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ColourPop's Wild Nothing Collection is Boring and Noninclusive

by - July 29, 2020

ColourPop Wild Nothing Collection
Not only did ColourPop's latest collection fail to fully embody its desert theme in an exciting way, they also failed to make it inclusive for all skin tones. If Black lives matter so does my skin. This is not the first time and I’m sure it won’t be the last that ColourPop releases a collection that was clearly not created with us in mind. You’d think they’d learn by now. But when someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time. ColourPop has shown time and time again that their words do not match their actions. 

Due to recent events and protests sparked by George Floyd's death, many brands have come out in support of the Black Lives Movement and/or Black community in general. Many of these brands might actually mean the words behind the carefully crafted statements they release while others are doing what we call "performative activism". They just appear to be on our side and pretend to care when really they could care less about the issue as they have the privilege of it not affecting them. With that said, here's a statement from ColourPop in the wake of recent events: 

"We want to make #blacklivesmatter our primary focus on all platforms. We have taken time and will continue to educate ourselves and find the best ways to ensure black voices are heard." (source) 

They later released this additional statement vowing to make sure their future collections were fully inclusive and "work[ed] on all skin tones - not only in complexion shade ranges, but all product categories."
ColourPop Diversity Statement
However, their latest collection, Wild Nothing, released only 7 weeks after they made these claims, features a slew of beiges and pale browns that clearly only suit those with fair complexions. Even those with medium skin tones would have a hard time making the collection work. I knew immediately when I saw the collection that it was clearly not for us.

Here's a closer look at the collection:
ColourPop Wild Nothing Collection palette
ColourPop Wild Nothing Collection blushes
Clearly, the barely there pigment in these blushes would do nothing on my skin tone. I-
  ColourPop Wild Nothing Collection Creme Shadows
A few hours after releasing the first photos of the collection, they released swatch photos showing most of the collection on light and dark skin. The blushes were not included, which is probably because those shades would definitely not work at all on darker skin tones even with layering. The palette swatches on darker skin only confirmed my initial suspicions and I’m certain it was layered in the photo to appear more opaque than it actually is.
ColourPop Wild Nothing palette swatches on dark skin
ColourPop Wild Nothing palette swatches on light skin
Reactions to these swatches featured positive comments, which were all from those with fair skin tones, while those with darker skin tones, and even some with lighter skin tones as well, noticed that the palette swatches did not look as good on darker skin. In fact, many comments noted that the swatches looked “ashy”.
Screenshot of ColourPop Wild Nothing Collection Instagram comments
This thread, which includes a comment that received 168 likes at the time of my screenshot, spoke of what I mentioned earlier. If Black lives matter, why are we always an after thought for your company? Something as simple as including us in your thought process when creating a new collection is not much to ask, but it’s clear we were never a part of your thought process in the first place.
Screenshot of ColourPop Wild Nothing Collection Instagram comments
The thread continues and mentions another point I brought up regarding this not being “a new critique for the brand”. So they've done it before, it was brought to their attention and instead of making sure it doesn’t happen again, their response is to ignore the pleas and petitions (yes, there were even petitions) from their Black customers and continue business as usual.

Not only that, this time ColourPop took it a step further. They decided not only are we going to ignore the voices of our customers who are clearly unhappy with this collection, we will also silence them by deleting or restricting all the comments they made voicing their opinions regarding the poor shade selection and lack of consideration for those with darker skin tones. Changed their tune quick regarding ensuring "Black voices are heard" huh? A few hours later, I was quite surprised to see when I checked their post with the swatches of the collection that the top comments were all positive ones and the one at the very top had only 21 likes.
Screenshot of ColourPop Wild Nothing Collection Instagram comments
Remember that screenshot I shared earlier with 169 likes? Well, the way Instagram works is comments with the most likes will be pushed to the top, which logically means a post with 169 likes would be above one with 21. So clearly the brand removed it and the entire thread as well. Not only that, but they removed ALL the comments voicing similar opinions as they all had a few likes and would’ve been easy to spot at the top of their comments section and remove by either deleting or restricting them. Luckily, I took screenshots as I was discussing this palette on my Instagram story and planned to post some of the reactions many had that were similar to my own.
Screenshot of ColourPop Wild Nothing Collection Instagram comments
Screenshot of ColourPop Wild Nothing Collection Instagram commentsScreenshot of ColourPop Wild Nothing Collection Instagram comment
Screenshot of ColourPop Wild Nothing Collection Instagram comment

"Posting swatches on dark skin doesn't mean shit if you aren't formulating your products with dark skin in mind."

Screenshot of ColourPop Wild Nothing Collection Instagram comment
Screenshot of ColourPop Wild Nothing Collection Instagram comment
Screenshot of ColourPop Wild Nothing Collection Instagram comment
Screenshot of ColourPop Wild Nothing Collection Instagram comments
Did you notice all the likes these comments received? Even just one like pushes your comment above all the comments without a like, yet all these comments have not so mysteriously disappeared off the post. Instead of responding and addressing the issue, ColourPop chose to ignore and erase the issue altogether as it’s not important to them or rather because it’s not an issue for them.

I was such a fan of this brand and own many of their products. But I have stopped purchasing from them for quite some time. I started seeing these signs long ago. However, just because they have great products at affordable prices doesn’t mean we should overlook their short comings and give them a pass. It’s not enough to just post a black square or a cute quote. It’s not enough to just say you believe Black lives matter and that you’re going to “amplify melanated voices”. This came in the form of finally recognizing and reposting pics (see post here) from the hashtag #ColourPopMeBlack that was specifically created because of ColourPop’s lack of diversity on their Instagram feed. Again, Black CP fans had to create a whole hashtag and despite multiple comments all the time from anyone who knew about this hashtag and goal, ColourPop still chose to ignore it until they no longer could. They wanted to show their “commitment to Black creators” and that started with posting more Black creators on their IG page, which they previously didn’t do often. Why do we have to go as far as creating a hashtag just for this brand, so that they finally notice us and repost us on their page? I loathed the idea. Why support a brand that doesn’t support you?
Screenshot of ColourPop Wild Nothing Collection Instagram comment
We shouldn’t have to beg, plead, start hashtags, petition or even ask. It should be the standard and it never has been with ColourPop. However, there’s other brands with products that are just as good if not better. Other brands that are just as affordable. Other brands that always create products with us in mind from the start and not as an after thought or obligation. ColourPop has had many chances. Too many, in my opinion.

FYI, Black lives have always mattered! Breonna Taylor still needs justice. Sign the petition and see other ways you can help HERE.












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