Makeup Shades Dataset

These data were collected to learn more about shade availability from Fenty Beauty and other brands in the US and around the world. The data were used in The Pudding essay Beauty Brawl published in June 2018.

A list of beauty brands in the US, Nigeria, India, and Japan was collected that were considered by several sources to be "best sellers" in their home countries. The original author visited each brand's website during May 2018, found their liquid foundation line that (at the time of our sampling) had the largest number of shades available, and recorded the hex color values for each of the colored swatches shown for the product. Then, using Adobe Photoshop, they extracted the lightness value of each color (using the CIE Lab color model). Sources consulted to decide what brands/products to sample:

US bestseller lists: POPSUGAR, Amazon, StyleCaster, Refinery29, Statista, BEAUTY/crew
Articles recommending beauty products to people of color: VIBE, Byrdie, The FADER, Allure, Glamour, Fast Company, THE CUT, Bustle, HuffPost, more.com, BuzzFeed, Refinery29
Articles recommending Nigerian beauty products: BeautyInLagos, Beauty Geek, Lux Afrique, Zikel Cosmetics, Pulse.ng Pulse.ng again, Information Nigeria Women, Girly Essentials, Winnie The Make-Up Artist, Jumia Travel

Group Column Definition:
• 0: Fenty Beauty's PRO FILT'R Foundation Only
• 1: Make Up For Ever's Ultra HD Foundation Only
• 2: US Best Sellers
• 3: BIPOC-recommended Brands with BIPOC Founders
• 4: BIPOC-recommended Brands with White Founders
• 5: Nigerian Best Sellers
• 6: Japanese Best Sellers
• 7: Indian Best Sellers