You may know Beautyblender simply as the tool you use to apply your foundation, but now they’re hoping to become a makeup company in their own right by debuting the BOUNCE Liquid Whip Long Wear Foundation this month. And, well… they’re off to a rocky start, to say the least.
The BOUNCE Foundation has a range of 32 shades, which seems impressive at first glance, but numbers are just numbers. So how do the shades themselves stack up? Perfectly—if you’re light-skinned, that is.
I’m sorry but the swatches make this SO MUCH FUNNIER. LIKE WTF @beautyblender pic.twitter.com/9u6yZc65aa
— YT – Haylee Aníse (@HayleeAnise) July 30, 2018
Haylee Aníse, a YouTuber, Tweeted about the shade range’s swatches, saying, “The swatches make this so much funnier.” And she’s right; looking at the 32 shades, it looks like only the last six or seven could really be meant for people with darker skin tones, and even then, the darkest shade would still be way too light for a lot of people. Other Twitter users were also unsatisfied.
Its disappointing to see @beautyblender shade range for their foundation launch and how it lacks so many medium or deep tones.The #beautyblender changed the game but this collection speaks volumes to how the company values it’s customers who helped make the brand what it is today
— Kara B (@KaraBofficial1) July 25, 2018
Allure reports that Beautyblender is aware of the negative response and gave a statement to Cosmopolitan.
“Our founder, Rea Ann Silva, is not only Latina, but a professional makeup artist working primarily with women of colour- so she is an expert in this colour range,” the statement reads. “Those with tan, deep and dark skin tones understand that finding the right colour foundation is all about matching your undertone and this is where Rea Ann saw the biggest hole in the market – for women like herself and her multicultural family. BOUNCE offers a wide variety of undertones from neutral, warm, cool, and olive and a special ultramarine blue to create a deep rich tone.”
According to Cosmopolitan, Beautyblender also commented on Instagram that the initial post about the foundation, from Instagram user @trendmood1, had a “wacky filter” that made the shades appear differently. The page then posted a second photo of the foundation in a different filter, but people weren’t convinced.
When lakeshore people colors colored pencils have a more diverse shade range than beauty blenders foundation#beautyblender @beautyblender pic.twitter.com/4TbaYlV4Gi
— ✨Graci✨ (@I_likepotatoes_) July 27, 2018
Now that the foundation has launched, I know I’ll be waiting for all the YouTube review videos, especially those from women of color with darker skin. Both Allure and Cosmopolitan mentioned that it’s hard to tell the truth from the pictures, but it’s still fair to hold Beautyblender to a high standard of inclusivity, now that mainstream makeup brands have finally realized the need for a diverse range of shades, not just a large number of them.