WELL MATCHED
THE GROWING DIVERSITY IN HOW BEAUTY IS DEPICTED IS A SIGN OF CHANGING TIMES, BUT IS THE REALITY FOR CONSUMERS OF ALL COLOURS MORE THAN SKIN DEEP? JANETTA MACKAY RECKONS FOUNDATION SELECTION IS A GOOD PLACE TO START A STOCKTAKE
Nearly 10 years ago Viva surveyed beauty brands to find out which best catered to a diverse range of skin tones. Back then we were receiving letters from women desperate to find makeup that matched. They felt under-represented and poorly served. Although we were able to point to a small number of brands that catered to both ends of the colour spectrum — very dark and very pale foundations being particularly hard to find a decade ago — there wasn’t a lot of joy to be had in the more budget-conscious mass market or self-select ranges. For those with light to medium complexions, up to mid-toned olive skin (and thus taking in a slice of our Maori and Polynesian population), choices were better, but still well short of where things are today.
New Zealand’s population has grown in number and diversity and the retail selection with it. There has been an explosion of beauty brands and more consumer awareness of what they offer, in part built through online beauty communities and shopping. The biggest shift is in the changing conversation around beauty, however, with the ideal having morphed into a more individual interpretation. This recognises a range of ethnicities, rather than being dominated by a Western view — and a rather narrow one at that. Yes, the blue-eyed, blonde, honey-skinned model is still overrepresented as a percentage of the realworld population, but she’s got company.
Leaving aside questions of whether some advertising campaigns are a genuine outreach (or a me-too, tick-the-boxes marketing exercise looking to emerging or existing under-exploited markets), there’s no doubting what we see today is more inclusive. And that’s without even discussing gender, size and shape representation. So the outlook is healthier — for those not too far down the filtered Instagram rabbit hole of perfected appearance.
But what does this all mean for consumers out shopping for a face base? Those brands that led the way in diversity initially, notably M.A.C, still do so, but