At a young age I did not like my skin, I hated it. I was not dark skinned but I also was not light enough and this was not only apparent in my life but also in the media where not much representation was displayed. As little as four I would scratch my skin thinking that the brown would go away.
I did not start wearing makeup until I was in college. Yes when there was graduations from both elementary school along with high-school, I felt like dressing up, but the bare face was what I was comfortable with. In high-school, I was comfortable in my skin, yes I even loved it, the teenage years was a time where you are trying to find who you are and these were one of those ‘coming of age’ moments… brown skinned and all.
When considering the process of shopping for makeup, there was this instinct that there would be a struggle with finding the right shade of foundation. This was always proven to be correct. These makeup artists would always go for either the lightest shade or the darkest one not even matching the tone of my skin which is surprisingly difficult but I always laughed at the process because they were convinced that the foundation looked amazing on me, but at home was another story.
For me foundation is almost like going out on a date, if it doesn’t work, you move on to the next one, if it does work then you will keep this around and see how this unfolds. Trust me, I have been through so much foundation that I can write a comedy sketch. From ones where I had mix with my mothers because the shade had red undertones to others which would oxidize less then half a work shift or when I had to be on camera for school in journalism… I knew I deserved better. Then there were foundations created by black women but not distributed near where I lived, this was a daily struggle.
I did find my match with Makeup Forever which not only is oil free but has a matte finish for my oily skin, but then Rihanna came out with her Fenty Beauty and that was a wrap.
I almost freaked out when I found out that the superstar released 40 shades ranging from pale complexions to dark… I needed to head to Sephora. At first I thought this was too good to be true, after all I been through a lot of shades in this life (pun intended). Also if I wanted to commit with her line of foundation, there had to be some commitment involved because I was not going to buy this out of impulse. With that being said, I loved it. The foundation was light in feeling but with the right amount of coverage for my oily-acne skin. A great feature for this product is that it is cruelty free… there was something quite revolutionary about the whole release by Rihanna and the timing could not be any better.
A few may say that this is just foundation, but like myself, others beg to differ. I seen wonderful posts whether on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or any other post on the internet about how this foundation has changed them. This is not even women who have darker complexions, but women who are pale or even who have Albinism. Wearing foundation is about finding the right match while feeling beautiful along with being accepted and noticed by the beauty industries. Rihanna and other people who are inclusive to the standards of beauty has set not only and example but the stage for major makeup brands to include all people when releasing a foundation, bronzer or anything dealing with makeup. The beautiful thing about this is that I am right now wearing 410 but when winter comes along, I get a little bit lighter, I can choose another shade from her line.
There is not just one form of beauty, all shades are amazing. I truly believe that Rihanna payed attention and catered to all shades creating what is truly unique and also… skin deep.