There's Now a Beauty E-Commerce Site Dedicated to Women of Color
It's a sad truth that beauty products too often fail to offer an inclusive range of shades. Women of color are often left having to mix different foundations or go on fruitless hunts for blushes that complement their skin tones. While beauty brands have started to expand colors and be mindful of the need to serve diverse customers, attorney-turned-entrepreneur Kimberly Smith felt she could take things a step further. What if there was a whole website dedicated to selling beauty products made for women of color? she wondered. Then, she created Marjani.com.
Smith, who considers beauty a lifelong passion of hers, says the idea for the website came to her while shopping for a contouring shade. After hearing the shade she always used was discontinued because it was "limited edition," she searched the whole store looking for an alternative and was frustrated to find the darkest color matched her complexion. "What if someone comes in and they're darker than me? They don't even have an option," she recalled. That's now not an issue at Marjani, which currently carries 23 shades, and has a program that allows shoppers to try samples at home before committing to a purchase.
You likely won't recognize the brands on her website–Marena Beaute, Melanie Mills, Omolewa Cosmetics–but that's because she intentionally seeks out indie ones, many of them Black-owned. To Smith, this is also an opportunity to highlight and introduce lesser-known brands to shoppers. "If I am looking for a product that is suitable for me, who better to look at than someone who looks like me and who has experienced the same issues that I've experienced?" she explained.
Some brands she came upon were Morena Beauty, a Swedish brand started by a black woman after she had difficulties finding foundation; and AJ Crimson, created by a makeup artist who developed his brand after working with clients with darker skin tones. These indie brands, she claims, better remedy the color payoff problem dark-skinned women often face, "We need something highly pigmented so it actually shows up on our skin and you can see it," she said, "We like deep colors. We like bold colors."
Growing up, Smith says she didn't feel comfortable in her skin until college and the lack of representation of black women in campaigns and media definitely played a part. Even as a girl, she used to play with white Barbie dolls with blue eyes and blonde straight hair. "Of course, I don't look like that. So, that kind of affects you when you think of what is beautiful and what you aspire to be," she said. That's why images on Marjani's site and social media feature Black, Asian, and Latina faces. She said, "That's the main thing about the website-I purposefully wanted to have a scheme where you go on there, you see beautiful images. Diverse images. People that look like you. For young women to see that and to be really empowered by that."
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