Jackie Aina

Jackie Aina
Personal information
Born (1987-08-04) August 4, 1987[1][2]
Nationality American
Occupation Make-up artist[3][4]
YouTube information
Channel
Years active 2009–present
Genre
Subscribers 2.7 million
Total views 0.21 billion
Subscriber and view counts updated as of September 23, 2018.

Jackie Aina (born August 4, 1987) is an American beauty YouTuber. She advocates for visibility of African-Americans in the cosmetic industry.[2] She has partnered with e.l.f. Cosmetics, Too Faced, Sephora and Sigma Beauty.

Early career

After studying medicine for two years, which her Nigerian family supported, Aina joined the United States Army Reserve. She was hired by MAC Cosmetics while she was stationed in Hawaii. According to Entrepreneur, Aina "kept getting told at makeup counters that the trends she wanted to try wouldn't work for her complexion", and so she started creating videos "about the products and looks she loved that could work for anyone".[3]

Advocacy

Aina argues that people of color are poorly represented and often ignored in the beauty industry, and has criticized makeup shade ranges for not being inclusive.[5] She told Bustle in 2018, "We all come from so many different backgrounds and we also come in different shades and varieties, and what may be something that I'd be willing to overlook may not be the case for someone else."[2] In addition to foundation shades, Aina said that eye shadow, rouge and lipstick colors aren't universal for skin tones.[6][7]

While Aina's criticism of cosmetics companies has compromised relations that she had with several of them, she asserts that her intention is never to disparage them. Several cosmetics companies accepted her criticism, which led to partnerships between them and Aina.[4]

Aina disapproved of people who claim that they "don't see color", saying that they ignore racial issues and discourage her from discusing them. In a YouTube video demonstration, she did an ordinary makeup tutorial in black-and-white, and subsequently revealed that she had put on makeup of the wrong color.[5][8]

After IT Cosmetics co-founder and CEO Jamie Kern Lima criticized the beauty industry for non-inclusive and unrealistic depictions of women in advertising, Aina, who had previously criticized IT Cosmetics, confronted her and the rest of the industry about excluding people of color and accepting critiques from a white woman.[9]

Fashion design

In July 2016, Aina teamed up with e.l.f. Cosmetics to create an eye shadow palette. Bustle reported that the palette "includes five jewel-tone and metallic shades with both shimmery and matte finishes" and described the colors as "nude-ish mauve, copper taupe, dark burgundy, glistening gold, [and] deep teal".[10]

In March 2017, Sigma Beauty released a set of five brushes curated by Aina.[11]

After Aina expressed her opinion that a foundation product by cosmetics brand Too Faced did not feature enough shades, Too Faced announced a collaboration with her to expand the shade range of its Born This Way foundation.[4][12] By June 2018, the shade range had been expanded from 24 to 35 shades.[2] Nine of the eleven new shades were formulated by Aina, and she said that she listened to perspectives of her online followers and other influencers of color.[2] Aina said that the collaboration wasn't a result of the effect that Fenty Beauty had on the cosmetic industry after it launched a foundation in 40 shades in 2017, and that she and Too Faced had not known about it.[2][13] She also said that the brand had reached out to her in efforts to diversify their products long before she had such a large online following.[2]

In December 2017, Aina announced that she would launch two rose gold powder highlighters, La Bronze and La Peach, with Sephora.[14][15]

Aina told Bustle in 2018 that she would create a cosmetics line by 2019.[6]

Awards

At the 49th NAACP Image Awards on January 15, 2018, Aina won the NAACP Image Award for "YouTuber of the Year".[16] The NAACP introduced the award category in partnership with Google, in 2018.[16]

References

  1. ↑ Aina, Jackie [@jackieaina] (August 4, 2018). "this has been the most unplanned but fabulous birthday ever. Thank you everyone for your super sweet messages, texts, tweets, DMs and love today ❤️ (tomorrow will also be my birthday too though since I'm in Paris zon't get it twisted)" (Tweet). Retrieved September 23, 2018 – via Twitter.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Simmons, Shea (June 28, 2018). "Jackie Aina Is More Than A Makeup Mastermind. She's The Advocate The Beauty Community Needs". Bustle. Retrieved September 23, 2018.
  3. 1 2 Zipkin, Nina (April 25, 2018). "How This Former Makeup Artist Broke the Rules to Create a YouTube Community of More Than 2 Million". Entrepreneur. Retrieved October 4, 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 Underwood, Khalea (July 3, 2018). "Jackie Aina Won't Hide The Beauty Industry's Ugly Side — Even If It Costs Her". Refinery29. Retrieved October 4, 2018.
  5. 1 2 Arlexis, Summer (January 31, 2018). "This Beauty Vlogger Perfectly Nailed The Issue With Saying You "Don't See Color"". Bustle. Retrieved October 4, 2018.
  6. 1 2 McGrath, Kara (September 14, 2018). "This Is How Jackie Aina Figures Out If A Brand Is Genuinely Inclusive". Bustle. Retrieved October 4, 2018.
  7. ↑ Aina, Jackie; Schallon, Lindsay (June 26, 2018). "Jackie Aina Isn't Afraid to Speak Her Mind, But It Isn't Always Easy". Glamour. Retrieved October 5, 2018.
  8. ↑ Dirshe, Siraad (January 29, 2018). "Beauty YouTube Vlogger Jackie Aina Calls Out Brands For Ignoring Black Women". Essence. Retrieved October 5, 2018.
  9. ↑ Simmons, Shea (September 21, 2017). "Here's Why Women Of Color Are Calling Out That Viral IT Cosmetics Speech". Bustle. Retrieved October 4, 2018.
  10. ↑ Sofi, May (July 19, 2016). "Jackie Aina's e.l.f. Palette Is A Hit". Bustle. Retrieved October 4, 2018.
  11. ↑ Simmons, Shea (March 20, 2017). "Jackie Aina's Sigma Set Is Full Of Must-Haves". Bustle. Retrieved October 4, 2018.
  12. ↑ Borovic, Kali (August 5, 2017). "Too Faced & Jackie Aina Are Teaming Up For An Unexpected Collab". Bustle. Retrieved September 23, 2018.
  13. ↑ Schallon, Lindsay (June 26, 2018). "Here's Your First Look at Jackie Aina's New Foundations Shades for Too Faced". Glamour. Retrieved October 5, 2018.
  14. ↑ Fasanella, Kaleigh (December 8, 2017). "Stop Everything: Jackie Aina's Sold-Out La Bronze Highlighter Is BACK — And With a New Launch". Allure. Retrieved October 4, 2018.
  15. ↑ Mackenzie, Macaela (April 18, 2018). "Jackie Aina's Best-Selling Diamond Glow Highlighter Is About to Drop at Sephora". Allure. Retrieved October 4, 2018.
  16. 1 2 Simmons, Shea (January 15, 2018). "Jackie Aina Is The NAACP YouTuber Of The Year & It's A Major Moment For The Activist Guru". Bustle. Retrieved September 23, 2018.
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