TikTok star Golloria George tests ‘the darkest shade’ of makeup brands to highlight their lack of inclusivity: ‘This is a really rooted issue’
“There is no reason why, in 2023, these [beauty] companies should not be including BIPOC people, period.”
Video Transcript
GOLLORIA GEORGE: There is no reason why in 2023 these companies should not be including BIPOC people, period. If a brand is not being tone inclusive, then they honestly should not be even in this makeup industry in itself because there is more than one complexion. There are a vast range of people with different tones, different undertones, and if you cannot make makeup for everyone, what is the point of making a makeup product if not everyone can use it?
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Hi. My name is Golloria George. You might have seen me all over TikTok. I am a beauty-slash-lifestyle content creator. Growing up, there were no shades for me in the store. There were no shades for me online. Like, when I say, like, complexion was lacking growing up, complexion was lacking.
It was really hard to conceptualize, like, why, as well, because I feel like-- I knew I wasn't the only one that existed that was as dark as me, so I was just like, you know what, this is really rooted issue, and I feel like this is something that other people are also going through, and I feel like it's important for people to hear it and the beauty industry to hear it. I actually have a series on TikTok, across all my platforms called "The Darkest Shade" series.
So I drew inspiration from Nyma Tang. She is a South Sudanese beauty creator. Her resiliency was something that I just always, like, was just super into and proud of. It made me feel included. It made me feel like I was welcomed in this beauty space.
I decided that I wanted it to be a little bit more short form, actually bringing people into the realm of what it's really like to shop as a dark-skinned Black woman in this beauty space. The number one companies that I think that are really, like, hitting the mark on tone inclusivity, especially this year, is Haus Labs, Fenty Beauty, and Rare Beauty. I think these three companies, although they are celebrity makeup companies, they're also fairly new, right?
All of their complexion products and all the products that they pushed out are so versatile, and they literally work on everyone. I think that the biggest impact of the activism that I do on my platforms is I wanted it to be a voice for my younger self. I knew that I had to make sure that I was speaking to other younger versions of myself, other dark-skinned Black young girls who also may feel this way or may have experienced the same amount of, like, bullying that I experienced.
Although we may not be, you know, the beauty standard in itself, there's still beauty in our skin, and there's still beauty in us. And I feel like, also, it's just-- it's so important to talk about it. Because if we don't talk about it, if we are not advocating for ourselves, there is going to be no tangible change. I feel like, in 2023, inclusivity should be a pillar in the company's statement and a company's values, and if it's not, you'll see it throughout the company.
Like, you'll see it throughout the product. You'll see it behind the scenes. You'll see it in the brand trips. You'll see it in who's getting these types of opportunities to work with these companies. And although it's really sad, I think that it's very important to actually have those open conversations about it because there can be active change. It's just whether or not you want to do the work to actually make that change.
We deserve shades. We deserve to be included. We deserve complexion products. Like, it's literally the bare minimum.
[LAUGHS]
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