Good Morning!
How’s life treating you over there? New York has been…interesting. We’re in a phase opening system at the moment and we’re taking baby steps to get everything back up and running right now. We were labeled the epicenter of the virus and I think most folks living here in Gotham were convinced at some point zombies would begin trolling the streets of the city. I’m still convinced that might happen. I mean, we’ve had everything else why not a Walking Dead experience?
Stores like Sephora, Ulta, etc…are still locked up tight. I think people are most concerned about the MTA and commuting. You know, there’s some irony that people are scared to take the subway because of germs. Dude, the subways have always been home to some interesting critters making COVID-19 the least of our worries. Exhibit A: Pizza Rat. Exhabit B: Egg McMuffin Rat (although, I believe this was a set up and a PR stunt by Mcdonald’s to gain more of a following haha!) No, but seriously, commuting is an issue for a lot of folks. Ubers, subways, buses, it all makes everyone a little tense. Shout out to the taxis out there still working. These guys were probably hit the hardest. The value of a TLC medallions hit pay dirt when Ride Sharing hit Manhattan and many, many guys suffered hard. Uber bankrupted some of them. Check the stats on suicides in New York and taxi drivers it’s pretty sad. In 2012, a TLC medallion was worth about a million bucks. It’s dropped dramatically when Ride Sharing popped up. Before COVID it hit an all time low of $200,000 and now with COVID? It must be worth even less. And through it all of it these guys are still out there being creative with how they protect themselves and anyone who enters their cars. They have to work, they have to feed their families, pay for their car rentals/leases, dues for their bases, etc… They move New York but New York is at a standstill and not moving very much at the moment but they are still out there on the daily. It’s pretty sad.
Moral of the story, there’s not a lot we can do about COVID-19 at the moment. We can only do our best to wear a mask, social distance ourselves from others, and try to prevent the spread of the disease.
We can however, do something right now, this very second, about the Black Lives Matters movement in the makeup world.
Someone left me a comment yesterday and she said she didn’t feel like she was doing enough. That what she was doing felt meaningless. Don’t feel that way. The smallest thing you do today can bring about the biggest change in the future. If we all do one small thing it accounts for one major thing and that’s how life, the universe, and everything changes.
Right now brands are making a lot of promises to change the way they do beauty. Tarte’s already made a major admission they know they can do better and plan to do better. Other brands are promising much of the same. I urge you to use your social platforms to tell them you’re listening and you want more from them. In a few months from now if you don’t see the changes they promise call them out on it. If you feel their foundation range is lacking tell them that! If their latest palette only flatters one skin tone call them out on it! Demand more. I admit I have not been as vocal about this as I should be and I plan to change that. I’ve already written up a mass e-mail I plan to send to several brands I’ve worked with in the past and brands that I think aren’t doing enough and explain to them that the promises they make now will shape the beauty world of the future. Sending a mass e-mail feels like such a small thing to do but I feel like even if it reaches on person out there maybe it’ll make them understand I’m listening and putting hope in them that they will keep the promises they are making across their social media accounts.
The beauty world has evolved in the last four years to a very inclusive point but there are still many, many changes to be made. I do have a controversial view when it comes to certain movements in the beauty world. Two of which I feel very strongly about are men in makeup and inclusivity. I have sadly always felt that many brands jumped on board with men in makeup just because it was the thing to do not because they felt like it was a movement they supported. In 2016, James Charles was selected as the first Coverboy to represent Covergirl but prior to that many other male influeners were already making a name for themselves in the makeup world. It felt like many brands started supporting them to gain new followers. I feel the same about inclusivity. It Cosmetics for example trying to include a larger shade range but failing rather miserably at it. It just feels like some brands are doing things for the sake of doing them and not putting a lot of though and attention into a release. It’s like, “Oh let’s do some darker shades because this is what sells!” versus “Oh let’s do a darker shade range because there are girls and guys out there that need these shades and the market is sadly lacking in them!” I just wish some of these topics they address aren’t just ones they select because they are trendy or will gain them a more diverse group of followers or extra revenue. I want them to do it because they genuinely care about their consumer base.
Write your favorite brands, tweet them, @ them on Facebook, tell them what you want from them, what you expect, what changes you want to see. Believe me if they see enough of us doing this they will listen and those changes will become a reality.
Good luck! As always I’m counting on you to be the good humans I know you are!
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