In a time where 'inclsuion' is the word on everybody's lips, Beautyblender's new foundation range drops the ball and Jackie Aina tells us why.
When it comes to reviews, Jackie Aina is our go-to. The outspoken beauty influencer never steers us wrong and always tells it exactly as it is. This time she turned her attention to a product that has caused quite a bit of uproar in the beauty industry. Watch as the youtuber spills the beans on controversial Beautyblender foundation.
Beautyblender is an incredible brand that has given us probably one of the best, most useful and most popular beauty tools of all time. The beauty blender is a God-send when it comes to applying and blending. Expanding into a makeup range probably seemed like the next logical step but the foundation roll-out has been met by derision from the beauty industry.
In a time of Fenty Beauty and Too Faced's 'Born This Way' foundation range extension (Thanks again, Jackie) there really is no excuse for beauty brands to not be including darker skin tones in their ranges in a meaningful way.
The success of the above-mentioned beauty lines have shown that there definitely is a huge market for minorities buying high-end makeup so why are we still being excluded from the conversation?
Beautyblender launched the foundation with 32 shades, which certainly sounds like a decent selection. Creator Rea Ann Silva also told Allure that the brand paid special attention to creating colours on the darker end of the spectrum. It's noteworthy that 25 of the 32 shades seem to cater to lighter and medium skin tones, while only seven are suitable for dark to deep skin.
Over the last year, the changes that the beauty industry is making to become more inclusive have sparked an important conversation so of course, people were not going to let Beautyblender get away with this.
Beautyblender has responded to the backlash and gave Cosmopolitan the following statement:
Of our 32 blends, half the shades (16) are formulated for a range of olive and brown skin tones. We truly want everyone to find their perfect match and our founder, Rea Ann Silva, is not only Latina, but a professional makeup artist working primarily with women of colour — so she is an expert in this colour range.
Those with tan, deep and dark skin tones understand that finding the right colour foundation is all about matching your undertone and this is where Rea Ann saw the biggest hole in the market — for women like herself and her multicultural family. BOUNCE offers a wide variety of undertones from neutral, warm, cool, and olive and a special ultramarine blue to create a deep rich tone.
Jackie Aina has weighed in on the debate with a review video that is a must-watch!
What are your thoughts? Do you think Beautyblender tried their best or they could have done much better? Vote below!