Black-Owned Dr. Gio Cosmetics Is the Manufacturer Making K-Magnificence Make-up for Dim Skin | Evaluate

It is no key that K-elegance makeup staples, this kind of as lip tints and BB creams, have caught the eyes of many Individuals for decades now. Regrettably, however, some of these items don’t usually have shade options for darker skin tones. Fortunately, when there’s a hole in the splendor business, frequently there is certainly another person trying to fill it — and Grace Ijeoma Okafor has arrived to shake points up in the K-beauty environment with her model, Dr. GIO Cosmetics. 

Okafor is familiar with all as well properly how difficult it can be to obtain cosmetics for dim pores and skin, specifically as a Black lady residing in Korea. In fact, it truly is the impetus behind her have magnificence brand name. “Currently K-splendor is broadly identified for its scientific approach to pores and skin treatment and use of character in producing quite efficient splendor merchandise,” Okafor tells Allure. “So I felt there was a require to make it an inclusive elegance marketplace and develop K-splendor products and solutions focusing on dark pores and skin tones and people today of shade.” 

The brand’s initially and only product or service is the Ultra 7 Brightening Foundation Cushion with a weightless complete that appears like the greatest airbrushed skin. Okafor started off with a cushion basis for the reason that she felt it was “the variety-1” K-splendor solution “missing in inclusivity.” It truly is a well known product or service category mainly because of the usually light-weight system and natural-searching end, but there usually are not also quite a few brands that present darkish shades based mostly on our investigate. 

Very first factors very first, what makes cushion foundations various from other formulas? “Essentially, a [cushion foundation] is a liquid foundation is packaged in a moveable compact sort,” make-up artist Mai Quynh says. “The liquid foundation is stored in a spongey cushion that is dispersed when you push down on the sponge with an applicator.” That will make it a hassle-free way to apply basis, especially for someone on the go, she adds. 

Beauty chemist Ginger King agrees, but provides that “[cushion foundations] are extra of pores and skin-care formulation with colour.” Bottled basis formulas from time to time have far more polymers for lengthier dress in or larger pigment hundreds for thicker protection, she points out. Cushion foundation formulas, on the other hand, normally have a lighter coverage with a luminous, satin complete.

Each Extremely 7 Brightening Basis Cushion comes with a buildable liquid method and a tan-coloured puff with Dr. GIO printed in all caps on a beige sash. So, Okafor started off out with six shades concentrating on the medium-to-dim assortment, completely. I, alongside with two other Allure editors, was capable to get our hands on the basis to exam it out. Due to the fact I have in no way actually made use of a cushion basis, I questioned Quynh for a number of software ideas. Here is how it went.