Let’s Talk About Racism

It shouldn’t have taken me so long to use my platform to talk about racism. For too long I’ve let the fear of ‘saying the wrong thing’ put me off talking about race – which ultimately is putting my ego ahead of black lives. But I’ve learnt that silence is violence. I’ve learnt that racism is a white person issue. I’ve learnt that it’s not enough to be ‘but I’m not racist’ and that it’s important to actively be anti-racist.

Evaluating Myself

This last week hasn’t been the first time I’ve been challenged to think about racism in the beauty industry and my part to play as an influencer. Not because it’s something I’ve considered on my own merit, but because it’s something that Demi Colleen has challenged me on numerously over the years. She challenges me if I’m at an all white event, if I promote a brand who offers a pitiful foundation range and when I applaud her activism without adopting it into my space. I’ve learnt a lot from her and you can too, I really recommend checking out her Patreon.

Vegan Beauty Girl has always been a place for championing ethical brands and calling out questionable behaviour in the beauty industry. Whilst it’s important that every brand on my page is vegan and cruelty free, I also take care to talk about sustainability too. However I’ve barely spoken about diversity. That’s got to change. I believe to enact real change we have to make promises to do better – tangible, measurable promises – that allow our followers and peers to hold us accountable. This is why I have introduced a Diversity Pledge to my blog.

Diversity Pledge

My promise to you;

• Whether the opportunity is paid, gifted or an event – during the first correspondence I will ask whether diversity is being considered and offer to send across a list of influencers to approach. When applicable (eg a market or showcase event) I will offer to recommend BAME owned businesses.
• Whenever talking about foundations I will critically talk about the foundation shade range – are there enough? is it acceptable? how do they compare to others?
• I will create and maintain a directory of BAME owned vegan-friendly, cruelty-free beauty brands.
• If I’m sharing a ‘Follow Friday’ (or something of the sort) on IG, it will not be an all white line up.
• I will never prioritise a brand deal over talking about racism.

You can read more about my diversity pledge, including any updates, here.

The Vegan Beauty Space

There are certifications for ‘vegan’ and ‘cruelty free’ – these things are reasonably clear cut. What isn’t clear cut is whether a brand is diverse. There isn’t a certification for this (that I’m aware of) so it does require critical thinking. I’m sure my BAME followers can tell in a heartbeat whether a brand is diverse, but it’ll take active thinking from my white followers. If you want a better idea of how to do this, please do check out my Let’s Talk About Race video (found above).

How to tell if a brand is diverse

Here are things to look at when trying to figure out if a brand is diverse and whether fighting racism is important to them. This is not an exhaustive list, not by a long shot .. but it’s a start:

• Do they sell makeup? How many foundations do they sell? Do these range from light to dark? What are the undertones like? Look at the lipsticks, eye shadows, blushers, etc – are their shades created for white women only in mind?
• Are models used on their website to demo products? How diverse is the range of models used?
• What does their instagram feed look like? Do they use models and influencers here? Are you seeing a diverse mix?
• Have they offered transparency in response to the @pullupforchange campaign?
• Have they spoken up, shared resources and made donations in regards to Black Lives Matter?

This last week has been a wakeup call for so many of us. If brands you love aren’t doing enough, please do message them and ask what steps they’re taking to do better. Make suggestions. Ask for promises. If they ghost you, call them out.

Just the start

We feel it, right? This time is different. Let’s keep up the momentum.

White people, this is our fight.