SPKTRM Beauty Celebrates People Of All Shades With Inclusive Beauty Line

The launch of SPKTRM Beauty, a line of more than 50 shades of foundation, will promote relatable beauty and put an end to unrealistic standards of glamour.

If you’re a person of color, chances are you might have grown up unable to match your skin tone to a foundation. Some might argue, “What’s the big deal? Beauty is superficial. Make-up is only skin deep.” These people are missing the point.

SPKTRM Beauty will not retouch photos of models in their campaigns

“Walking through beauty aisles of a drugstore was a disconnect from what I saw in the mirror,” recalls AnnaLiisa Benston, one of the three founders of SPKTRM Beauty, a New York-based cosmetics line dedicated to inclusive beauty. Benston remembers thinking, “This is what the world thinks is beautiful, and I’m not included.”

Ehlie Luna, a make-up artist and co-founder of SPKTRM Beauty, agrees that not seeing your skin tone represented within the beauty industry can affect your self esteem. “When someone couldn’t be color-matched on a shoot, it can be humiliating [for them], even though, of course, it wasn’t their fault,” Luna says.

SPKTRM Beauty promotes inclusion from its inception

Jasmine Glass, who recruited Benston and Luna to help launch her brainchild, is using real people to represent the face of the new line. “SPKTRM is entering the market at a time when the discussion in the beauty industry is all about digital alterations. I want to align SPKTRM with fringe personalities who are committed to creating positive change in their industries.”

Campaign models are chosen for their personalities, which come through in the imagery

Crowdfunding website Indiegogo was instrumental in getting SPKTRM off the ground for the soft launch. The hard launch in spring 2019 will include highlighters and an expanded line. In the meantime, backers who support the brand through the Indiegogo campaign will be invited to develop and name their own shade of foundation. Backers receive discounted products and can enter to win a trip to New York City to attend the official label launch.

SPKTRM Beauty will ban all retouching of campaign and media images, which feature creatives with an interest in social activism. “You can feel a difference when a brand has you in mind from the beginning,” Luna says.

Models for SPKTRM Beauty are creatives with a story behind them

SPKTRM also plans to offer a subscription service where customers can refill glass bottles with foundation as their complexion changes over time. The line promotes sustainable beauty with eco-friendly, biodegradable packaging. In addition, SPKTRM has a give-back policy, donating 10 percent of profit to LGBTQ charities as well as organizations that serve disadvantaged women.

“There’s a lot of room for growth,” adds Glass. “I’ve been negatively affected by imagery in our youth-obsessed society that can make [some people] feel invisible if you don’t look a certain way.”

Rather than spending energy trying to dismantle archaic, exclusive and unrealistic standards of beauty, SPKTRM is committed to building a model of its own – one where the customer and creator are partnered in creating glamour everyone can feel good about.

About the author

Jill Di Donato

Fashion Editor

Jill is a New York native who holds a BA in Literature from Barnard College, and an MFA in writing from Columbia University. She is the author of the novel Beautiful Garbage (She Writes Press, 2013) about the downtown Manhattan art and fashion scene in the 1980s. A former staff writer for The Huffington Post and Bustle, Jill comes to Culture Trip after working with Refinery 29, Vice, Salon, Paste Style, Los Angeles Times, Nylon, Shopify, Autre, and producing content for emerging fashion labels. She teaches classes about fashion and culture at Barnard College and The Fashion Institute of Technology. Her prized possessions are her Gucci fanny pack, vintage rocker t-shirts, and her grandmother's collection of costume jewelry. She's always on the lookout for a gem-encrusted turban.