UOMA Beauty, e.l.f., MAC, Morphe, and More Are Teaming Up To Raise Funds For Black Founders

After Sharon Chuter founded the nonprofit Pull Up For Change and the #PullUpOrShutUp campaign on Instagram in June 2020, demanding companies to publicly disclose the number of Black employees in their corporate offices and in leadership roles, she kept her eyes on the beauty landscape to observe change and hold accountability for stagnancy. In 2021, she and the nonprofit organization started a campaign called Make It BLACK, to change connotations of the word “Black”, which includes petitioning for the Oxford English Dictionary and Merriam Webster Dictionary to update their definitions of the word black immediately. They also delivered iconic beauty products in limited-edition black packaging to raise funds. Now, the campaign is back for Black History Month 2022—this time with some brand new beauty partners.

The idea behind the campaign is to reclaim the word Black and make consumers understand that black is nothing but beautiful. “Language plays a critical role in how we perceive the world,” says Chuter. “The function of language goes beyond expressing ideas and concepts, it shapes thought and defines our collective consciousness. Language should be neutral, unbiased, and reflective of our current realities. It is in this regard that the dictionary has work to do.” The initial launch of the campaign last year raised over $400,000 deployed to eight emerging Black female business founders at Essence Festival of Culture.

This year, Pull Up For Change is partnering with established, consumer favorite beauty brands e.l.f., Flower Beauty, M∙A∙C Cosmetics, Mented, Morphe, and UOMA Beauty to offer their most iconic products in new chic, limited edition all-black packaging. The select products will be sold online with Ulta Beauty, through IPSY and BoxyCharm’s subscription boxes, and via the Make It BLACK and participating brands’ websites, all through Black History Month, starting February 3.

The newly repackaged products include e.l.f. Cosmetics Total Face Sponge, M∙A∙C Cosmetics Lustreglass Sheer Shine Lipsticks, Morphe x Make It Black Empower Your Expression 18-Pan Artistry Palette, and UOMA Beauty Make It Black Color Palette and Badass Icon Lipsticks, along with Make It Black Badass Icon Matte Lipsticks. 100% of the gross profits from the limited-edition iconic black products will also be contributed to the Pull Up For Change Impact fund which deploys capital to Black-owned businesses and are allocated as grants to emerging black founders.

Check out the Make It BLACK campaign video below: