Rihanna is a talented woman who is now a beauty industry icon.

Fenty Beauty’s quick success

The music and fashion star recently unveiled Fenty Beauty, an inclusive makeup line. Fenty’s main products are its foundations, primers, contour products, and concealers that match the skin tones and undertones of women of color.

Each of Fenty’s products come in varied colors. For example, the brand’s foundation comes in 40 different hues. Fenty also has a lipgloss—a rosy nude with a hint of simmer—that Rhianna swears works “well on all skin tones.”

So far, the brand has received praise for its diverse products. Women of color with dark skin tones are easily able to find a foundation that’s a good match. The line also boasts a foundation that albino customers can confidently wear, Teen Vogue reports.

Women of color and the beauty industry

Although Fenty Beauty isn’t the first brand that’s addressed the makeup needs of WOC—Black Up Cosmetics, IMAN Cosmetics, Black Opal, L’Oreal Paris True Match, and many more brands have over the years—it’s Rhianna’s star power that could send her brand, and all of its hues, mainstream.

“Rihanna’s global appeal makes the success of Fenty Beauty the closet thing to a sure bet,” Cardyn Brooks, writer and innovator, says. “Her public persona transcends ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, social class, nationality.”

Fenty’s immense and quick success may be what the mainstream and blindingly white beauty industry needs to make it the intersectional place it should be. After all, women of color adore wearing makeup that’s fun, pleasant to wear, and matches their skin tone.

However, this universal change may, unfortunately, hinge on sales.

Money counts

“[Change] will come down to Fenty Beauty maintaining ‘comeback’ sales, and a loyal following before other brands follow suit,” Amber Stanfield, beauty blogger, says.

And Mindy Green, Owner of MG Beauty, reiterates how important sales are by explaining that in the past, other brands have attempted to address the makeup needs of WOC, but have ended production on their lines because of sales.

“I can recall when Revlon introduced the Color Style line in the mid ’90s with a strong ad campaign featuring Veronica Webb and other top models of color,” Green says.

“It appeared to be doing fairly well. Then, Revlon pulled the plug. I’m sure they sighted sales less than expected or projected. But how do you know what to expect or project for something unprecedented?”

However, if Fenty continues to sell, it can only improve the industry, Diane Elizabeth, founder of Skin Care Ox, adds.

“Fenty has received rave reviews from women who have been largely without a solution for their whole lives,” Elizabeth says. “This passion and fervor will translate into fantastic sales and put every other makeup brand on notice.”

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Beauty boxes are having a moment.

Any makeup, hair, and skin care lover can do a simple Internet search to discover multiple beauty box subscription services. While the beauty box industry used to be snowy white, it’s slowly becoming more inclusive.

Although there are a number of great beauty boxes for women of color on the market, the following beauty box brands have an extensive following.

1. HuesBox

HuesBox, founded by Jenae, Robin and Jasmine Harris, sells a beauty box that’s specifically made for men and women of color. The beauty box curators gather product suggestions from communities of color throughout the world. Hues differs from other subscription boxes because of that curated community.

“This is by people of color, for people of color—not just African Americans,” Robin Harris says.

“We’re talking about Asians, Hispanics and American Indians because it’s this missing component of other boxes that are out there.”

Not only do subscribers get access to beauty samples, but they also are tapped into a direct line that connects them to others in the Hues community.

Hues offers monthly ($15), three month ($45), six month ($78) and 12 month ($144) subscription services. Once you pick a subscription option, Hues prompts you with a series of questions about your health, beauty and wellness preferences. The answers you enter allow Hues to pick the colors, beauty advice and product types to send you.

2. Created Coily

Created Coily serves women with natural hair and is run by natural hair professionals. The organization curates products, such as shampoo, conditioner, butters, pomades, and oils that are sulfate-free.

The brand’s signature product, the Coily Crate, is themed and unique. Users can choose from two subscription options:

Quarterly Coily Crate: $85 every three months. Includes four Crates with products and styling tools. Subscribers also get to check in with professional stylists once a year.

Mini Crate Membership: $38 every three months. Four mini crates that include natural hair and body care tips, and more.

In addition to spotlighting great beauty supplies, the organization also conducts natural beauty workshops for women and men in hopes to empower subscribers.

3. GlowwBox

GlowwBox is similar to other beauty box brands except it’s specifically for women with darker skin tones. Each GlowwBox is sent out every month. Every Box contains six different products, specifically British and European hair, skin and makeup brands.

Products contained in the subscription come in a variety of sizes—trial, sample and full-sized—a policy that allows users to “truly try before you buy.”

Currently, GlowwBox has six and 12-month subscription plans. A monthly plan is £15 or about $19. The six-month plan runs close to $120, and the 12-month plan about $200. Shipping from the UK is £9.95 (about $14).

Do you have a favorite beauty box brand that’s specifically made for women of color? If so, let us know—we’d love to get reviews from actual subscribers.

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Healthy You Now, a new health site for women of color, seeks to break down traditional barriers.

Tonya Lewis Lee has struggled with her weight since she was 13. Today, the mother of two is a national best-selling author, an award-winning TV producer and the face of a national infant mortality campaign, “A Healthy Baby Begins with You,” sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services. She also recently launched Healthy You Now, a website dedicated to women’s health—and specifically to reaching women of color.

Lee is an anomaly in her family because she’s not on medication. “By my age, I should be taking some pill for something,” she says. She knows that her lifestyle choices have made all of the difference and started Healthy You Now to help other women. Lee and I corresponded about the site and what inspired her.

Libby Lowe: How did you become interested in the health of women and girls?

Tonya Lewis Lee: I have dieted most of my life one way or another, successfully losing weight, but also gaining some back and needing to lose some again. Another part of my health journey has been that for years I had relatively high cholesterol. I realized I could not go on one more diet. I decided to try a plant-based diet and, after six weeks of living a vegan lifestyle, my cholesterol dropped dramatically. It is not always easy, but the way I live makes a difference in my well-being. And given my struggles, my family history and my journey, I know that if I can make a difference in my own well-being, other women can too.

LL: What inspired you to launch Healthy You Now?

TLL: In 2007, I began working with the Office of Minority, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, raising awareness about the high rates of infant mortality in the U.S. and in particular in the African-American community. As I began to learn more, I felt the need to create a space where women are able to access good information about their health and share their personal health journeys and to support one another as they try to transform their lives.

When people have access to resources, knowledge and ease of location to access things like healthy food choices and exercise they tend to be healthier. When you look at statistics, wealth and education are often predictors of better health outcomes. I am of the belief that if we as a community come together to seriously deal with the health of those who have fewer resources, we can still increase awareness and knowledge in those with less education and we can provide access to those who traditionally have been isolated from healthier options.

LL: Yours is clearly a more diverse site than most health and wellness publications; what barriers to health do you see and how is your site seeking to break them down?

TLL: I am intentionally reaching out to women of color. So often we do not see the image of ourselves as active, healthy people. Culturally, we tend to embrace our curves, which is great. And yet, we have to be realistic about what is a healthy weight it. I also think that people in general are not fully aware of how diet and exercise really can heal so many of our illnesses. It is my hope that HYN can showcase living healthy and demonstrate how much fun it can be, and how good it can be for you.

LL: What is your biggest challenge in getting this information out there?

TLL: The biggest challenge is cutting through all the misinformation about health. Today, so many people are trying to do the right thing, but they don’t necessarily know what the right thing is. For example, I often hear women say they are cutting back on dairy and are trying to use more soy milk. But women of color need to be careful about ingesting too much soy. Research shows we are sensitive to the estrogen in soy, which can increase chances of developing some cancers or fibroids. So, making sure we are getting the good information out and getting past some of the confusing information is a challenge.

LL: What is your dream for the site?

TLL: My dream for HYN is for it to be a portal of health and wellness to women of all races, but especially to women of color around the world. I would love to be the go-to site for information and the go to site when women seek support as they figure out how to live their healthiest lives. I see it as a place where we provide solid health information, and at the same time, provide a place for women to share their stories with each other. Support is such a key piece as we try to make change in our lives. Often those closest to us are uncomfortable when we move out of our comfort zone and they don’t know how to offer support. HYN should be the place where anyone can get the support they need… Health is a journey, not a destination. It never ends and we can always be better.

Tonya Lewis Lee lives in New York with her children and her husband, Spike Lee, who you may have heard of. She’s at work on two new books.

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