Makeup swatches are a beautiful thing. They show you exactly what the product looks like on skin, but this has become an issue for non-white women as there isn't much variety when it comes to the skin tone the makeup is being tested on. While one shade may look bright and bold on pale skin, it could look completely different on dark skin. Because of this, beauty blogger Ofunne Amaka has made it her mission to showcase how different makeup can look on a variety of skin tones so dark-skinned women can know exactly what they're getting before making a purchase.
Amaka's idea started with an Instagram account that quickly gained over 20,000 followers as it offered something beneficial that women of color hadn't really seen before. Once she realized how big of a difference photos of makeup on all different skin tones could make, she wanted to take it one step further.
"When I first started the Cocoa Swatches Instagram account, I really didn't have a vision for what it would be or what it could be," she wrote on her personal website. "All I knew was that doing my makeup was a creative extension of [my] personality, BUT I was lacking the tools I felt I needed to properly indulge in this practice. It turns out that many others feel the exact same way."
On the Instagram page, she posts photos from other beauty bloggers, or colors she tries on herself, and allows people to see what the popular brands' swatches look like on "various complexions unrepresented by the industry."
"It's no secret that the beauty world has a problem with diversity," she continued to write. "In addition to darker complextions being underrepresented in advertisements, they are often ignored in product development. Its really infuriating when a new foundation or concealer comes out and there is only one dark shade meant to encompass all dark complexions. This is why Cocoa Swatches is so important to me. As I began to learn more and more about the beauty world, it became clear that many beauty brands make it difficult for women of color, especially women with darker complexions, to make accurate purchasing decisions."
Now that the account has done so well, she has developed a mobile app that not only showcases the latest makeup swatches on different complexions, but also features makeup trips and tricks from experts, the ability for users to compare products to find the best one, search the photos of the Instagram page without having to scroll and to discover new and old products.
"I knew the problem I was having was a pretty universal one. I just didn't know how quickly people would start following and be interested," Amaka told Mic. "I've posted makeup on totally different skin tones before and people have acted like I was lying, that a shade could not look that different on a different person."
To solve this problem, she models the makeup on herself and then brings in friends of different skin tones to prove her point. With this, she hopes that brands will not only expand their color options, but hire models of color more often.
"I hope to prove that this target market really matters and should be taken into consideration when companies create beauty advertisements and products," she told Allure. "The Cocoa Swatches community is highly engaged in the beauty industry, and they are willing to spend dollars on the products and brands that will complement them and support them."
The app is free and is currently available on iOS and Android devices. Amaka announced the news on her Instagram account. Check her post out below!
