British actress Thandie Newton isn’t impressed with the lack of representation of products geared for dark skin in beauty stores, and is calling the industry out on it.
According to the Daily Mail, the 41-year-old British and American film star accused chains, such as Boots, of only stocking dark shades of makeup when a line is originally launched, before taking them off the shelves and leaving darker women to their own devices to find what they need in specialty stores.
Speaking at an event at Selfridges, a high-end department store chain in the U.K. last Tuesday, the actress, who also represents Olay said, “If the makeup was in there longer, the girls would go and get it and then the stores would get more, and they’d realize that everybody wants it, and then they would stock it.
“There’s this ghettoization of makeup right now. The right shade is there for everybody but you can only get it at specialized shops,” she added. “'So you don’t go to Boots. So as a result we are all being physically separated when we go and buy makeup.”
Newton also lamented the lack of dark-skinned models, the Daily Mail notes, saying that the situation was something she hates.
“I’ll go into Boots at Heathrow Airport if I’ve forgotten my makeup bag or something and there isn’t even a picture of a black woman. I hate that,” she explained.
As for Boots, the Daily Mail reported that a spokesman told it that “it is disappointing when we hear our customers feel we can’t meet their beauty needs, as many of the beauty brands available in store and on boots.com offer a range of products for black skin.”
Read more at the Daily Mail.