Shady Vol. I

We all know how the beauty industry excludes women of color in brand marketing and product options. Until Fenty Beauty, brands were not checking for us. The term “50 Shades of Beige” has been coined to describe the endless sea of tan makeup products! A few brands like Too Faced and Kylie Jenner Cosmetics have started to catch on in hopes to capitalize on our newfound “acceptance” into beauty. Phrases like “We will be extending our shade range” always come as an afterthought to quiet backlash from consumers of color. Artist Tola Coker created “Shady”, a visual art series to comment on the beauty industry’s lack of inclusion for darker skinned women. She says, “I created these zines for an assignment and the tipis was issues so I chose to focus on colourism. This zine is about colourism and lack of diversity in the makeup industry specifically."

Zines by Tola Coker

Instagram: @tola.coker