Make-up giant excludes shades for Darker Skin

Maybelline’s new Dream Velvet foundation line comes in 12 shades in the United States, but only the six lighter shades were released in the UK excluding all those made for any other race other than white, according to Buzzfeed News.

Famous black British model Jourdan Dunn was used in the advertisements for one of the darker shades released in the U.S. and her shade is the only one Maybelline has announced they will release for UK customers so far. Cosmetic options for people of colour are limited because of decisions like this from cosmetic companies.

The lack of shade range puts those with darker skin tones at a disadvantage, singling them out so that it is harder to find options and most of the time more expensive. Maybelline has claimed to work towards diversity by declaring Herieth Paul, a Tanzanian model, as their global spokesperson, but the discrepancy is clear when lighter customers are offered an extensive array of shades and darker customers are not offered any options at all.

Original Story: http://www.buzzfeed.com/fionarutherford/maybelline

Mary Schlichte