As simple as black and white....

This is an amazing celebration of the "African Queen" but unfortunately it lets itself down on the final photoshoot. Once again we have been misrepresented, misunderstood and ignored by the fashion and retail industries. This is not the first and I'm sure not the last time that celebrities like Beyonce and the media in general will get it wrong all in the name of of "fashion".

In the 2009 Chris Rock film "Good Hair". Rock embarks on an exploration into how we relate to "good hair" being anything but the natural state of our own tresses. Black females have an abundance of issues regarding hair texture and skin colour and the reinforcement of these issues by the fashion, media, hair and beauty industries in the western world certainly is not helping.

Just think in an industry obsessed by creating "the look" they feel is more sell-able and buyer friendly. Where does that leave the the female consumer whose ethnicity has "the look" they are trying to erase?

Rihanna has agreed that her skin was lighter at the start of her career

Below is a statement from the website of  a well known UK high street beauty retailer. A recent shopping experience I had with this health and beauty retailer bought the issue of skin colour a little too close to home

"We believe Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the key to being an innovative, forward thinking and healthy company."

Gabby Sidibe on the cover of Ebony and again on Elle

From this statement you would be lead to expect a shopping experience of inclusion not exclusion. But in a country where over 1.5 million are from an ethnic background of black origin and in a country where black females spend twice as much on beauty and hair products than their white counterparts.

It seems women of all ethnicities are under colour scrutiny.
 Indian Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan on Elle India

UK retailers continue to choose to ignore countless females with darker skin tones.
Below is the response I received when an unpleasant in store experience with the above well known UK high street beauty retailer forced me to bring this issue to the attention of their head office:

"I am really sorry to hear how disappointed you are with the shades of cosmetics we have in our stores.  We want to ensure that we offer a range that is suitable to all of our customers and we're sorry that you feel the shades we sell aren't suitable for darker skins."

After such a traumatic experience (and yes it was traumatic as this was about more than makeup) I had contacted them to express my disgust that they did not stock foundation shades for black skin tones. I was supposed to be in the UK capital at their “flagship” store but the innovation and forward thinking ethos of the brand was certainly not reflected here. When questioning the floor staff members no-one could understand why they did not stock shades appropriate for my tone. They knew as I did that there are many make-up brands that provide for darker skin women (in fact nearly all do). The market was there for the products and I was informed by staff that there had been countless requests to Head Office by staff and consumers to support this. But still in this modern era and in a country as ethnically diverse as the UK. I was stood once again feeling frustrated, saddened and overwhelm by another retailer’ choice to dismiss my skin colour and my race from their makeup ­­­shelves. This continual racial discrimination from such retail brands is common practice amongst high street beauty retailers in the UK. This is the way it has always been and now we are accustomed to having to travel to certain areas of the city that will cater for the beauty needs of the forgotten female. London is the biggest culprit for this divide and sell culture. Even though it has the largest population of non-white residents in the country, areas such as Brixton and Peckham have become the main stomping ground for the black beauty consumer. I guess this is because high street retailers cannot see why we would want to venture further than these borough borders. And unfortunately for the black consumer the idea that we might want to buy our beauty products along with our retail shopping in Topshop or Mango has completely escaped their thinking. So does this mean that they feel that we are content with this current system or does this mean that they do not think of us at? I’m not sure which one is more offensive the lack of consumer awareness or the complete extraction of our existence. Leaving us out of their target consumer group has reduced us to having limited availability (of reasonably priced products), buying online from countries like America and even sometimes poor quality and unregulated beauty products (not so much hair).

On further reflection I can see that the high street hair and beauty retailer is not the only offender. They are a dissemination of the industry within fashion as a whole. With top designers being infamously know for refusing to use black models on the catwalk. Beauty and fashion magazine running editorials, advertorials, product reviews and beauty and hair advice rarely relating to the black consumer. The retail stocking policy of this brand is just a harsh reflection of what is happening throughout the industry. White models are being used to promote black skin tone as a fashion feature. While the same industry denies black models and consumers access to the golden gate.

 No work for black models but plenty for blackfaced models - seem fair??
 Sasha Pivovarova and Heidi Mount for  V magazine 2009

Blackfaced Lara Stone for French Vogue 2009 another faux pas!

But every cloud has its silver lining no matter how thin that lining is. The ethnic consumer around the world has looked inward for inspiration and from this has created a range of high quality beauty and fashion magazines, websites and blogs. We have built our own subculture of beauty and with the support of people just like myself and my friend Angela White. It has given the black female a platform for our opinions, problems and questions to be heard.  As a consumer I would like to thank those who have dedicated their time and invested their money into bringing information to the main market which is clear, concise and fashionably done. I can only assume a combination of frustration, opportunity and research was how this once thought to be impossible feat was actualised. I am of course all for supporting smaller community retailers but it makes you ponder. What wonders retail brands could achieve if decided to invest the same amount of effort into ethnic consumer?

Below I've created a list of online beauty, hair, fashion and lifestyle publications. I find them a great source of inspiration when trying to source information and advice which relate to me. I still ready the occasional main stream magazine but these are the ones who keep me believing that I'm not excluded from the race:

PRIDE                                                                                      Related Guardian newspaper article - 2011
EBONY
FASHION BOMB DAILY
BLACK BEAUTY AND HAIR
FASHIZBLACK
COCO AND CREME
ESSENCE
AFROBELLA
CURLIES (get advice and purchase products for British curlies of all ethnicities)

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