Here's how three siblings are bringing cultural awareness and diversity to the beauty biz—one nude lipstick shade at a time.
In an era of makeup collections with 40+ foundation colours, representation within the beauty industry shouldn’t be a “nice to have”—it should be a must. And while many brands have started investing in a much-needed spotlight on diversity when it comes to their product offerings and shade ranges, some seem to completely miss the mark when dealing with inclusive campaigns.
The feeling that accompanies not seeing your own reflection in mainstream media and beauty—especially when society has already labelled you a minority—can have a powerful impact to say the least. Just take it from Pakistani-American sisters Aleena, Aleezeh and Naseeha Khan. After all, their U.K.-based cosmetics line, CTZN Cosmetics, was born out of how they felt about being excluded from big-name beauty ads time and again. “That’s when you actually realize ‘I’m not there,’” recalls Aleena.
Fuelled by frustration and an urge to push for greater inclusion and cultural understanding, the trio set out to start their own direct-to-consumer cosmetics label, even if they didn’t necessarily have a hero product at the get-go to put them on the makeup map. “At first, we were just thinking of our own experiences,” says Aleena. “We knew for sure how we felt as women of colour within the beauty industry, and we knew we wanted to be inclusive.
This was all back in 2017—a banner year for positive strides toward diversity thanks to the successful launches of wide foundation ranges. It was also a time when the matte lip was still going strong. Soon it all clicked for the sisters: a diverse range of modern matte nude lip colours that encompassed everything from warm peach to deep terracotta, from rich plum to fudge brown and plenty of other complexion-enhancing hues. Reminder: The colour “nude” isn’t just a single shade of beige.
Launched in May 2019 and recently available in Canada, CTZN Cosmetics’s cruelty-free lip collection, dubbed, consists of 25 double-ended sticks featuring a wild mango butter-infused matte lipstick on one end and a pigmented lipgloss in an identical nude hue on the other. The shades are organized alphabetically on the company website, and each is randomly named after a beloved city the globe-trotting Khan sisters have visited.
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