Historically and even today, brands focus on the ideal of white beauty and believe that by focusing on people of color, such as African-Americans, business will decline. As recent as the last few decades of the 20th century, there has not been enough shades for dark-skinned people. Many have had to combine multiple foundations in order to match their skin tone. For fashion shows and photo shoots, makeup for models with darker skin tones was provided by the models themselves. There has also been the idea of brands that when deeper shades are created, they are not purchased as much compared to lighter shades, which is false. In 2017, Rihanna, a famous singer, created her own beauty company called Fenty. The company acquired the motto "Beauty for All" and developed the Pro Filt'r Foundation with 40 shades. The first shades to be purchased the most were the deepest shades.

The diverse shade range targeted women of color, as the largest consumers of Fenty’s product became African-American and Latina females. Also, one albino woman stated that she appreciated being able to find a shade that fit her skin tone and undertone.

Rihanna started a domino effect called the Fenty Effect. The minimum amount of shades expected from any beauty brand became 40. High-end and drugstore brands are now following this expectation, and some brands are making even more than 40. Fenty is not the first beauty company with a wide range of shades, as in the 1990s there were businesses developed such as Iman Cosmetics (created by the famous supermodel Iman) and MAC. However, Fenty has been one of the first brands to have an immense impact on the makeup industry. In the modeling industry, there has been more improvement in regards to providing women of color with products for their skin tones, but many are still faced with having to provide products and stylists who are unaware of how to style their makeup or hair.

One challenge African-Americans face is brands not creating deeper shades. Despite the Fenty Effect and recent change in the makeup industry in 2017, many brands have and still continue to create more lighter shades and target lighter-skinned consumers. For instance in 2018, Tarte’s Shape Tape Foundation had ⅕ out of 15 total shades be deep shades, with 10 shades being created for online shopping only after criticism.

The formulas of all products in a foundation line are the same with the amount of each pigment, iron oxide yellow, iron oxide black, titanium dioxide (white), and iron oxide red, being different for each shade produced, yet brands are still not creating deeper shades. Also, when brands do create shades for darker skin tones, they are not formulating the shades well, for they do not pay the same amount of attention to undertones compared to lighter-skinned individuals. For instance, if the undertone is not correct the foundation can create an orange appearance of the skin, when there is more than needed of iron oxide red or yellow. Products with an apparent range of shades, including foundations and concealers, have been the focus of brands when trying to tackle colorism.

There are other makeup products that are not focused on, such as blush. There are less blush colors with attention to undertones. Lipstick is another product, as heavier colored lipsticks are required for people of color.

The second major challenge is having accessibility in stores to these makeup products created for darker skin tones. In smaller towns and rural areas, there is less accessibility to beauty products due to there being less stores, especially of beauty-specific and high-end stores. Not only are drugstores less difficult to find than a beauty store, the products they sell do not cost as much. But in drugstores there is less availability of these products than high-end retail stores. Drugstores display more of the shades for lighter-skinned than darker-skinned individuals, reducing the ability of African-Americans to be able to find their makeup in stores and can cause them to buy makeup online. Purchasing online makes it harder to find the correct shade and depending on the store, spend money to have it delivered. In Walgreens, for example, the types of products provided are at the discretion of the manager for each store, with the policy that they provide products using the population of the location and maximize the total space available for beauty products. However, it is difficult to monitor that all managers are following through with this policy.

Recently, there has been a shift towards increasing availability and focusing on all hair types, including Type 4 hair, within major brands such as Amika. Amika has started to promote their new slogan “All Hair is Welcome” by using a group of models with various hair types/styles and videos involving these models using their products. Along with Amika having more products for Type 3 and Type 4 hair and supporting stylists who are African-American, Suave has started their own eight product natural hair care line, and Dove has started one as well called Amplified Textures. Major companies are also trying to modify products or even buy Black hair care businesses. The change towards more diversity is small compared to the change in the makeup industry. The challenges of availability and the major issues of texturism and favoritism towards straighter hair are still prevalent within the hair care industry, but it is a stepping stone on the right path.