This past summer, celebrity makeup artist Kirin Bhatty was wandering around Sephora when she came across three young women perusing foundations. The women, who all had deep skin tones — a Black woman and two South Asian women — each picked out a bottle. What she realized was monumental: Each of their perfect shades existed in a singular bottle. Ten years ago, the only option would be to mix several shades to get something to somewhat match our complexion. It was a painful reminder that beauty for people of color comes at a steep price, both financially and emotionally.
Finding beauty products made for the spectrum of darker skin tones has been more accessible in recent years with brands consciously expanding their selection. But feeling like your most glamorous self goes beyond the right concealer. It means finding and embracing products that make you feel like your most vibrant self.
In Trinidad, where makeup artist and beauty influencer Jaleesa Jaikaran grew up, Black beauty was beauty — rich, celebrated and gleefully unadulterated. It didn’t feel like that in the U.S. magazines she read on vacations to the States, clearly centered white beauty. “I had to find it within myself to break through the mental barriers of not being good enough, pretty enough or worthy enough to not only show up online like I [do] now but also in the rooms I’ve stepped foot in,” Jaikaran said.
It took years of inner work for Jaikaran to feel like she was enough — and learn how to show up for herself when beauty brands and media didn’t. “True beauty is being unapologetically you,” she said.
Many of us are on that journey. For the record, any great makeup artist will tell you that if you love a product — a bright pink lipstick or aquamarine eyeliner — then wear it, regardless of which skin tone you think it’s “meant for.” But there’s so much out there now that was intentionally made with us in mind, so I had to create a roundup of what our darker-skinned beauty mavens are keeping on rotation this holiday.
These products are celebrations of the Black and brown beauty figures, business owners, and more, who have paved the way for inclusivity and a place in the industry — and who continue to remind BIPOC beauty users everywhere that we are neither a monolith nor an afterthought.
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