The lip service of inclusivity: Why the beauty industry still doesn’t see brown skin

What keeps the beauty industry—particularly the homegrown one—from truly embracing brown skin-friendliness? 

Shopping for make-up is all fun and games until you head to the foundation and concealer sections. You’re suddenly required to pore over skin tone charts, dissect undertones, factor in oxidisation, and compare finishes to find the right match for your complexion. It’s still quite likely that you may not find the most suitable complexion products, and especially so if your skin colour falls under the spectrums of ‘brown’ or ‘black’.  

You may think the foundation and concealer markets would have revolutionised in a post-Fenty Beauty world, but that’s far from the truth. Earlier this year, African beauty content creator Golloria called out YouthForia for retailing a jet black-coloured foundation towards the dark-complexioned. Similarly, YSL Beauty found itself in the midst of a controversy when it launched an almost-white cream blush, endorsing it as a universally-flattering ‘lilac’. Closer home, inclusivity is crawling up on the product lines of homegrown brands, albeit gradually. While brands like Kay Beauty, Akind Beauty, Lovechild by Masaba, Ruby’s Organics, and Color Chemistry are taking broader shade ranges into consideration, we’re still short of cosmetic brands that churn out 40-plus shades of foundations and concealers. Diversity in the case of colour cosmetics is an underplayed struggle—lipsticks, blushes, eyeliners, and bronzers reflect a lack of understanding of the nuances of brown skin. 

We speak to experts from the industry to decipher the challenges that keep the beauty industry—particularly the homegrown one—from becoming truly brown skin-friendly. 

Discounting an entire colour spectrum

Beauty brands in the West—bearing a few like M.A.C Cosmetics, Bobbi Brown or Make Up For Ever that were first targeted towards make-up artists for studio usage—have largely catered to white skin, a complexion with two undertones, namely yellow and pink. Indian skin tones, on the other hand, feature diverse complexion types, including olive and warm undertones, and international brands didn’t take notice of this requirement for decades before Rihanna standardised diversity as a norm with the launch of her brand in 2017. As far as homegrown brands are concerned, only a handful have dominated the market—think Lakmé (founded in 1950) and Colorbar (2004). Moreover, their limited shade cards catered more to fairer skin tones than deeper ones, before a torrent of international brands forayed into India. 

Content creator and founder of indē wild Diipa Khosla, has always “struggled” to find products that truly match her skin undertone. “I would always try to mix different shades to get the perfect one, wishing a brand just had that perfect shade instead,” she shares. “Several homegrown brands still play it safe, sticking to outdated ideas of beauty that favour lighter tones. It’s also laziness—developing more shades takes investment and effort.” Homegrown brands can, however, outsmart added investments by tailor-making shades that specifically suit South-Asian skin tones. “Broadly speaking, a majority of our population is medium-to-deeper-to-tan skin tones, but brands have conventionally been busy speaking to just the 30 to 40 per cent of fairer skin tones,” says Karishma Kewalramani, founder of FAE Beauty.

Traditionally, social conditioning trained most Indians to opt for the cheap-yet-best goods available in the market, even if it meant settling for substandard products, points out make-up artist Sandhya Shekar, founder of Mokae Beauty. “Until a few years ago, international brands were of the opinion that India lacked buying power. From fashion and beauty houses not wanting to cater to India to now looking at it as a lucrative market, things have changed,” she shares.

Today, Indians have more disposable income and greater awareness; consumers are willing to pay a premium for a rich texture and accurate shade match, but are brands really listening? Aleena Khan founded CTZN Cosmetics in 2019 to break the stereotype of peachy-pink nude lipstick and create diverse shades of nudes for every skin tone. However, she hasn’t launched base make-up so far. Explaining why, she says, “We will only launch a complexion range once we know we’re offering something the community doesn’t currently have. And when we do, it will be something created through the lens of diversity.” 

The play of conventional Indian beauty standards 

In India, fairness has long been held the ultimate yardstick of beauty. According to a 2022 survey, irrespective of their own skin tone, 74 per cent of the respondents agreed that lighter-skinned individuals were more acceptable in society. “For too long, the beauty industry has been shaped by Eurocentric ideals—lighter skin tones dominate campaigns, shade ranges, and even marketing language,” says Aarti Pal, an Indian-British make-up artist and founder of South Asian Beauty Collective (SABC). 

“We have this concept in India that ‘fair is lovely’,” says Kewalramani. “There was this notion that if you’re fair, you belong to a higher class in society.” Beauty creator Hrithika Satish who champions dark-skinned make-up, adds, “Women, in particular, have been held to these ideals more than men, and living in a misogynistic society hasn’t helped.”

Today, we still spot representation of some sort. Until some years ago, however, diverse complexions, and real, unfiltered skin and bodies of different shapes and sizes seldom made the cut to runways or billboards. “We’ve normalised the absence of brown models in diverse campaigns, as well as the idea that our undertones are “mysteries” for some make-up artists or beauty assistants. As South Asians, we have almost accepted the need to purchase multiple products when we can’t find one that works,” cites Khan. This lack of shade diversity in India is also rooted in market complacency, points out Pal. “Many brands still prioritise lighter shades, perpetuating outdated beauty standards.” But, brands aren’t pushing lighter shades in a market like India for nothing; the business move comes as a predictable response to Indians’ obsession with appearing to be a couple of shades lighter than they are. 

At one point, Khosla claims to have felt invisible when beauty brands refused to acknowledge her skin tone in the ranges. “It’s disappointing and isolating at times…but it’s important to realise that beauty brands need to cater to you. You shouldn’t have to fit into their bubbles.” Satish confesses that she still has to mix foundations to get her perfect match. “While there are more inclusive brands now, only a few produce complexion products and even fewer cater to specific skin types and preferences,” she begins, “and this makes me feel...well, excluded. As a make-up content creator, I fail to review viral products, I’m frequently excluded from influencer marketing campaigns, and losing opportunities to work with well-known brands simply because they don’t offer products suitable for my skin tone, or my skin tone doesn’t align with their ‘aesthetic.’” 

The need for diversity, and doing it right

What’s stopping brands from expanding their shade ranges in an age where technology and accessibility are at their best pace ever? “Many beauty brands still consider this expansion as a risk. This is because the research on the consumption of make-up by darker skin-toned individuals is so sparse,” says Kewalramani. “Go to any manufacturer, and their shade library is very restricted. Diversifying your shade range beyond what is readily available in the market requires developing a new bench of shades altogether, testing them on real people, and finally managing the MOQ (minimum order quantity) requirements. All of this involves a considerable amount of money and time, which poses bigger challenges in this cut-throat market for homegrown brands.”

Make-up formulated by Indians, for Indians could tick all the boxes if the financial viability of doing so can be tackled. Shekar shares, “I’ve worked with Indian skin for years, but also with Caucasian, European, and South American skin. I can tell that Indian skin is complex, and coming up with distinct shades requires a nuanced understanding of all the concerns and undertones; however, it isn’t impossible.” Since most homegrown beauty entrepreneurs don’t come from a beauty artistry background, that gap manifests in the form of poor shade ranges, she highlights. “As a make-up artist and entrepreneur, I have chosen to manufacture all the Mokae products in Europe to match the highest standards in the beauty industry in terms of safety and performance. We’re only creating shades that will suit Indian skin tones, and testing them on diverse Indian women.” She furthers, “As artists, while we’re professionally equipped to mix and match shades, recommending one single shade of foundation or concealer to a client becomes challenging,” raising a need for more and more shades for skin tones and undertones. 

In the Internet age, being diverse isn’t enough—beauty brands have to up their digital marketing game. “Although Fenty Beauty’s launch in 2017 raised incredible awareness of how wide complexion shade ranges need to be, it was not the first brand to release such a range. Make Up For Ever made an infamous clapback after Fenty’s launch, claiming, “40 shades is nothing new for us,” because they had offered 40 shades since 2015. You may be doing the work, but if you’re not loud about it, it can go unnoticed,” explains Khan. “Fenty Beauty did a great job marketing their range, making a grand statement, and creating the perception that they set the standard—even though other brands had done it earlier.” It is imperative that online and offline campaigns also carry the flavours of diversity and inclusivity to the world.

Through her initiative SABC, Pal has consulted with established beauty houses like YSL Beauty, Armani Beauty, and L’Oréal to educate them about the complexities of brown skin and helped them take the right measures. “We need more brands to realise the importance of representation and be genuinely willing to improve. Tackling this requires collaboration at every level: brands expanding shade ranges, retailers stocking them, and platforms like SABC working alongside brands to ensure they truly understand and serve these audiences. Education campaigns challenging societal biases are also crucial.” 

Explaining how they got their basics right, Khan shares, “First, we created a Community Advisory Board with over 20 VIP customers and top supporters, ensuring diverse representation across cultures, ethnicities, genders, and ages. We also have an extensive testing process for any new product.” Even for FAE, adapting a community-driven approach across all stages of the product development cycle has proven to be successful. “By avoiding photoshopping or colour correction, and showcasing each shade of every product on models with varied skin tones, we empower our consumers to make a well-informed decision.”

Consumers have an equal responsibility 

As members of the call-out culture, we often forget that any reformation is a shared responsibility of all the parties involved—including customers. “We finally have the ability for our voices to be heard, whether we are famous or not—and that poses a threat to industries and companies that previously overlooked certain areas of focus,” begins Khan. “One online post by a beauty customer now has the potential to go viral and create serious consequences for a brand, if the point made by the creator is validated to be true. If there’s no pushback, brands will maintain the status quo.”

According to a report commissioned by Meta, 80 per cent of Indians discover beauty brands on social media, 47 per cent find new products via Instagram Reels, and 33 per cent of those users’ beauty purchases are driven by Reels. Influencers, content creators, and industry key opinion leaders, therefore, have a significant role in accelerating this change, shares Arshia Moorjiani, an NYC-based beauty creator. “I have worked on numerous campaigns for brands representing India. But what goes unnoticed is my conversations with brands on the backend and how much I push for diversity and inclusion—that is paramount.” Shekar adds, “Don’t chase a product because an influencer is talking about it, see what actually works for you. You can, instead, use social media to voice your opinions.”

Consumers can also explicitly express their preferences by choosing to support a brand that aligns with their opinions and values. While Satish feels that consumers must give homegrown brands a chance and help them grow holistically, Kabra discourages the idea of chasing trends and creating a vicious cycle of “viral” products. Lastly, while Kewalramani does think that the onus ultimately relies on the brands, she also wishes consumers to avoid seeing beauty and make-up solely through the lens of pop culture.

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