It's hard these days to tell when a brand's efforts towards diversity is genuine. As shown by both the past and the present, inclusion is something that many see as "trendy" rather than necessary and ever-present. But there are real brands out there breaking the mold and creating products with more than monetary gain and notoriety in mind.
UOMA is one of those brands. Bred from Nigerian roots, the new Afropolitan brand is shaking up the standards of the beauty industry, and providing some amazing products in the process. So if you're looking to buy black, or just support a makeup brand truly doing things the right way, UOMA is for you.
Shade ranges continue to expand across the beauty industry.
And it's showing no signs of slowing down. Post-Fenty, it seems like any brand worth its soul is fighting to expand its shade ranges and create more inclusive products for all beauty lovers. Some of it is genuine, some is solely for dollar signs, but one thing is sure: Slowly but surely, true strides are being made to diversify the beauty industry.
UOMA is one of those brands offering a wide range, but it's doing things much different than others.
With beauty veteran and former LVMH Executive Sharon Chuter at its helm, UOMA Beauty is aiming to set the bar of what true diversity and inclusion is. UOMA, which means beautiful in the Nigerian dialect Igbo, is inspired by Chuter's Nigerian roots is a brand that Chuter describes as "Afropolitan."
"The first thing to understand about the ‘Afro’ is that Africa is the most racially diverse continent on the planet. You go all the way to South Africa where you have people of every color who are Caucasian, in Egypt you have beautiful Arabs, go into West Africa you’ll find brown people, and go to South Sudan, you’ll find people who are of the deep dark shades," Chuter told Bustle.
The brand has just launched in Ulta stores and websites everywhere.
The initial release features 10 highly pigmented and specially formulated products. UOMA, which is one of very few black-owned brands available at Ulta, is the luxury makeup brand that the industry needs now more than ever. From just one glance at the campaign that features women of all races, backgrounds, and skin tones, the inclusion of UOMA, unlike many brands, feels so genuine, thoughtful, and timely.
The most notable of its first launches is the brand's Say What?! Foundation.
Available in 51 different shades, unlike other large ranges, the foundations do not all boast the same formula. Because of that, the complexion products have six varying formulas. “It doesn’t make sense if people have different skin and skin has different needs to keep doing what everybody’s doing right now, which is use the same formula and rolling in new shades,” Chuter said in an interview with Bustle.
And though it just launched, already the brand has garnered the support of numerous celebrities, black women particularly.
Black women and men showed up in droves to support the launch of the brand. While supermodel Halima Aden serves as the face of the brand, Skai Jackson, Estelle, and Kelis among with dozens more were among the many who came out to support at the grand opening in Los Angeles.
UOMA also has so much more to offer than just its foundations.
Ahead, check out some of the other amazing products that are just the beginning of a beauty empire.
Say What?! Foundation ($39, Ulta)
This next generation formulation is infused with skin-care benefits available in six custom formulas to cater to the unique needs of different skin color groups. Available in 51 shades, this weightless, long lasting, buildable, vibrant, and hydrating formula is infused with biomimicry pigments that thinks like your skin to give that flawless finish and blurred effect.
Stay Woke Luminous Brightening Concealer ($25, Ulta)
This is like beauty sleep in a bottle! Discoloration? Dark Circles? Late nights? Early Mornings? Meet your all day solution to a flawless complexion. Stay woke with UOMA Beauty's Stay Woke Luminous Brightening Concealer, a weightless, full coverage, light weight, satin radiance concealer that goes on seamlessly to instantly conceal imperfections. It's everything you could want in a concealer and the luxuriously creamy texture allows for an easy, blendable application that leaves the skin perfectly matte.
Allure Black Magic Color Palette ($44, Ulta)
Leave them spell bound! Unleash the goddess within with the hypnotic, high octane, high impact and highly pigmented UOMA Beauty Allure Black Magic Color Palette. This versatile color palette is a combination of the most pigmented matte colors, otherworldly sparkle textures, and vibrant metallic textures. The rich formulas transform into an ultra-thin, full colored film on the skin, and it's long lasting and water resistant.
Beauty Black Magic Metallic Shine Lipstick ($26, Ulta)
Shimmering shades melt onto lips and these playful sticks act as iridescent veils that flash like loose glitter and give the lips a multi-dimensional shine. Amplify lips with a blast of explosive color and rave worthy shine. It's infused with Brazil nut oil to moisturize and nourish lips with essential minerals and vitamins.
