With the release of the new Tarte Cosmetics Shape Tape Foundations, the company unknowingly walked into a kill zone, shots being fired at them from all angles for the lack of shades for darker skin tones. This very popular makeup brand is known by beauty gurus for its high quality, for being cruelty-free and for being vegan-friendly. The very successful Shape Tape concealers have been deemed 2017’s most used concealer and served as the inspiration for the creation of the Shape Tape foundation. Due to all the positive buzz surrounding the concealers, the news that there would be foundations to add to the brand created anticipation within the beauty community. So many people were excited about the release of this product, but the hype soon died down once people saw the teaser of the shade range, or lack thereof.
Courtesy: PopSugar
With the release of this photo, there was an instant backlash on the company’s lack of colors for people with darker complexions. The line of foundations was then nicknamed “50 shades of beige” to emphasize the lack of range. People released videos all over social media, angry with the company’s product and its mistake in excluding darker shades.
With this outcry of disappointment, Tarte released a statement in which they mentioned that they would be coming out with 10 more shades to add to the line and that they only chose to release the shades they had already perfected due to the demand consumers had. In this statement, the company continued to discuss its reasoning behind not releasing all shades at once, saying that it plans on releasing the darker shades during the spring and summer because skin tones tend to change during those times. To Tarte’s chagrin, this didn’t help to alleviate any of the animosity toward the foundation line, as for many people of color, skin tones are not “seasonal.” With the first 12 shades appearing to be almost identical, and the last three being the only ones that cater to people of color, the enmity orbiting around this line doesn’t appear to be disappearing soon.
YouTuber MakeupShayla says, “Essentially what [Tarte is] doing is prioritizing a lighter skin tone and you are making the people with a deeper skin tone feel inadequate.” After the obvious outrage, Tarte released a statement on its Instagram apologizing for the displeasure they have caused and made it clear that it plans on doing better by promising to be more inclusive.
Whether this lack of inclusivity was intentional or not, it still resulted in a negative outcome. The plea for more diversity within the makeup industry is evident in this controversy. People are making it a point to preach variance because of the importance of representation. This is especially true for those who are just starting to get interested in makeup. If these people don’t see a wide variety of makeup for their complexion, there is a chance they’ll feel neglected and excluded from a world that promotes creativity and self-love. It’s important to remember that above all, no matter your view, makeup is made to inspire and create. Fueling positivity in this field is encouraged and should be found at the heart of every brand.
The Shape Tape Foundation line comes in a dewy and matte finish, retailing for $39.