The best websites and Instagrams for brown and black beauty

Hands up – Beauty Bible isn’t one of them.

We have long understood at Beauty Bible that we’re not inclusive enough in our beauty coverage. But at the same time, we appreciate that black and brown beauty are entire specialist areas in their own right, with a raft of very specific beauty concerns, from the matching of foundation or choice of lipstick through to skin ashiness and the challenge of caring for textured hair.

These insights have been gleaned in part via dozens of makeover workshops that Jo has organised for Centrepoint, the London homeless charity, which Beauty Bible has supported for 20 years and which were made possible by the support of brands from Clarins to Michaeljohn, John Frieda to Fashion Fair, Estée Lauder to Erroll Douglas and more.

A two-part session, the first night is a hair and make-up workshop, with around two-thirds of the attendees from BAME backgrounds – and very definite ideas about what their hair (in particular) will and won’t respond to. (The second night, FYI, is a ‘mind makeover’ hosted by Sharron Lowe, inspirational speaker and author of The Mind Makeover – which the young women always tell us they find hugely motivational, as Sharron shares insights to help with confidence, goal-setting and self-esteem.)

On the make-up front we realised there was a problem with inclusivity as far back as 1996, when we did a book tour for the first Beauty Bible in a well-known high street chemist and were inundated with requests for foundations, concealers and other cosmetics to cater to all skin tones. Happily, foundation ranges have expanded hugely since then – but as our friends @atehjewel and @susannahtaylor_ discussed in a recent Instagram Live (which we thoroughly recommend for a highly educational listen, here), many stores still don’t stock the full shade range.

That has to change. And yes, it’s a chicken-and-egg situation: store and supermarket buyers (who have performance targets to meet) will plead that the market isn’t there. We say: the market will never be there, unless you improve your offering and word gets out that it is more diverse and inclusive. So: just do it. And keep the faith.

Although we have covered specific BAME make up and skincare issues occasionally, and Ateh Jewel, recently appointed a member of the British Beauty Council, has been an occasional contributor to Beauty Bible, we want to do much more.

One thing we can do is to expand our Beauty Bible Awards categories in future years to include more of the specialist products that tackle BAME women’s beauty challenges. We are actively looking into how to organise this.

Meanwhile, we want to point you in the direction of fantastic resources for BAME women, below. We can never write with their authority on what it’s like to care for coils and textured hair or an Afro, for instance, because those aren’t the Beauty Bible team’s specific beauty challenges. That’s why the real ‘star’ brands in this arena are started by (mostly) women who wanted something they couldn’t readily find on the market.

Like everyone, we’re learning – but we’re so keen to see change. The #blacklivesmatter movement and the death of George Floyd have brought all this into sharp focus, and we believe there is a great opportunity for a better world – and a better beauty world. As we emerge blinking into the light after lockdown, we do not want the world to go back to the way it was on so many levels, including socially and environmentally.

Starting right here and right now, Beauty Bible pledges that we will never again feature foundations, concealers and powders that don't cover the whole shade spectrum – and we will feed back to brands as and when non-inclusive ranges cross our desks. It’s a start – and every journey begins with a thousand steps.

Meanwhile, here are some resources who cover beauty for BAME readers and shoppers really well. Many of these women are our friends, and we are grateful that their voices – to which we add our voices – are now being listened to.

jeweltonesbeauty.com – Ateh Jewel’s brilliant and comprehensive website covering everything from the bodycare to beating sugar addiction to skin lightening/bleaching (and why it’s so wrong) via insightful interviews with many different industry figures. Plus ‘Curl Corner’, which covers Ateh’s own hair journey.

If you want to enjoy Ateh’s writing right here, here are posts that we previously shared on Beauty Bible:

Ateh’s hair journey – read it here.

Medium-weight moisturisers – read it here.

Ateh talks Jeweltones Beauty – read it here.

Coming soon, you’ll also be able to read about Ateh’s #Lockdown Loves products, as the latest in our series – and we’ll also be sharing more about how you can support her GoFundMe shout-out, to help her create a brand offering the range of foundations she’s always searched for.

And her Instagram is @atehjewel

Palette: The Beauty Bible for Women of Colour, £25 (Coronet). Not OUR Beauty Bible. Funmi’s ‘beauty bible’, described by Vogue Editor Edward Enniful as a ‘ground-breaking, first-of-its-kind book… a significant, relevant and influential voice in the conversation around inclusivity’.

You can also read Funmi’s beauty insights in the Observer Magazine here – as well as regularly in Vogue. (Funmi: the world needs a Funmi Fetto website!) Her Instagram is @funmifetto

Slapp This website (which feeds into a great YouTube channel) is based around a clever app founded by our friend, the very dynamic fashion and beauty journalist Jamila Robertson – and things have really moved on apace since our review of it here), when the site showcased just a handful of brands. It reads your skintone to recommend the best brands and shades for you from what is now a very wide portfolio of make-up names, including of course Rihanna’s hugely successful FENTY Beauty collection. Lots of other great advice on her Slapp website, too – slappshop.com– and you can follow Slapp on Instagram here.

Ruby Hammer A hugely respected make-up artist with a career that goes back many, many years, we welcomed Ruby back onto the product scene with the launch of her fab make-up brush last year (click here for stockists). Ruby also shared her wonderful 7 Secrets of Wellbeing, here. We’ve been enjoying her lockdown beauty Instagram Lives, and we think you will too – follow her @rubyhammer

Pat McGrath Described as ‘the most influential make-up artist in the world,’ Pat McGrath MBE has worked on countless high-profile campaigns and for just about every glossy you can name around the world. She parlayed her beauty wisdom into a signature line of make-up including a highly inclusive range of foundations – get a glimpse here of how they cover just everyone. There is an absolute GENIUS slider which helps you pin-point the shade for you (invaluable at a time when we’re not allowed to touch make-up testers in store or have makeovers, which is going to make finding a new foundation highly challenging). You might also enjoy Pat’s Desert Island Discs here. We would say the world is more than ready for a Pat McGrath beauty book, by the way, but meanwhile her Instagram is a must-follow @patmcgrathreal (3.2 million followers and counting!) During lockdown, she is starting to offer live masterclasses online – watch this space here.

Brown Beauty Talk Many black and brown beauty websites are based out of the US, but as we’re in the UK (and so is most of our readership), we feel it’s more useful to point you in the direction of UK-based or UK-focused resources. We highly rate Brown Beauty Talk, which is (as they put it) ‘a beauty platform aimed at Black and Asian women in the UK.’ Their aim? ‘To connect beauty lovers with brands that cater to them.’ Brown Beauty Talk has incredibly useful features covering – for example (and these are all linked) – Mandelic Acid for Black & Asian Skin, 10 Black British Hair Brands That We Love, Tips on How to Colour and Care for Afro Hair and so, so many more. (The general blog section is here.) The feature on Shopping Over the Beauty Counter should be read by everyone. There is much work to be done, here. Brown Beauty Talk’s Instagram is @brownbeautytalk