PUR Cosmetics' New Barbie Collection Was Created With Us In Mind
I love beauty launches. But, the one I'm going to tell you about is different. It fed my inner beauty lover and made me feel like a little girl again.
PUR Cosmetics and Mattel recently released a new 10-piece collaboration filled with lipsticks, lashes, a beautiful complexion brush, a 12-piece palette, a highlighter palette, a mask, and a lip gloss. As a black woman with a deeper skin tone, I am usually underwhelmed by makeup collaborations. Most of the time, I can only use one or two of the products in the release because, to be frank, no one in the creative process is thinking about me. The word "diversity" is usually a buzzword, not a meaningful thought beyond what will get a release trending.
Growing up, Barbie was a large part of my life, but from a distance. My sister and I had many Barbie dolls, but we couldn't play with them because they were "collector's items" as my mom put it. Not to be touched. We could only gaze at them from below their placement on the unreachable shelves in our rooms through their boxes.
Now that I'm older, I get it. Finding a Barbie doll, well any doll for that matter, without white skin was an anomaly at the time. So, when I saw this collection roll out with a dark-skinned woman front and center — I was shook.
The night of the launch party, I pulled up to a house in Mid-City Los Angeles with a pink corvette to my right as I entered the house with pink decor everywhere. There were pink cookies. Pink cocktails. Pink photo ops. The little girl in me was going ham. I was standing in a real-life Barbie playhouse surrounded by makeup, sweets, and walls filled with Barbie dolls.
As the night went on, I get a chance to meet members of the PUR and Mattel team that worked to put this collaboration together. One of which was Tisha Thompson, the Vice President of Marketing and Innovation, and she was black.
I hate calling attention to that fact, but in the beauty game, it is important.
In my mind, I was fangirling. Because even in this time of "diversity", it's rare you see a woman of color, let alone a black woman, behind the products we're wearing. After meeting her, I knew the marketing wasn't a result of a white person in a boardroom trying to create a campaign because inclusion is trending. It was clear this was organic and coming from a place of authenticity.
"The entire motive behind this collaboration is to empower beauty lovers to showcase their unique beauty and limitless potential through the use of beautiful makeup and skincare products," said Thompson. "That can't be accomplished without intentional representation in all facets of the launch. We wanted not only to create a marketing campaign that was representative of our PUR Beauties but formulated with colors and shades that would flatter all skin types and tones, as well."
The little girl in me walked away, saying, "I want to be like her when I grow up." And the 33-year-old woman I am today knows it's possible. The collection is filled with products you'll not only want to use like the semi-matte lipstick (the color and staying power are amazing), and the 12-piece eyeshadow palette. But, in true Barbie fashion, the packaging is encrusted with pink rhinestones and glitter (that won't come off on you).
We know that collabs come at us daily, but this one is worth a look because it has us in mind.
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Featured image by PUR Cosmetics/Instagram
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Bianca Lambert is a proud Atlanta native soaking up the Los Angeles sun. She is the founder of Mae B: a stationery company for women of color and a digital content creator on a mission to elevate the voices of women of color everywhere.
ItGirl 100 Honors Black Women Who Create Culture & Put On For Their Cities
As they say, create the change you want to see in this world, besties. That’s why xoNecole linked up with Hyundai for the inaugural ItGirl 100 List, a celebration of 100 Genzennial women who aren’t afraid to pull up their own seats to the table. Across regions and industries, these women embody the essence of discovering self-value through purpose, honey! They're fierce, they’re ultra-creative, and we know they make their cities proud.
VIEW THE FULL ITGIRL 100 LIST HERE.
Don’t forget to also check out the ItGirl Directory, featuring 50 Black-woman-owned marketing and branding agencies, photographers and videographers, publicists, and more.
THE ITGIRL MEMO
I. An ItGirl puts on for her city and masters her self-worth through purpose.
II. An ItGirl celebrates all the things that make her unique.
III. An ItGirl empowers others to become the best versions of themselves.
IV. An ItGirl leads by example, inspiring others through her actions and integrity.
V. An ItGirl paves the way for authenticity and diversity in all aspects of life.
VI. An ItGirl uses the power of her voice to advocate for positive change in the world.
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Sheila Rashid's Androgynous Approach To Unisex Clothing Is A Lesson In Embracing Individuality
The ItGirl 100 List is a celebration of 100 Black women who aren’t afraid to pull up their own seats to the table.
For Sheila Rashid, it all started with some free-hand drawings and a few strokes of paint.
The Chicago-based clothing designer and creative director of Sheila Rashid Brand recalls using her spare time in high school to hand paint designs on t-shirts and distressed hoodies, distributing them to classmates as walking billboards for her art.
Rashid sought to pursue fashion design at Columbia College in Chicago but eventually took the self-taught route to build upon her knack for crafting one-of-a-kind, androgynous pieces.
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Thanks to the mentorship of local designers taking her under their wings, Rashid was able to gain valuable experience in putting together collections and creating patterns; equipping her with them with the necessary skills to pursue her own collections.
After two years of living in New York, Rashid returned home to the Chi and uncovered the unique flair she could offer the city. “I moved to New York after that because I wanted to be in the fashion capital world,” she tells xoNecole. “That's when I really got a leg up. I found myself when I moved back to Chicago after moving to New York.”
For the Midwest native, inspiration comes from her time around creative peers and the city’s notorious winters — known to be a main character in many Chicagoans stories. “It's a different perspective and mindset when I'm making stuff because of the weather here,” she explains. “When we get summer, it’s ‘Summertime Chi’ — it's amazing. It's beautiful. Still, I find myself always making clothes that cater to the winter.”
"I moved to New York after that because I wanted to be in the fashion capital world. That's when I really got a leg up. I found myself when I moved back to Chicago after moving to New York.”
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Many designers have a signature aesthetic or theme in their creations. In Rashid’s design story, dancing between the lines of femininity and masculinity is how she’s been able to distinguish herself within the industry. Her androgynous clothing has garnered the eye of celebrities like Zendaya, Chance the Rapper, WNBA star Sydney Colson, and more — showing her range and approach to designs with inclusivity in mind.
“I think I do reflect my own style,” she says. “When I do make pieces, I'm very tomboyish, androgynous. My work is unisex because I feel like everybody can wear it. I cater to everybody and that's how I try to approach my clothes.” From denim to overalls, and color-drenched outerwear, Rashid has mastered the structure of statement pieces that tell a story.
“Each collection, I never know what's going to be the thing I'm going to focus on. I try to reflect my own style and have fun with the storytelling,” she shares. “I look at it more like it's my art in this small way of expressing myself, so it's not that calculated.”
"My work is unisex because I feel like everybody can wear it. I cater to everybody and that's how I try to approach my clothes."
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Still, if you were able to add up all the moments within Rashid’s 20-year career in design, one theme that has multiplied her into becoming an “ItGirl” is her confidence to take up space within the fashion industry as a queer, Black woman. “Being an ItGirl is about being yourself, loving what you do, finding your niche, and mastering that,” she says.
No matter where you are on your ItGirl journey, Rashid says to always remain persistent and never hesitate to share your art with the world. “Don’t give up. Even if it's something small, finish it and don't be afraid to put it out,” she says, “It's about tackling your own fear of feeling like you have to please everybody, but just please yourself, and that's good enough.”
To learn more about the ItGirl 100 List, view the full list here.
Featured image Courtesy