Over the past decade, cosmetic and beauty brands have begun to make significant changes by way of catering to underrepresented communities. Retailer Superdrug announced in 2019 their decision to only stick foundations that come in a minimum of 20 different shades following research which revealed that two-thirds of black and Asian women do not that high street brands cater to their beauty needs. Since Fenty Beauty became one of the few mainstream brands to provide a fully inclusive range of shades and tones to be fully inclusive to a wide variety of consumer’s needs, brands that stock a limited number of shades, thereby excluding a proportion of its potential sales base, have been called out for the lack of diversity within their formulations. Companies like Clairin’s are noted for having limited options for those who do not fall within their spectrum, and finally, the complaints from customers who are tired of not being catered for has resulted in brands making headway on this issue.
However, while products, from beauty to hair products, are becoming more readily available to all ethnicities, body types and gender identifies, beauty marketing is still aimed at a young, white audience, assuming that all their customers fall within this stereotype.
In its June edition, Dame Judi Dench became British Vogue’s oldest cover star at the age of 85, proving that not does age not define beauty, but also that we have a long way to go in society with regards to age inclusion in the beauty industry which is particularly lacking in diversity. According to research by L’Oréal Paris, 40 percent of women over the age of 50 ‘do not feel seen’. It should be noted that L’Oréal have a long history of employing ambassadors and catering to women over the age of 40, however, this is not something common amongst over brands. When a brand or publication does use a model or ambassador over the age of 40, it is applauded as if it’s an extraordinary decision, rather than recognising the fact that the majority of the consumers who have the means to purchase these products fall into similar age brackets and despite what beauty marketing has led us to believe, age does not define beauty.
Fortunately, brands have recognised that a change is needed in the way we view age, and in a further move from ‘anti-ageing’ based marketing approached rooted in stereotypes have begun to target specific concerns such as hormonally driven changes from menopause.
New Launches, addressing this issue form brands such as L’Oréal, Clairin’s, Trinny London, Korres and Boots No7 coming throughout 2020 will likely form a way for other beauty and cosmetic companies to follow suit. Hopefully this, like the way Fenty Beauty did, will allow for more inclusivity within products offered and make ways to break the stereotypes we all face.