While there’s a push for makeup brands to cater for more skin tones and types, one condition has been largely overlooked – albinism.
Aside from Fenty Beauty, the pioneer for inclusivity when it comes to makeup, few brands directly cater to people with albino skin and hair. Despite the fact that one in 18,000 people globally have the condition.
This is about to change with the launch of Ivoree Beauty.
Created by influencer Jennifer Rhodes, who goes under the name of J. Renée – who herself has albinism – the tagline for Ivoree Beauty is “the fairest of them all” and it intends to offer the full range of makeup designed to suit albino skin and hair.
Albinism is a genetic condition that affects how much melanin their body produces. It is melanin that gives your skin, hair and eyes their colour and is inherited by faulty genes from a parent. Due to this lack of melanin, it can also cause sight problems. J Renée, for instance, is legally blind.
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Having started off as a makeup artist, J Renée has become an outspoken campaigner for albino inclusivity.
“We don’t see Albinism represented around us in a normalized way,” Renée told Dazed Beauty. “It’s usually depicted with evil, magical, albino characters in films, but now there are fashion models with Albinism, it can be seen as beautiful. We still want to have the same selection of products in our shades and see more inclusion in marketing.”
Ivoree Beauty has been a year in the making and its first launch includes two sets of mink eyelashes – one in golden-blonde, and one in white – both available from the Ivoree Beauty website.
The lashes are only currently available in the US, and cost $19 for a set (although at the time of writing they were reduced to $15). Shipping to the UK then starts at $13.54 rising to $65.28 meaning it’s not a cheap way to get hold of eyelashes suited to albino tones in the UK, but worth it when you consider the lack of local options.
J Renée plans to extend the range over the coming months to include more eyelash colour options for people with blonde, brown and red hair, as well as people with vitiligo – a skin condition characterised by a loss of pigmentation in their skin and lashes. You stay up-to-date with these launches as they happen on Ivoree Beauty’s Instagram page or follow J Renée herself.
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Victoria is founder and editor-in-chief of mamabella, freelance journalist and Mum. She has a passion for empowering people to feel beautiful whatever their age, size, skin type and budget
