Women of Color

When I first heard the phrase, 'Women of Color' I remember scrunching my brows and looking around to see if anyone else thought the term was strange. There wasn't another face that matched mine so I continued to listen to the cosmetic seminar that was given. Why did it hit me funny? Here's why...


I understand a woman's plight of finding the right colors to compliment her skin tones, the sometimes exasperating effort made to find the right shade of foundation, the irritation of going to 'professionals' at the department store and still having the unforgiveable makeup line of demarcation. Being a blend myself I personally witnessed going to the counter and an advisor would inevitably pick a color too dark because when she looked at me she saw black or bi-racial which means a little bit of black. Instead of truly looking at me and seeing hints of gold and apricot. What I don't understand is how 'color' became black and white. So, are we saying that white is not a color? Espresso is a color but so is bisque. And in all the years I have worked with cosmetics I haven't run into a woman that likes being categorized as Very Light or Dark. The response is usually a head tipped to the side and a, "Dark? I'm not dark. Is there something lighter?" or the sheepish down trodden eye that reluctantly says, "Yes. I'm as white as white can get." Purchasing makeup should make you feel happy, confident and maybe a little excited not self conscious. The issue really lies in the fact that a lot of cosmetic companies have only focused on one end of the spectrum of the rainbow instead of embracing both ends and the colors in between. Fortunately, companies like Nars and MAC seem to see color as more than light and dark and others are following suit. Yay!



So I have decided that when I refer to Women of Color it will not be to define the woman, but to identify with another fellow feminine being who loves rainbows. Women that love rose, cinnamon, indigo, paper bag brown, violet, crimson, black, white etc.... These are really 'Women of Color' in my eyes.