Behind the brand
Meet the brand that’s putting deeper skintones at the forefront of formulations
One of the most frustrating (yet not at all shocking) things I’ve learned as a beauty journalist is that many of our fave skincare staples aren’t tested on Black, brown or olive skin. When it comes to seeing if a product is fit for purpose, many brands will test on just skin types one, two and three. If you’re not au fait with the Fitzpatrick scale used by the skincare world, it’s how experts categorise each skintone from one – the lightest complexion – to six, the deepest. This allows them to treat the atypical features of each skin type.
But if most brands test on one to three, where does that leave mid-todark skin when it comes to skincare? ‘The realisation that the beauty industry was excluding darker skintones in its research, development and testing process inspired me with the idea of developing a clinical, inclusive skincare line that addressed the specific needs of darker skin phototypes,’ 4.5.6 Skin founder Noelly Michoux (pictured) says. ‘Science has never been used to serve darker skin, and we do that.’
The brand serves up a product range that hinges on the concerns that skin types four, five and six tend to deal with: acne, hyperpigmentation and uneven skintone. Then they can be purchased in sets for a full FUBU* skincare regimen and ‘hyperpigmentation goldmine’, she says.
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