Dear beauty industry: 'People want to see people who look like them being beautiful, confident, and fierce'
Yahoo Lifestyle’s Diversity in Beauty Awards (the DIBs) highlight and celebrate personalities, brands, and products that embody inclusiveness and innovation. See the 2018 winners list here.
The beauty industry makes bank in the United States. According to a report by Nielsen, “Americans spent over $12 billion on beauty and personal care products online over the last year.” But while the money continues to flow, there’s still a disconnect between brands and shoppers when it comes to making sure everyone feels “represented in the beauty community.”
Yahoo Lifestyle asked seven individuals to define beauty and explain why “diversity is not a trend.”
According to stylist and editor Derek Du Jour, if brands, companies, and influencers used their “massive platforms” to promote and use diverse casts, “it can help alleviate hate, racism, transphobia, and homophobia.”
Plus-size model and Yahoo Lifestyle contributor Natalie Hage agrees, noting, “If it was absolutely normal to see somebody in a wheelchair be the star of the show or somebody who is a size 22 to go down a runway, I think people would be less judgmental overall.”
Watch the video above to learn exactly why the beauty industry can stand to learn a lot from influencers Arshia Moorjani, Leah Vernon, Derek Du Jour, Monicastylemuse, Al Malonga, Natalie Hage, and Valerie Eguavoen on how to make diversity and inclusion a part of its DNA.
Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:
This six-figure vlogger doesn’t want to be the ‘token’ black girl in the beauty industry
This 16-year-old is outsmarting the beauty industry one tweet at a time
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