Shade Inclusivity, Photoshop Bans, and Other Major Beauty Industry Wins in 2018
In 2018, beauty brands — including Fenty Beauty, Beauty Bakerie, CoverGirl, Olay, and more — did their part to make the industry as inclusive as it should have always been. When it comes to diversifying the beauty industry, there is always more work to be done, but this year was filled with significant diversity moment beauty wins.
As cosmetic companies and retailers continued to rethink their packaging and use of retouching software, other beauty brands expanded their product offerings — unveiling lines made exclusively for people of color, and product shade ranges that were more inclusive than ever. We're hopeful that 2019 continues to bring about even more needed change in the industry, but for now, we're looking back and sharing the diversity beauty moment wins of 2018.
Fenty Beauty's Continued Success
Rihanna's beauty brand officially turned one year old in 2018. Since its founding, Fenty Beauty has worked to diversify beauty offerings, debuting with a range of 40 foundation shades. And while we're still not over some of their initial product launches, the beauty brand continued to churn out the hits, earning recognition on a global scale for its continued innovation.
Earlier this year, Fenty Beauty was named one of Time's most genius companies. The honor is well deserved — especially when you consider how busy Rihanna has been. Along with unveiling a line of new Stunna Lip paints and a winter collection, Fenty Beauty started a YouTube channel of beauty tutorials and created products that give back to charity.
Brands Redefined Beauty Standards
During New York Fashion Week 2018, Olay made waves in the beauty industry — creating an entire runway show that was centered around the idea of models walking barefaced. For the Face Anything campaign participants including Jackie Aina, Nabela Noor, and Dulce Candy all modeled for an Olay-centered runway show, and no one was wearing makeup.
The show was just one of many 2018 movements that redefined beauty standards. Urban Decay, SPKTRM Beauty, and M.A.C. Cosmetics started featuring untouched beauty photos in their marketing, and CVS announced its intentions to completely phase out photoshopped images in their stores by 2020.
CoverGirl Launched Full Spectrum Collection
Late this year, CoverGirl launched an entire collection of beauty products created specifically for people of color. As reported by Allure, the Full Spectrum collection includes foundation, eye shadow, lipstick, eyeliner, and more — and all were made specifically to "pop against darker skin tones."
Beauty Bakerie Goes Viral
Beauty Bakerie was founded in 2011 by Cashmere Nicole. The line — which officially debuted in select Ulta stores this year — received renewed attention in 2018, earning viral praise for its decision to number the darker shades of its foundation coloring first.
In an interview with Teen Vogue, Cashmere explained the decision, noting how she wanted to challenge the numbering standards. "For black women in particular, we are reminded everywhere we go, on a daily basis, multiple times throughout the day, that we are second," she said. "You go into a store, and you are bending down to nearly the ground to get your shade, or you go to a beauty store's website, and when you're looking for your shade you're scrolling to the bottom of a list. And it could be any brand, but it's going to be like, here are the light shades, and here are the dark all the way down here."
Serena Williams Wore Cornrows on the Teen Vogue Cover
On December 12, 2018, Serena Williams became the first person ever to wear cornrows on the cover of Teen Vogue. Appearing on our December/January cover, the tennis player shared in a conversation with Naomi Wadler.
Revlon Launches Shade-Inclusive Product Line
CoverGirl wasn't the only beauty brand to launch a more inclusive cosmetic line. As previously reported, Revlon's Chief Creative Officer and Allure founding editor, Linda Wells teamed up to create Flesh — a line of products created with the idea of "redefining the notion of what flesh color really is and having it be inclusive on every level." The collection is independent of Revlon and retails at Ulta.
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