Why Alissa Ashley Teamed Up With NYX To Bring Inclusivity To Mass Market

Update: Following NYX's announcement that the Can't Stop Won't Stop foundation line launching in August will feature an impressive 45 shades, we asked beauty vlogger Alissa Ashley, who collaborated with the brand on the upcoming release, to give us her insight on the subject of inclusion in beauty — and why she's uniquely fit to participate in such a partnership.

"I see brands make excuses such as, 'Oh, no one would buy this,' or 'That’s not our audience,' but when brands do provide these [darker] shades, most of them end up selling out," Ashley tells us. That's why she kept those darker shades in mind when helping NYX develop the upcoming foundation range. "We tried to fit in as many different undertones as possible," she says. "I’m always mixing two shades and a lot of people have that same problem, so we tried to eliminate that by making a lot of those in between shades."

Ashley also hopes that more brands will understand the value of bloggers in product development, adding, "We have the audience. I see a lot of people question brands going to beauty vloggers for help, and they say that we don’t really have the expertise to do so. But little do they know, we hear the complaints [from consumers], we hear what they want done and what they want to buy, so we’re able to give input because we know exactly what the customers want."

YouTube vloggers Alissa Ashley and Jackie Aina made a statement earlier this year when they teamed up to give a brutally honest review of the shades (or lack thereof) in Tarte Cosmetics’ Shape Tape foundation line. The two women tested out the foundations on camera and held nothing back when expressing their disappointment over the lack of representation. "At this point, there's literally no excuse," said Alissa. “They played themselves.” Fast forward to this month, and their thoughtful critiques are helping to lead the beauty industry in a better direction.

Recently, Too Faced’s founder Jerrod Blandino brought on Aina to expand its Born This Way foundation range with 11 new shades. And now, NYX Professional Makeup has tapped Ashley to design its groundbreaking 45-shade foundation collection — the largest to hit the mass market — that promises 24-hour coverage.

NYX shared the news of its “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop” collection and collaboration on Instagram, and fans immediately went wild, applauding the brand with comments like, “Wow this shade range nyx!!!! thank you!” and “Y'all got a shade for every part of my damn face."

The brand took a page from Fenty Beauty's book and made sure to consider all undertones when formulating the new foundations. Ashley's shade, for example, is 15.9 Warm Honey, described as a "medium tan with caramel undertones.” And while many brands are expanding their shade ranges this year, it's especially notable to see more options in the mass market — which has long excluded people of color, as Issa Rae noted when announcing CoverGirl's new line.

The “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop” foundations won’t hit Ulta until August 16, so while you wait to meet your perfect shade match at just $15, here are a few other pro-approved matte coverage options that are perfect for summer.