While beauty brands like Fenty have made significant inroads in inclusivity for people of color and other marginalized groups, the industry has not given the same attention to transgender and nonbinary makeup users. With its “Bold Beauty for the Transgender Community” addition to its Classes for Confidence program, Sephora hopes to reverse this, providing safe spaces and support for non-cisgender (those whose gender identity corresponds to their birth sex) people.
“We encourage bold choices in beauty and in life, and Bold Beauty for the Transgender Community is a wonderful example of our purpose coming to life,” Corrie Conrad, head of social impact and sustainability for Sephora, told AListDaily. “We saw a real opportunity, with our Classes for Confidence program, to demonstrate our stance as an ally of all people, and to help inspire confidence in those facing major life transitions.”
Consisting of free ninety-minute seminars taught by Sephora store instructors, “some of whom have their own personal gender journey,” the Classes for Confidence promise safe community spaces and practical skincare and makeup application tips for all attendees.
“We conducted interviews with [LGBTQA] group leaders and engaged their members in focus groups to determine what they wanted in the class content,” Conrad added. “Plus, we asked both our employees and community partners what we need to include in terms of sensitivity training to best serve this audience.”
In addition to in-store tutorials, Sephora promises to post a series video how-tos by transgender beauty advisors on its YouTube channel for those who either cannot or choose not to attend in-person seminars.
Previous entries into the Classes for Confidence series include makeup tips for women re-entering the workforce, either after bouts of joblessness or even homelessness. According to the company, the program has hosted over 850 classes, reaching more than 8000 people, of whom 78 percent reported an increase in confidence afterward.
“Our goal is to reach 100,000 people by 2020,” Conrad declared.
Additionally, the Sephora Stands project will partner with transgender and non-binary community organizations to host pride parades and other LGBTQA events, though it did not specify exactly what these partnerships would consist of.
“We believe that beauty is yours to define and ours to celebrate,” Conrad said. “The transgender & non-binary community is absolutely a beloved part of our client base.”
