What Are Drugstores Doing to Factor Inclusivity Into Their Makeup Aisles?

This is an op-ed by Allure contributor Tynan Sinks. It explores the topic of inclusivity in makeup and its influence on consumer accessibility on a direct, mass level.

Living in a post-Fenty Beauty world, you’d think that every makeup brand has always led the charge for inclusivity, but that hasn’t always been the case. Just a little over a year ago, the conversation about makeup inclusivity went from a rumbling din to a cacophonous roar. The age-old excuse of darker shades not selling wasn't only debunked, it was fully overturned. Everyone wants makeup to match their skin tone and now beauty brands were being forced to oblige or get passed up for those that did.

Now, that's not to say that there were never brands creating products for all skin tones. Professional, prestige brands like M.A.C. and Make Up For Ever have always made shades for all skin tones. But that’s the thing, there were only a few and usually, those were studio and pro-oriented lines. With as many brands that were available in the department stores and drugstores alike, only a handful of them had options for people with deeper skin tones.

The past year has seen almost every beauty brand that makes foundations and concealers scrambling to create new, deeper shades, and fill in the typical gap between what is usually eighteen light shades and maybe three deeper ones, for a full gradient of shades, instead of a typical collection that skews favorably towards the paler end of the spectrum.

The fickle consumer in me thinks that this is just another way for companies to bank off of faux inclusivity, but at the end of the day, all inclusion is beneficial, no matter what it took to get there.

Now that drugstore brands are making a wider range of shades, why is it that, in many regions around the U.S., they’re still not available in stores? If you, like me, do not live in New York or L.A., you might notice that while all of these new shades are being promoted and celebrated, many of them aren’t actually making it to our drugstores. Why is that?

Drugstore beauty is essential because, while some may not live near a Sephora, Ulta, or Riley Rose, drugstores are much easier to come by in many parts of the country. Some of the best products in beauty right now are waiting for you at the drugstore, and one is able to put together a perfect routine for them, no matter what that might look like, with affordable, accessible products.

To get another perspective on just why this is all so important, I asked some of my favorite women of color in beauty about why this matters, and what they would like the future of drugstore beauty to look like.

Beauty influencer and YouTuber from Texas, Ivy Kungu, said, “I’m glad this is being talked about more because it’s so important. I feel like if brands are going come out with the shades — A. They’re often forcing people of color to pay more for the same product if shipping costs are involved, which almost negates the purpose of purchasing a drugstore foundation in the first place; B. People may be unaware that the brand has their shade, which perpetuates the myth that people of color don’t buy makeup and encourages this vicious cycle to continue; and C. It’s difficult to buy face makeup online as is, so the process is just more frustrating for us.

“It’s getting better in a post-Fenty Beauty world because a few brands have seen the light and are really trying to show off their new foundation shade expansions (it would be nice if this shade expansion energy could be carried into other products but that’s a story for another day), but there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done.”

Teen Vogue columnist and beauty and culture writer, Shammara Lawrence, further detailed why it's about more than just shade selection, it's about accessibility.

“There's a major accessibility issue for people of color in need of complexion products that fit them. While it's incredible that 40 shades (and more) have become the gold standard for new foundation ranges these days, brands also need to take into account where those shades are being stocked, especially the darker ones. It's not enough for brands to create all of those shades if people have a difficult time finding them because only a limited amount of stores have them in stock.

“If beauty companies are truly committed to catering to everyone, it's equally as important that consumers of medium to dark skin tones can easily find their match in-store as their lighter counterparts without having to scour the web for it. Nobody has time for that!”

Directing the customer to buy product online completely skirts the initial issue of why these shades are not available in store. Could the customer buy them online? Sure, but which customers are forced to shade match themselves from a photo on a screen, and which ones are able to do it in store? White people don’t buy foundation online because they’ve never had to. Lighter options are always on the shelves, so they can pick between Fair Light, Light Neutral, and Light Medium, to decide which shade is perfect for them. Until people of all skin tones are allowed the same opportunity, this will remain a problem.

I wanted to find out why there was still a lack in the availability of products in many drugstores around the country, and where we can look to solve the problem. I reached out to three of the biggest chains in the U.S.: Target, CVS Pharmacy, and Walgreens.

While I know that Target isn’t technically a drugstore, they’re about as easy to find in any part of the country as any Walgreens. That, and they typically stock the majority of a brand’s full collection, meaning that Target will most likely stock the complete range of a brand’s foundation shades. Plus they’ve always stocked brands and products that cater to people of color, such as hair care brands for textured hair, and black-owned beauty brands, and they recently added eight more brands for dark skin tones.

CVS Pharmacy gave me a statement that spoke broadly about the issue: “CVS Pharmacy currently carries more than 850 different shades of foundation from a variety of brands, and we continue to be a leader in this space. Currently, more than 5,000 CVS Pharmacy locations carry the full 40 shades of the #1 selling Maybelline Fit Me foundation."

"We understand the importance of offering a wide assortment of products to reflect our diverse customer base, and we are actively partnering with beauty brands whose shade assortment reflects inclusivity to help make it even easier for customers to find their perfect shade, both in-store and online.

“Our brand partners provide recommendations regarding the assortment for each product line we carry based on shelf space and volume, and we are working with them to review each assortment recommendation, and ensure that a full shade range of foundation and concealer is available in our stores no later than February 2019. Additionally, if a customer can’t find what they are looking for, they can seek the perfect shade for them on CVS.com.”

Walgreens also provided information about how the shades end up in the store, citing the store’s ordering, as well as the size of each store and volume of sales. “Merchants are able to determine the shade ranges that work for their consumer’s demographic in particular area. While this is absolutely something we are still working on since demographics in the communities we serve are constantly changing. Other factors to consider is the store’s volume and productivity. This is why larger stores tend to support a wider variety of shades. With increasing diversity, there is much more of a responsibility that we feel to offer more shade ranges in the right stores. As the industry and stores evolve, actions are in place to make these products and shades more accessible to our customers.”

I asked about how seasonal and limited-edition launches make it to each store and if they receive full collections or if seasonal products are ordered individually as well. “The merchant selects the shades from any seasonal or permanent product line that becomes available from the cosmetic brands, always keeping in mind our customer. Brands are constantly evolving and swap out product every six months when formulas or packaging changes," said a representative from Walgreens.

“We have a handful of solutions to offer customers if they cannot find the shade or product they are looking for. Our in-store beauty consultants are not only available to assist in color matching with swatches and samples sent by select brands, but they can also order anything that is out of stock or not carried in stores through our ship-to-store program. This is a great solution for customers and it’s at no additional cost," they added, in the case of a customer wanting a specific shade or range of shades to be carried in-store.

So what have we learned? Drugstores are stocked by managers who are able to pick and choose shades based on what they perceive to be the needs of their customers. For years, people of color weren’t being seen by the beauty industry, and now that steps are being made to cover people of all colors, we now have to rely on the managers of our drugstores to decide whether or not they will carry these new shades? Should it be in the hands of one person who may or may not know anything about beauty, much less care, to decide what products and shades are available in their store? Could we standardize this so that all drugstores have full range selections of complexion cosmetics?

And again, while it’s great that anyone can order their shade online, you first have to know your shade, and you can’t do that unless you have the product in front of you. Shade matching online is incredibly difficult. Sure, you could order three shades online, but not everyone wants to spend $30 (plus shipping) on three different shades of foundation just to make sure their $10 foundation matches, and not everyone has the time to run to the store and make a return. And at the end of the day, it’s never everyone that has to do this, is it?

This system has obvious imperfections. With more and more products being released every season and limited space on shelves, it doesn't escape me that it is a challenge to stock full ranges of foundations while still making room for the new products, but that's not the consumer's problem to fix, it's the drugstore's. It's not enough for them to say "we'll help you out," or "we can special order a product." If all shades are not in-store, then the problem remains. We are not going to mistake lip service for inclusivity. While, to some, this may not seem like a big issue, make no mistake — this is an issue of race, class, and region.

The way that we spend our money matters. The brands that we're paying for, and the retailers we're buying from, all add up to the bigger picture of what products make it in store, the way the beauty industry is changing, or the way that it's staying the same. Consumers of color should have more options than buying a high-end foundation in Sephora or Ulta simply to guarantee it matches their skin tone. Now that the drugstore brands have finally seen that deeper shades will sell and have started making them, it is not too much to ask for our drugstores to actually stock them?

Equality in beauty is not just important, it is essential, and consumers have never been savvier about the products they're using and where they're buying them from. Changing where we buy our products is just as easy as changing our foundation, and if 2018 was the year that a wider range of foundations started to be made, then 2019 needs to be the year that they're actually accessible.

More affordable inclusivity in beauty:

• Beauty Bakerie's CEO Opens Up About the Inclusive Makeup Brand's Success

• Maybelline x Shayla Aims to Bring Shade Inclusivity to Mainstream Makeup

• You Can Hate Kylie Jenner for Many Things, But Her Concealer Range Is OK

Watch Nicole Byer's take on all these weird beauty products:

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