At the end of January, Haley Bieber’s makeup/ skincare brand, Rhode Beauty, released its one-of-a-kind “Peptide Lip Shape” collections. It featured 11 new shades of liners with names such as “press” and “lift,” aligning with the idea of shape and movement. The liners also contain a revolutionary rubber smudging tool on the end of the pencil, allowing consumers to blend and create pencil-like precision.
Rhode Beauty is known for emphasizing skincare-based ingredients that will do well with any skin type. Bieber describes the new lip contour liner as a skincare-makeup hybrid meant to look and feel good simultaneously. The liners shown in this campaign for this revolutionary release focus on being a lip “contour” rather than a lip “liner.” The featured pop star, Tate McRae, is seen as the face of this campaign, highlighting body positivity through movement and exercise for women.
This campaign highlights the movement and empowerment of women’s bodies in so many different ways. Bieber wanted consumers to focus on how blendable and movable these liners are in direct relation to moving your body, and this is very evident in the marketing for this campaign. The girls in the shoot for these liners are seen in athletic workout clothes, holding dumbbells, all while wearing high heels. This showcases the balance between exercising to build muscle and femininity. It also emphasizes women’s power when moving their bodies to feel good about themselves. The campaign aligns with the modern feminist movement’s belief in diversity and contains models such as South Korean fashion model Yoon Bae and South Sudanese fashion model Anyier Anei.
It’s extremely important to recognize the selection of Tate McRae for this campaign on female empowerment and body movement. This is because Tate has been praised online for her non-stereotypical body type. Tate has a very “athletic” and muscular build that highlights her past experiences as a dancer before diving into the world of singing and songwriting. Many online found it refreshing to see a young girl confident in her muscular body type when she performs, and this directly translates into her involvement with the campaign. Bieber clearly selected her for a reason for this campaign, and it hits all the right marks. It’s essential for women who don’t have a “perfect body” to be included in these shoots to represent and highlight what a real, un-edited woman’s body looks like. This campaign was meant to show women working out, but not in an obsessive way, to lose weight, but instead a powerful way to move their body, feel good, and have the ability to build muscle and be strong.
The shades for this collection were also extremely hand-picked and essential to talk about in the discussion of inclusivity and diversity. The liners come in 11 shades ranging from warm, pinky neutrals all the way to cool-toned plums for women of every color. Many times, makeup brands tend to focus on shades exclusively for white women, negating black women in the makeup community. Bieber has been praised for her ability to create such a diverse shade range where women of color don’t have to “settle” for a shade that does not match their skin. Many reviews, such as the one below from Asia Miller Ware, discuss the relief and excitement of using the darker shades on their skin.
Image from “The Cut”
Overall, the new Rhode Beauty Lip Peptide Shape collection and campaign highlight everything it means to be inclusive, body-positive, and diverse. I think all makeup and skincare brands should take notes from Mrs. Bieber herself and consider this campaign a movement in the right direction!
ShoutOut! James Madison University 