By Khadija Allen
The cosmetics industry has always filled shelves with innovative products to enhance the faces of women around the world. Today’s adult woman is yearning for that lasting impression to provide a fresh, clean and glamorous look. No wonder the cosmetics industry sits on a billion dollar conglomerate!
But for ages, companies have gravitated to Caucasian women more so than minorities, even though minorities comprise of a large percentage of the consumer base. So what have professionals decided to do in recent years? They are luring women of color. Black, Latino, Asian and Indian women are becoming spokemodels for campaigns such as Revlon, L’Oreal, Cover Girl, and Maybelline. The state of beauty brands were capitalizing off the consumers without reflecting minority women as a whole and it was a problem.
According to an Atlanta Post report:
These numbers are sure to skyrocket as we move toward a point—some say as early as 2042—when minorities are the majority in this country.
“Times have changed dramatically and there are many more options available for women of color than in the past,” stated Sandra Hutson, brand director for Black Opal. “The industry is finally starting to recognize that women of color really do need products that are developed especially for their them.”
Whether they’re going about it with overt messaging and products like Cover Girls’ Queen Collection, which is fronted by Queen Latifah, or through broader marketing campaigns like that of L’Oreal USA’s HIP line, which simply offers colors with higher pigmentation which work better on darker skin, it is clear marketers are taking this consumer group into account when developing new products.
