Flawless Finish Foundation, says cosmetic chemists attempting darker shades face a learning curve if they’ve mostly developed colors with fair skin tones in mind in the past. She elaborates, “The chemist needs to understand the spectrophotometer reading clearly, know how to translate that into a formula, have the ability to study the shades the market needs, and be given the time to develop and test their products before release.”

The timeline to produce complexion products for women of color can be lengthier than the timeline for products not aimed at them due to increased testing and tweaking. Bockelman says a custom foundation formula typically takes three to six months to develop. Between two manufacturers, the development of daVu Beauty’s shades is likely to span at least 18 months.

“The chemist needs to understand the spectrophotometer reading clearly, know how to translate that into a formula, have the ability to study the shades the market needs, and be given the time to develop and test their products before release.”

To help manufacturers properly match a variety of skin tones, Kaye Karch, a trend forecaster, beauty product creator and founder of BeautyMark Development, a firm that acts a liaison between brands and manufacturers, has brought people to manufacturers with those skin tones. “What I find with a contract filler is they will present a formula, and it’s more for the formula and not the shade,” she says. “An Italian vendor might show you a great foundation in shades that work only on an Italian woman, and it might not work your customer unless you bring a real person to them that’s like your customer.”

Abena Antwi, lead innovation scientist for Burt’s Bees and a member of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists, points out base formulas aren’t always perfect either. She details that titanium dioxide, a common ingredient in complexion products, may not provide sufficient coverage for dark spots on people with darker skin tones if it isn’t handled deftly in formulations.

Alima Pure inclusive
Alima Pure sells 72 shades across three foundation formulas.

“You have to be very experienced to have the right balance of ingredients to cover us and be aesthetically pleasing at the same time. It’s challenging, but it’s doable,” says Antwi. “I have 20 years of experience and, 20 years ago, it was harder. You saw a lot of darker shades that had red in them that didn’t match skin tones, but there are a lot of ingredients out there now that help manufacturers solve that issue.”

While there are a lot of relatively new ingredients, Antwi suggests there could be additional ingredients available to improve foundations and concealers for women of color. “It starts with the raw material suppliers and having classes of ingredients geared to the formulation of color cosmetics for people of different skin tones and types,” she says. “When you look at haircare versus color cosmetics, there are a lot of ingredients specifically for ethnic haircare. The same thing can be done in color cosmetics.”

“If labs are committed to diversity, more products for women of color and indie brands, they could educate themselves, their chemists and lab technicians a little more on color.”

Antwi also recommends continued education for cosmetic chemists on products for people of color. Bockelman agrees, saying, “If labs are committed to diversity, more products for women of color and indie brands, they could educate themselves, their chemists and lab technicians a little more on color.” She notes, though, that economic incentives to encourage extra training may be deficient. “The indie community is in a kind of a pickle because we aren’t high enough volume, and it has to make sense for labs to go to training and take time out of development for these indie brands,” says Bockelman.

Alima Pure has avoided manufacturing dilemmas by manufacturing its Satin Matte Foundation’s 45 shades in-house. Hannah Rector, director of media relations and education at the brand, says, “This gives us incredible control in production, something that is not as easily found with an outside manufacturer. Cost can be a prohibitive factor for a small brand to consider when developing a line.”

Hue Noir
Paula Hayes, a cosmetic chemist and founder of Hue Hoir

Cost certainly mounts for brands if their goal is to meet the 40-foundation-shade standard set for inclusivity by Fenty, a brand in the portfolio of LVMH Moët Hennesy Louis Vuitton-owned Kendo. Karch says, “The minimum order quantity whether you sell 25,000 pieces or you sell 800 pieces is the same. So, if you are only selling 800 pieces, you may have to make 5,000-piece batches. Do the math, it’s not going to work for indie brands. They’re not going to be able to make money.”

Karch advises small brands to stick to sheer formulas and not shoot for 40 shades to make the financial math feasible. She says, “You have to be creative in how you do your formula, and your formula has to be very forgiving.” DaVu Beauty is planning on catering to an array of skin tones with a tight shade range that doesn’t promise heavy coverage.

“It’s getting better, but there is still great room for improvement. The issues that we hear are formulation inadequacies, and that there may be a lack of response in the natural beauty market. I truly believe these shades will be purchased when introduced. There is a demand and need for these from women of all skin tones.”

However, brands without LVMH-sized budgets are meeting and exceeding the 40-shade bar. Jouer released 17 shades of its Essential High Coverage Crème Foundation in October and grew the shade assortment to 50 in April. “If I can do it at my size, every brand can do it,” says Jouer founder Christina Zilber. “I don’t think there’s an excuse for not being inclusive in this day and age.”

Inclusiveness is even advancing in natural beauty, a slice of the beauty sector that hasn’t traditionally served a diverse population. CAP Beauty co-founder Kerrilyn Pamer, says, “It’s getting better, but there is still great room for improvement. The issues that we hear are formulation inadequacies, and that there may be a lack of response in the natural beauty market. I truly believe these shades will be purchased when introduced. There is a demand and need for these from women of all skin tones.” She singles out Alima Pure, Kjaer Weis and Vapour as natural beauty leaders in producing shades for deep complexions.

Jouer
Jouer’s Essential High Coverage Crème Foundation is available in 50 shades.

Despite the setbacks she’s encountered, Moore is upbeat about daVu Beauty’s future as an inclusive brand and the beauty industry’s recognition of women of color as an important customer segment. “Given the time I grew up in, I think there’s been major progress,” she says. “I don’t get frustrated anymore. I see an opportunity for those of us who want to get into beauty to fill a void that women are looking for.”

TAKEAWAYS

  • Brands looking to develop inclusive complexion shade ranges have to deal with higher costs and longer timelines than brands sticking to traditional shade ranges.
  • For indie beauty brands, the manufacturing field is limited when it comes to those with expertise in producing foundation shades for women of color. Melody Bockelman of Private Label Insider estimates there are two labs in the U.S. that can develop truly diverse shade ranges for small brands.
  • Challenges persist due to inexperience on the part of cosmetic chemists. Bockelman and Abena Antwi, lead innovation scientist at Burt’s Bees, suggest they should receive training on products geared to women of color. Antwi adds that the raw ingredients available to cosmetic chemists for foundation formulas could use improvement.
  • The new 40-shade standard set for inclusivity places financial pressure on indie beauty brands. To make inclusivity tenable for them, Kaye Karch, founder of BeautyMark Development, advises brands to stick to sheer coverage formulas and tight collections that suit a plethora of skin tones.
  • Certainly, women of color can choose from more complexion product offerings than they did in the past, including those from indie beauty brands. Budding brands like Hue Noir, Beauty Bakerie and EveryHue Beauty cater to their needs. Jouer has released 17 shades of its Essential High Coverage Crème Foundation in October and grew the shade assortment to 50 in April.

Feature photo credit: Alima Pure