MUA (Makeup Academy) | BLM Response

Posted byNicole Whittle Posted onJune 19, 2020 Comments0
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MUA have long been one of my favourite vegan makeup brands and that’s not only because of their amazing makeup. It’s because of their inclusivity. I’ve loved them for making vegan makeup a welcoming space to those who may otherwise feel excluded. They’re affordable, 100% vegan, available on the high street and diversity is always woven into their promotional materials and product development.

They really went into detail answering my questions and I love that. I’m not saying they’re the perfect brand, and they’re not saying that either. But they’ve been doing a lot of things right, acknowledge where change needs to happen and are looking how best to go forward.

MUA’s BLM Response

Social Media

We work hard to make sure our social media feeds are always diverse, you’ll never scroll through and see a sea of white faces. We want to make sure the MUA customer is able to see themselves represented easily, and know that MUA caters for their skin tone.

Influencers

  • All of influencer marketing (including paid collaborations, gifting and event invites) is reflective of our brand message that everyone should be able to see their version of beauty on the high street
  • For all campaign collaborations it’s evident that there is always a high proportion of black and POC representation, at a minimum of 50%

Product swatches

When we conduct swatch shoots for a new products these are always shot on light, medium and dark skin tones. Examples below for you:

Models used in campaigns

MUA has always made sure the models cast for our campaign imagery are diverse, I’ve included examples of this below for you:

Makeup

Foundation range 

  • The only foundation range is our PRO/BASE Long Wear Matte Finish Foundation range
  • This has 24 shades, with 8 light shades, 8 medium shades and 8 dark shades
  •  The foundation was also developed into cool, warm and neutral undertones to ensure a proper match
  • Expanding the foundation shade range is something that is important to us and our product development team are aware of, and will be looking to in the future

Other products for darker skin tones

  • There are also 24 matching concealers and 12 shades of pressed powder in the PRO/BASE range
  • Our extensive highlighter range has multiple shades for darker skin tones e.g Light Lustre Highlight Kit in Golden Delights, Light Lustre Liquid Highlight in Marvel/Spectacle, Shimmer Highlight Powder in Golden Scintillation, Radiant Cashmere, Golden Afterglow, Iridescent Gold etc
  • Blusher shades for darker skin include: Blushed Matte Blush in Atomic Tangerine, Rouge Punch / Blushed Liquid Blush in Taupe Tango, Rouge Noir etc
  • We are currently working on extending our Bronzed Matte Bronze Powder line to include deeper shades for darker skin tones. Development has been pushed back due to the current situation but this is something that is in the works

BLM Responce

Changes we are making

  • We are making sure we use the following on our social platforms to help make change rather than staying silent i.e sharing information, petitions
  • We are looking into how we can improve our staff diversity via our hiring process 
  • We currently work with charity Young Women’s Trust who primarily support black and women of colour – we want to expand on this and will be looking into other charities we can help
  • We are currently developing a plan of how to celebrate UK Black History Month – the same way we have celebrated Pride, International Women’s Day, Mental Health Awareness etc

Donations we have made in response to the BLM movement:

  • Minnesota Freedom Fund – aid to pay criminal bails and immigration bonds of those suffering from oppressive & coercive jailing
  • UK Black Pride – support for POC in the LGBTQIA community

Staff diversity & leadership roles

  • We currently have 10 members of staff in the MUA team, of which one person is bi-racial
  • There are currently no POC in leadership roles, however we are investigating how we can improve intersectionality in our hiring process moving forward

Love Vegan Beauty?

Hope you enjoyed this post! Really impressed with all the action MUA are taking. If you want to see what I’m doing over here at Vegan Beauty Girl, head to my Diversity Pledge.

Keep up to date with the latest vegan beauty news by signing up to my monthly newsletter. You can also follow me on Instagram @veganbeautygirl or subscribe over on YouTube. In the meantime, check out some of my other posts:

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