What is Eyeshadow?
Eyeshadow is a cosmetic product that is applied to the eyelids and brow area, by adding colour, depth, and dimension, typically by using powder, cream, liquid, or stick formulation. Eyeshadow cam enhance the eyes by adding contrast, brightness, or definition. It can make eyes appear larger, more defined, or more expressive depending on the colour chosen or placement. The most common form of eyeshadow is powder, this is easy to blend and is often pressed into palettes. Cream or liquid is a smoother application, for more intense colour payoff. The only issue is that this can crease more easily. Stick is a much more convenient, portable, and typically creamy formula.
Why do black women struggle to find eyeshadow?
Black women struggle to find a suitable eyeshadow because the beauty industry has historically offered limited shade ranges , with many products being designed for lighter skin tones and underdeveloped deep-toned palettes. The beauty industry globally has offered beauty products that catered to lighter skin tones, with people of a darker skin tone struggling with getting products that are available, has depth and variety. Even though, Black consumers make up a significant share of beauty spending in the US, 11% of the market. Yet Black owned brands account for only 2.5% of industry revenue. This underrepresentation mans that a fewer amount of products are developed specially for darker skin tones, including eyeshadows.
What are the gaps in eyeshadows for black women?
Many mainstream brands only stock a few deep shades, and when they do, they stray from actual depth or undertone for needs of Black consumers. This means that eyeshadow has two few dark shades, often only having one or two "deep" colours instead of the full range. They often struggle with protecting eyeshadow with the right undertones, and formula of eyeshadows look ashy or grey on deeper skin tones. Many mainstream brands offer limited colour palettes, as many palettes are labelled as "neutral" or "everyday" that lacks rich, warm, or cool deep tones.
What consequences has the lack inclusivity for black audiences?
Beauty marketing has struggled to include black women, with only a small percentage of brands advertising or targeting them. Some companies have even said or developed misconceptions that "dark shades don't sell", despite evidence such as Fenty beauty's foundation launch that deep shades are very profitable. This bias has lead to product lines prioritising lighter tones and marginalising deeper shades. In retail, when brands expand their ranges, retailers may not stock them widely or may store products for darker skin tones separately, making them harder to find. In the UK, this creates limited availability in mainstream stores Boots or Space NK with fewer instore options for deeper eyeshadow tones.
Why does the lack of inclusivity for black audiences matter?
This matters for not only Black women and for other people too, finding the right eyeshadow is more than just aesthetic. Eyeshadow is about confidence, self-expression and people acknowledging their identity through arts, beauty and makeup by providing beauty products that reflect their reality. It accepts them. The lack of inclusive shade ranges contributes to a bigger pattern of exclusion in the beauty industry.
What has A Star Cosmetics done to make eyeshadow inclusive for black audiences?
A Star Cosmetics has made steps to create inclusivity for black audiences, by offering representation of black women using the product in advertisements. The Star Chrome shadow shows how to apply the duochrome shadow for better pigmentation, and showing representation through media of pigmentation. We often collaborate with different content creators and this has let us successfully create feedback that will aid us in creating products for different audiences. A Star Cosmetics has vowed to consistently even instore to promote products with variation and customer satisfaction.
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