Navigating the beauty space as a Black womxn has been an interesting one for many years. Our lack of representation within beauty echoed a deeper social construct where people of darker complexions have not been considered marketable by societal standards. Whether it was being excluded from a top beauty brands foundation line due to their shade ranges being limited to lighter hues, or not realising until 2020 that, contrary to popular belief, we as Black people do indeed need sun protection.
Either way, we’ve been left out of the wider beauty conversation for as long as we can remember. This has resulted in many of us having to DIY our own beauty solutions; spending hours scrolling on the internet, clicking from forum to forum to try and decipher whether a cult favourite nude lipstick is indeed “Black girl-friendly”.
Source: Skin Library
The relationship Black womxn have with skincare has been one-sided for so long. We were consumed by misinformation causing us to believe that skincare was indeed race-specific and in some cases gender-specific (a conversation for another day), due to a singular portrayal of beauty being pushed in beauty advertising. This has resulted in many Black womxn concluding that what was on the market just wasn’t going to work for their problems.
The rise of Black beauty influencers, Black-owned skincare start-ups and more people of colour in the room and seated at the table, has slowly eliminated this narrative, and the years of miseducation is slowly being unlearned. We’re now in a new phase of Black womxn celebrating themselves in beauty. It is a comforting change to see a diverse range of women exploring beauty and having fun with it.
Black beauty influencers such as Demi Osunsina (@skinneedsofficia)l, Muniq Bakare (@qskin_ )Tomi Salako (@cocosalakobeauty) and Rahama Sadiq (@peachesandskin) are a few of the growing number of beauty bloggers who are taking up space in online beauty and experimenting with unfamiliar sections of beauty. Korean Beauty is one of them. They’ve started introducing their audience, primarily composed of girls who look like them, into unfamiliar territory that they might not have considered to be for them. K-Beauty buzzwords like ‘double-cleanse’ and ’10-step routine’ can seem overwhelming and foreign, preventing many from taking a leap into a fun world of beauty to explore.
We’ve put together a 3-part guide to demystify and simplify, giving you all the information that you’d need! In this segment, we’ll be breaking down the “what’s”, “why’s” and “where’s” about K-Beauty
So let’s begin..
What is K-beauty?
The term “Korean Beauty” or “K-Beauty” is used to describe products, practices and regimes birthed out of South Korea. It’s not to be confused with a trend, as Korean beauty is very much here to stay. K-Beauty to Korean people is a way of life, it is ingrained in their culture and spans as far back as 700 B.C. with many historical findings noting beauty methods prepared with natural ingredients such as natural oils and plant seed extracts with its aim to achieve what we know today as glass skin.
Bigger beauty retailers are expanding their shelves to make room for K-Beauty. From stores like Sephora and Look Fantastic curating K-Beauty edits, to your local pharmacists stocking a colourful and unique array of sheet masks, the world of Korean Beauty has indeed taken an international storm. In 2012 it was reported that Korean beauty exports totalled $51 million in the US and in 2018 topped $511 million according to the US Census Bureau. With its estimated global growth to reach $7.2 billion by the end of 2020.
Why Korean beauty?
The attitude Korean people have towards their skin is a preventative one. Taking care of one’s skin is a tradition passed down from grandmother to mother to daughter and son. Having a family aesthetician is common practice. They focus on ingredients that restore and rejuvenate, treating the skin as a healthy canvas that requires maintenance and care. Their products are ingredient-focused, boasting to have some of the best research and development labs in the world.
They have built a culture where brands listen to their consumers, updating and even discounting lines based on customer feedback. This has built a flourishing eco-system within the beauty space in Korea which has inevitably led to their international recognition for products with a high rate of skin care products that actually work.
But where do Black women fit in? Well, a quick google search of K-Beauty and you probably will not see any Black faces. This might leave you wondering, “is Korean skincare really for me?” The answer is mostly yes. You see, Korean skincare is generally not made for a specific skin colour, they’re made based on skin concerns and skin types. Recently, however, many K-Beauty cult favourites, brands like Cosrx and Innisfree are taking consumer feedback and are including darker-skinned models in their marketing, expanding their shade ranges, and discontinuing product lines that include “whitening” or produce white casts.
Source: Skin Library
Where do I start?
We’re just going to say it – you do not need 10-steps to achieve great skin. Skincare is an individualistic and very personal journey. It is not one-size-fits-all. The infamous 10-step routine is more of a guideline than an arduous step by step routine that must be meticulously followed. Think of it as an encompassing category of all the potential steps one could adopt into their routine. You can (mostly) add and remove as your skin sees fit. The important umbrella to understand when it comes to creating your own skincare routine is to consider the following: Cleanse, Hydrate and Protect aka what I call, “the trifecta”. Those are the fundamental steps you need to build a solid routine. Everything else is a compliment.
