inclusive beauty
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Just the Way We Are: Inclusive New Options Are Changing the Face of Stock Photos
There’s a little known but running joke among The Root staff about the catalogs of stock photos we need to do our jobs; inevitably, they manage to be simultaneously inadequate and offensive in their representation of marginalized communities. For instance, a search for “black women and money” may also bring up images of prostitution, while…
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Real Is the New Black: Samira Wiley Is a Role Model for Authenticity
“When I grew up, it was during a time when most people [in ads] weren’t as dark as me,” Samira Wiley tells Glamour in their February issue. “You definitely didn’t see natural hair. It was very homogeneous.” Following her successes on not one, but two hit shows in the past six years (Orange Is the…
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Touchdown! Fenty Beauty Just Won Our Vote for Best Super Bowl Ad
The highly-controversial Super Bowl LIII takes place on Sunday, and though we won’t be watching, we have been keeping our eye out for what are well known to be the most-watched ads of the year. But ahead of the big game, we’ve already found our winner for best ad. While you won’t be seeing this…
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Glossier Gets with the Program: The Brand's Perfecting Skin Tint Finally Expands Its Shade Range
In the race to offer full-spectrum beauty, smaller brands have often struggled to keep up, as larger brands seem to be pushing broader shade ranges into the market with stunning speed (sometimes, a little too fast). But as we know, slow and steady often wins the race, so we’re hoping for the best from the…
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Beautyblender Just Added 8 New Shades to Fix Its Foundation Fail—But Is It Good Enough?
We never thought we’d say this, but you know what we’d like to leave in 2018? The frantic rush to get a new foundation line to market without any real forethought or consideration. We get it. You’ve got to compete, but now that the bar has been substantially raised, if you’re not going to do…
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About Damned Time: At 48, Naomi Campbell Scores Her 1st Beauty Campaign
She’s one of the best-known models in the world—and certainly the best-known black model. But 30 years after Naomi Campbell broke ground as the first black woman to grace the cover of French Vogue (and nearly 30 years after she became the first to cover American Vogue’s September issue in 1989) Naomi Campbell has just…
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A Year of Diversity: Edward Enninful Celebrates His 1st Anniversary at the Helm of British Vogue
When veteran stylist and creative director Edward Enninful took the helm at British Vogue last December, he became the first black editor in its 101-year history. He promised readers “an old friend with a fresh face; a modern refresh that feels feminine, chic and ultimately classic.” As he wrote in his first editor’s letter for…
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New and Next: Your Bimonthly Black Magazine Cover Roundup Is Here!
What’s this, you ask? Oh, just another crop of black girl magical magazine covers for fall. In fact, there have been so many since September’s record-breaking number that we’ve decided it’s best to just round them up twice monthly, to keep you up to date on who’s covering us. Our last check-in was a mere…
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Maxwell’s Latest Video Is a Meditation on Black Beauty
Singer-songwriter Maxwell has long been known for making beautiful songs. But his recently released ballad, “Shame,” also brings us a bevy of beautiful people, as the artist recruited some of the world’s most buzzed-about black models for his latest video, directed by writing/directing duo Bush and Renz, with Sissi Johnson as creative director. With subtle…
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Get Your Girl: Did Kat Von D’s Beauty Brand Repost a Promo Referencing ‘Hard Work’ and a Cotton Field?
We’re not sure what in the pasty-faced hell someone on makeup mogul and former reality star Kat Von D’s social media team was thinking if and when they reposted an image of a cotton field to promote her Lock-It concealer, but it’s reportedly a real thing that happened—and if so, we have questions. In a…