Alaina+H's+Final+AmEx+Speech+2017

Let me paint you a picture. I walk into Sephora deterred by the talent makeup artist around me asking if I need help. Asking me if I have anything I'm looking for in specific. Asking if I want to try a sample of something. But I kindly tell them “no I’m fine just looking” and we both carry on with our day. Even though I am actually looking for something in specific I'm just that awkward teen that never likes to ask for help from employees. As I stroll through the aisles browsing over eyeshadows, eyebrow pencils, highlighters, blushes, anything really relating to makeup, and I come to a halt. I find what I'm looking for. One of the makeup artists that I follow on instagram and twitter as well as watching her tutorials on youtube has done nothing but rave over this foundation. And I need this foundation. It combats all my problems, it's mattifying, lightweight but full coverage, the average teens dream. But I go to look for my shade, and it's not there. I see that there is 24 different options of foundations and not even one of them is compatible to me. They got eggshell, bone, cream, ivory, nude, and every other white shade under the caucasian umbrella. But not one single obligatory shade for women of color. Now, many of you might not relate to this problem for one of two reasons. Either your male, and don't understand the complexities of makeup, or you are able to find your shade easily due to the color of your skin. But for those of you that can relate, you must know what struggle it is to be in this situation. You would think in 2017 I wouldn't have to scavenge around ulta, or sephora, hell even target to find a shade of foundation to match my skin. And the scariest part of this is, that I'm not even that black. Oh wait let me rephrase that, I'm not even that dark. I am usually able to work with a medium deep shade, but even then, it's still, a stretch considering that there is many shades darker than me. I can find cocoa and work with it, but what about the women of color that need shades like rich, ebony, maybe even a color that is actually deep. When I think of an America I want to grow old in, the obvious answer would be an America without racism. But I think we all know that that isn't incredibly likely. So I have a different dream. I want to grow old in an America where people can accept and admit that Racism exist. Now, this might seem like an awkward and counterproductive hope, and I know many people do know that racism exist, but hear me out. Makeup is only one aspect of my life, one aspect that in many ways, is racist. And even though it is, there is still companies that have maybe one or two deeper shades and will label themselves “leaders in complections”. Like What?! Who are you leading and who is following you because I wanna chat. Because there are brands like Nars, and Urban Decay, and Lancome that truly are diverse, and by doing this they don't even need to label themselves as diverse, they just are. But the companies like Yves Saint Laurent, that make quite literally FOUR shades, JUST FOUR shades that are actually deep, and somehow make 18 Fair to Medium shades, and think that is okay in 2017. I'm already 16, growing up in a world where we are constantly developing in every aspect whether it be in science, technology, etc. and yet still this aspect of my life is affected. How hard is it to change the pigment of a single product. I understand, there is a risk that it might not sell, and the company could lose money, but is that money really worth more than the respect hundreds of thousands of people of color lose for them. I guess so, but that's SO FRUSTRATING. As a woman of color, this probably just seems like a rant from a black girl about white people being racist, but this problem should not be as big as it actually is. So I urge you, those of you that might now realize that this is an issue, whether it affects you or not. I beg you to go into sephora, or if you guys out there don't wanna walk into a makeup store, just go into your local target and see what it's like. And if you need a specific brand to look at, just find Almay, that company is wack, they make 3 shades of foundation, IN TOTAL. Racism in 2017, isn't just the news stories of discrimination in the workplace, or police brutality, it spreads further and further into all aspects of life, even the ones as simple as cosmetics.