The beauty industry is made up of countless products that promise to make the user, well, more beautiful. But behind all the makeup and the glossy magazine ads lies an ugly side of the beauty industry: racial marginalization.

Despite the fact that women of all races spend $7 billion per year on cosmetics, women of color are continually underrepresented and misrepresented by the industry. MU Women’s Center staffer Jasmin James presented her research on this narrow marketing of beauty products Thursday.

“Obviously women of color are no longer minorities in the industry, but we are minorities when it comes to marketing,” James said. “It’s very uneven. You look at ads and see people who look like you maybe once every few ads, and very rarely see a woman of color on the cover of a magazine. And when you do, they usually embody a very European identity.”

James describes this European identity as a generalization about how women stereotypically should look.

“The European identity represents one type of woman—light, brunette, blonde, fair—but it doesn’t include all the diversity of women,” James said. “Advertising to women specifically is very manipulative and there is a favoritism shown to one type of identity for women.”

James said she took note of the exclusive nature of the beauty industry while working for Clinique, Estee Lauder and Teen Vogue.

But James is not the only woman to personally experience exclusion in the industry. Audience members Chiffontae Ross and Angelica Murray said they know how difficult it can be for women of color to find products that actually work.

“Some companies don’t put much thought into training employees about different skin colors,” Ross said. “I’ve spent lots of dollars trying to find the right color, and it can be very frustrating.”

Murray echoed her friend’s sentiments.

“I feel like a lot of companies, especially lower brands, don’t actually make products that are helpful or useful for my skin tone or darker,” Murray said.

During the presentation, James discussed the various assumptions about women of color that contribute to this marginalization.

“There is an assumption with women of color that we only watch channels that are targeted toward us or we only read magazines that are specifically for us, even though we know that everyone reads Vogue, everyone reads Marie Claire,” James said.

Ross said she believes these assumptions can be demeaning to women.

“There’s this assumption that women of color aren’t consumers of high-end cosmetics, but we are,” Ross said.

James said she hopes that her presentation increases awareness of problems in the beauty industry.

“One thing I would like for people to walk away with is knowledge,” James said. “I think knowing something like this changes how we look at commercials, changes how we feel about things we’re constantly forced to look at.”

Despite her frustrations, Murray is optimistic about the beauty industry’s future.

“I think it’s easier for women of color to enjoy better makeup and advertising inclusiveness than before, say 20 years ago,” Murray said. “People are actually recognizing that we are marketable. But I still feel like there needs to be improvement.”

After attending the presentation, Ross said she commends James on her commitment to taking a stand on behalf of all women.

“She’s not listening to the people who talk about the frivolity of the cosmetic industry, because she knows it’s related to women’s self-confidence and self-worth,” Ross said.