Beautyblender surprised the makeup industry this past July when it announced a new product that was a slight departure from its famous egg-shaped sponge. The brand's debut foundation, called Bounce, created an immediate buzz that had makeup fans excited to get the product in their hands. The matte formula boasts 24-hour coverage and comes in a clever bottle with a built-in tray for the cult-favorite sponge. But as soon as the first pictures hit the Internet, even before the product hit shelves, Beautyblender was facing controversy.
People began to criticize the release, calling the shade options "disappointing," pointing out the unrealistic orange-y colours, and assailing the brand for the shortage of dark shade options. Famous vloggers, like Refinery29's 2018 Beauty Innovator Of The Year Jackie Aina, took to YouTube to express their thoughts. "I'm going to review this in the most honest way that I can," Aina said in her video, referencing her relationship with the brand. "For someone that's in the high melanin category, this is a dismal shade range." However, even with the backlash, fans remained hopeful that the range would soon be expanded to be more inclusive — many other brands have done shade revisions this year thanks to the so-called "Fenty Effect," where any foundation range with fewer than 40 shades seems lacking.
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Well, the day has come, and the brand is now releasing eight new shades for its Bounce foundation. Beautyblender founder Rea Ann Silva tells us that this was the plan from the start. "When we started developing Bounce, our goal was to launch with 40 shades of foundation. We were able to perfect 32 of those shades in time for our launch, all while continuing to work towards our initial goal of 40," she exclusively tells Refinery29. "There was so much excitement around Bounce that we immediately got right to work meticulously shade matching the remaining eight blends."
But of course, you have to wonder why these eight shades took longer to develop, and Silva says it has to do with getting the undertones just right. "It’s harder to differentiate undertones in darker shades. So, these shades needed extra love and attention when perfecting, because they are variations of the existing shades," says Silva. "We focused on working with newer tones like 'olive' and rounding out the deeper undertones. Slight differences make all the difference in foundation." The new additions include a variety of tan and dark shades, one fair shade, and a new deep shade. What will now be the darkest colour in the Bounce range, 4.75, is off the Colour IQ chart at Sephora, meaning that it was formulated to be darker than any other foundation sold at the beauty giant.
Silva says the development doesn't stop there as they dive deeper into undertones and shades. "We are not done," she assures us. "There are an infinite amount of skin tones in the world, and we will continue to innovate and develop." Or, as the slogan for the expansion says, "can't stop, won't stop."
Beautyblender's Bounce foundation is available now in 40 shades for $52 at sephora.com.
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