The Black Beauty Effect is a docuseries that captures the current evolution, revolution and disruption within the beauty industry. Each hour-long episode examines a different aspect of beauty, including hair, skin and makeup, through the lens of of the industry’s most iconic game changers.
Featuring candid conversations with brand executives, celebrity makeup artists, beauty editors and more, the docuseries focuses on the impact that influencers have had on the industry’s changing perception of beauty. The three-part docuseries premiered on Black Friday on the channel Black Experience on Xfinity channel.
Black professionals in the beauty industry face a modicum of challenges from not finding products that match skin tone to not receiving the same opportunities as white peers.
“I think the biggest obstacle for me being completely honest is trying to be in the rooms that we don’t normally see each other in.” Shalom Blac told MADAMENOIRE.
“I am a burn survivor so putting myself out there and seeing how so many people just really connect with that made me feel like, okay we need more people that are being realistic and living life the way they are instead of just focusing on the standard. It wasn’t easy, but I think have built up a platform of people that are accepting and wanting to just be themselves.”
Blac is known for her beauty influence via YouTube where she first came out as burn survivor who does make up. She went viral and gained a fanbase of over 1.5 million subscribers on the video platform. The influencer uses her social media to be an inspiration to other women and burn victims.
Dismissal Of Black Beauty
As beauty markets became more inclusive in the 1900s, beauty brands showed no interest in catering to Black women. Black female entertainers were left to fend for themselves when it came to makeup. A foundation fit for brown-skinned Black women just didn’t exist. According to the Black Beauty Effect, Black women were mixing face powder, eyebrow pencils and water as an attempt to match their face.
Television networks, movies and fashion houses typically hire white make up artists who don’t always apply makeup that shows Black skin in its best light. Over the years, Black talent has shared stories of having to bring their own foundation and cosmetics to sets.
The same is true for Black hairstyling. Whitney White, the creator of natural hair care product Melanin Haircare, and beauty and natural hair influencer who filmed her natural hair journey on YouTube, added to the conversation
“I hope over the years we have come to show through social media that there are so many beautiful 4C hair women out there like, Solange Knowles which she just wears her hair so unapologetically big,” White shared.
“I think it’s really teaching the girls how to embrace how their hair nature wants to be styled. I think if you are trying to force against the grain of your hair then it will be a struggle, but if you really learn about what makes your texture unique. And really lean into that and that’s when you can really embrace it more and be confident in your hair.”
The Black Beauty Effect tells a story all Black women can relate to. The mini-doc shows how beautiful and unique it is to be a Black woman.
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