About

 

I can still remember it like it happened yesterday.

It was the first runway gig I booked, even though it was a local show, I was so excited. I was the only dark-skinned model cast and once I walked into the dressing room, I was met with a look of apprehension on the makeup artist's face. In that moment, I realized that no one briefed her that a dark-skinned model was going to be present that day.

She tried to be professional but her face was aghast as she rummaged through her kit with a flustered demeanor looking for products in her kit that would match me. I felt awkward and apologetic that my skin tone posed a challenge. Now I recall that incident, saddened for my younger self that I felt, even for a brief moment, apologetic for being dark skinned. 

There is absolutely no reason for my skin tone to have been such a big deal. The only thing I did "wrong" that day, was have a deep skin tone.

I turned to beauty tutorials because I figured I needed to learn how to do my own makeup, just in case I ended up being turned into Casper the Ghost by yet another well-meaning makeup artist who just didn't have the tools for my skin. 

I avidly watched several beauty vloggers of colour, yet I barely saw any of them on the popular social media pages dedicated to beauty.I decided to make an Instagram page celebrating my favorite beauty vloggers and called it @MakeupforMelaninGirls, little did I know that this action will blossom into a community united by an interest in celebrating diverse beauty. 

Today, MFMG is a community of thousands of women that are tired of being the last two shades in a collection and hearing "we're working on it" when yet another brand ignores the beauty needs of deeper skin tones. 

Thank you for stopping by, every purchase you make here goes towards building a world where deeper skin tones aren't "niche" but are front and center where they deserve to be.  

xoxo 

Tomi 

Founder

MFMG Cosmetics