{"id":1737,"date":"2025-06-19T16:00:46","date_gmt":"2025-06-19T16:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.habitaliaimobiliaria.com\/?p=1737"},"modified":"2025-06-22T08:25:46","modified_gmt":"2025-06-22T08:25:46","slug":"meet-the-influencer-helping-k-beauty-brands-cater-to-dark-skin-tones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.habitaliaimobiliaria.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/19\/meet-the-influencer-helping-k-beauty-brands-cater-to-dark-skin-tones\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet The Influencer Helping K-Beauty Brands Cater To Dark Skin Tones"},"content":{"rendered":"
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When beauty influencer Darcei Giles<\/a> first tried a popular cushion foundation by Korean makeup brand<\/a> TirTir, she knew it was not going to match her skin tone \u2014 but that was the point. The Toronto-based creative is known for her social media series, \u2018Black Girl Tries\u2019, where she attempts makeup styles, techniques, and products that aren\u2019t typically associated with Black women \u2014 from \u201cgoth\u201d makeup to K-pop idols. \u201cI made a video of myself being like, \u2018Hey, this is an awesome foundation, the coverage is beautiful and I love it, but it doesn\u2019t come in my shade,\u201d she tells Unbothered over Zoom. Giles, who has a keen interest in Korean culture, says the video led to TirTir creating more foundation shades<\/a>, going from nine to 40 shades last year. TirTir now offers one of the widest shade ranges among K-beauty makeup brands available in the US. Now, Miss Darcei has finished working with another K-beauty brand, Parnell, on an inclusive 40-shade range for its new Cicamanu Serum Foundation<\/a> \u2014 a move that not only reflects her growing influence but also the undeniable spending power of Black beauty consumers in the West.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an exciting development, especially as K-beauty \u2014 skincare and makeup products made and innovated in South Korea \u2014 continues to leave a huge impression on Western beauty trends and self-care. Known for its innovation and effectiveness, it\u2019s now a multi-billion-dollar import in the US, and a fast-growing market in the UK. And chances are, you\u2019ve learned to speak the language of K-beauty over the last few years (from snail mucin serums<\/a> to fermented rice water toners<\/a>). Yet, while its skincare products have enjoyed mass appeal, Korean makeup brands such as Laneige<\/a> aren\u2019t known for catering to a wide spectrum of dark skin tones \u2014 something other major cosmetic brands have significantly improved over the last decade. For those of us with darker skin, many have asked: \u201cIs Korean makeup for me?\u201d Darcei has been helping to answer that question.
Unbothered spoke to Darcei about why she\u2019s encouraging more K-beauty makeup brands to cater to darker-skinned customers internationally (despite some backlash) and helping all women of color feel seen in the skincare and makeup aisle.<\/p>\n

DashDividers_1_500x100<\/title><\/div>\n<p><strong>UB: Hey, Darcei! You are known for your YouTube series \u2018Black Girl Tries\u2019. What got you interested in the world of K-beauty? And how did it become part of your channel?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Darcei Giles:<\/strong> I had always been into Korean culture since I was a kid, even before YouTube, and I was only into K-pop and K-dramas. I wasn\u2019t even thinking about makeup at all. Once I started getting into American-style makeup, I began to discover that there were American beauty gurus and also Korean beauty gurus.<\/p>\n<p>[When I watched] the Korean beauty gurus, I was like, <em>Oh, that\u2019s so pretty, but you know, it wouldn\u2019t look good on me.<\/em> Then, eventually, during that time, a trend came around where we would try the makeup routine of another creator. I thought it would be hilarious if I followed the makeup tutorial of someone who did not look like me at all. I thought,<em> Oh my god, this is going to look so terrible and stupid at the end. <\/em>So<em> <\/em>I started following the makeup tutorials of Korean beauty influencers, and then, to my surprise, a lot of the stuff turned out pretty good. It became a popular series on my channel of me trying the opposite of what you think someone who looks like me would try. It turned into the \u2018Black Girl Tries\u2019 series.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why is K-beauty so appealing for Black beauty lovers right now, especially when we don\u2019t necessarily see ourselves in the marketing?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>DG: <\/strong>Beauty is universal. A good glittery eye and a glossy lip \u2014 everybody can wear that. I feel like now people are also recognizing that not only is Korean beauty really good, the quality is really good, but it\u2019s also a lot more affordable than the brands that we\u2019re used to. [Korean makeup artists] have different ways of applying makeup, different styles, and it\u2019s this novelty of trying something you\u2019ve never seen before. I also feel like [the makeup] fits Black people\u2019s features a lot better. We have a lot of features in common with Asian people.<\/p>\n<p>[Because of my channel], I have found this community of young Black girls. I get messages all the time from Black girls telling me, \u201cOh, I was afraid to try this type of makeup or this certain style until I saw you try it.\u201d I couldn\u2019t believe it because growing up, I was the only person who was into any of the stuff I was into. Like no one had even heard of what a K-drama was, what K-pop is, they\u2019d never heard of that. Now I have found this online community of millions of people who are interested in the same thing that I am.<\/p>\n<p><strong>You\u2019ve been instrumental in advocating for expanded shade ranges in Korean makeup products. What made you want to call out the lack of shade diversity in these products?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>DG:<\/strong> It started back on YouTube when I started doing the Black Girl Tries series in 2018. Even back then, I was trying a lot of K-beauty brands, and some of them started to make dark shades, so I would try them out. But I started to notice a pattern. Every single time a Korean brand would come out with darker shades, they would get discontinued because they didn\u2019t know how to market to people who have darker skin. And so people with darker skin didn\u2019t know that it existed, or even if they did, they didn\u2019t think that the brand was really for them. Eventually, the shades would always get discontinued, and it was really frustrating. Then COVID happened, and all of those brands completely disappeared from the market. Everything changed. So it\u2019s only now that they\u2019re all coming back.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>This led to you making your now viral video with the brand TirTir, right?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>DG:<\/strong> Yes, so the makeup brand TirTir only had nine shades at the time, which is actually a lot for a K-beauty brand \u2014 the standard is like three. I was invited to an event by a local store in Toronto, and everybody at the event was getting the nine shades of the TirTir except for me because it didn\u2019t come in my shade. But I was like, \u201cCan I just have it anyway?\u201d I get home and I try it [and I made a video of me] being like, \u201cHey, this is a really awesome foundation, the coverage is beautiful, it\u2019s like a satin finish, and I love it, but it doesn\u2019t come in my shade\u201d. So I said, \u201cIf you guys ever expand [your shade ranges], call me.\u201d The brand actually did contact me, and they came out with 20 shades, which was like unheard of for a Korean makeup brand. That 20th shade was my shade. Now they have 40 shades.<\/p>\n<p><strong>You recently worked with another Korean makeup brand, Parnell, to help formulate darker shades for its foundation range. Why do you think K-beauty brands are choosing to diversify shade ranges now?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>DG: <\/strong>Parnell initially put out 30 shades, and even the darkest of the 30 shades was not dark enough for me. So I made a video saying, \u201cThere are 30 shades, but none of them are dark, and so they can contact me.\u201d\u00a0They were like, \u201cCan you help us make 10 more dark shades?\u201d And that\u2019s exactly what we did. It\u2019s important to have people like me who can come in and consult on the shades and make sure that we\u2019re getting the right undertones and trying it on actual people. That\u2019s what I found with working with Korean brands. It\u2019s never a thing where they don\u2019t want to [expand their shade ranges].<\/p>\n<p><strong>Is it true you went to Seoul, Korea, to help Parnell formulate darker shades? What goes into making sure that this is an inclusive product?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>DG:<\/strong> I was very picky with the undertones, and it took maybe like four or five months of back and forth. I didn\u2019t go to Korea every time. [Parnell] would like to send them to me in Canada, and I would take pictures and give my notes, and then send them back. At the end of it, it turned out so amazing. The photoshoot was great. We had diverse models showing off all of the different foundations. We had an event with a lot of foreign creators who live in Korea, because I feel like people don\u2019t know that there are a lot of foreigners in Korea. The Parnell foundation is very glowy and moisturizing, and that\u2019s really what I like in my everyday kind of foundation. I\u2019m excited for everybody to try it out.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.habitaliaimobiliaria.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/11894205.jpg\"><\/figure>\n<p><strong>There have been a lot of conversations about whether Korean brands need to be shade-inclusive, as it\u2019s largely a monoracial society. What is your usual response to this comment online?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>DG: <\/strong>My usual response is that, especially for the Parnell foundations, the expanded shades are actually only available in the US. They\u2019re not even available in Korea. This was a US expansion. Like a lot of Korean brands, they would love to expand internationally, to come over to the US. It\u2019s that a lot of them simply don\u2019t know how.<\/p>\n<p>Because it <em>is <\/em>such a monoracial society, it\u2019s difficult to find people to try on the makeup when the brand is formulating it \u2014 it\u2019s a lot different trying it on a white piece of paper than it is trying it on an actual human being. They don\u2019t have the kind of resources that they would have in the US, where it\u2019s extremely diverse.<\/p>\n<p><strong>There are some different needs when it comes to makeup for darker skin tones as opposed to lighter skin. What was it like having those conversations with Korean brands? Were there any missing nuances?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>DG:<\/strong> Oh, for sure. [Expanding shade ranges] is not simply about making an existing foundation darker. I feel like [our needs] are almost the opposite of what people in Korea like. For example, some people in Korea may like a shade or two lighter for their foundations, whereas we want the perfect match. We want it to look exactly like our skin. We also have different undertones. We\u2019re not all golden; we\u2019re not all neutral; we\u2019re not all cool-toned. I find that a lot of Korean foundations run a little bit pink. I think it\u2019s because it has a brightening effect on lighter skin tones, but on us it ends up looking like Peppa Pig!<\/p>\n<p><strong>How do you envision the future of K-beauty in the global market, especially in terms of its impact on beauty standards and trends?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>DG: <\/strong>I think a lot of people still feel like they have to stay inside a certain box of who they\u2019re supposed to be, like they can\u2019t step outside of it. But I hope we\u2019re moving toward a future where everyone feels free to enjoy whatever they want. At the end of the day, it\u2019s just makeup. There shouldn\u2019t be all these rigid rules about who gets to use what.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>This article was originally published on Unbothered UK<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.refinery29.com\/en-gb\/dr-jart-invisible-korean-sunscreen-spf-30-review?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss_linkback1\">SPF Layering Is The K-Beauty Trend To Know<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When beauty influencer Darcei Giles first tried a popular cushion foundation by Korean makeup brand TirTir, she knew it was not going to match her skin tone \u2014 but that was the point. The Toronto-based creative is known for her social media series, \u2018Black Girl Tries\u2019, where she attempts makeup styles, techniques, and products that <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"http:\/\/www.habitaliaimobiliaria.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/19\/meet-the-influencer-helping-k-beauty-brands-cater-to-dark-skin-tones\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1739,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fashion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.habitaliaimobiliaria.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.habitaliaimobiliaria.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.habitaliaimobiliaria.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.habitaliaimobiliaria.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.habitaliaimobiliaria.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1737"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.habitaliaimobiliaria.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1737\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1742,"href":"http:\/\/www.habitaliaimobiliaria.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1737\/revisions\/1742"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.habitaliaimobiliaria.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.habitaliaimobiliaria.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.habitaliaimobiliaria.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.habitaliaimobiliaria.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}