A melanin reasons. Tasneem Shahidullah’s cosmetic brand.
18.08.20 — words by Jaheed Hussain
Melanin. A dark-brown to black pigment occurring in the hair, skin, and iris of the eye in people and animals. It is responsible for tanning of skin exposed to sunlight. For those interested in the make-up industry, it’s tough to find brands that are inclusive of all skin and tones. Equally, it’s tough to find brands that consistently elevate melanin skin tones. That’s why TASNEEM cosmetics — founded by Tasneem Shahidullah — celebrates every type of culture, race and people.
Tasneem incidentally became frustrated with the lack of representation within beauty and it’s commercial side, meaning a new range of custom lipsticks were crafted. Not only to suit her own skin tone, but a variety of complexions not often seen in the marketplace. “For many years I personally struggled with feeling the love when it came to makeup especially when finding the perfect lipstick shade, for some reason if you're 2 shades darker than "almond" you're going to face nightmare nudes and off-tone reds” Tasneem says, proving that there can be cosmetics built to represent all. Previous cultural upbringing for Tasneem has influenced the foundation of TASNEEM Cosmetics being built. It’s a focus to unify both culture, colour, tones, character and mindset.
“Being a third-generation South Asian woman living in a Western society I wanted to foster a brand that acknowledges and celebrates my personal cultural background along with a multitude of backgrounds. For too long brands and society have happily utilised people or colour for their appearance & aesthetic but not given them a voice, identity or even considered them in the development process of creating their beauty products.”
TASNEEM’s lipsticks are a 2-in-1 product that can be applied to the lips, cheeks, and eyes, coming with a full size matte lipstick and full size liquid lipstick. They’re multi-diverse and can be checked out on the website below
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Image credit: TASNEEM Cosmetics
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