Alicia Keys, the multi-Grammy Award winner, announced she had stopped wearing makeup in 2016. Not only in her personal life, but also for video shoots and red carpet appearances.
Earlier this year, she moved away from her outright ban on colour cosmetics and appeared in the February issue of Allure magazine, the prestigious US beauty bible, in a series of photo shoots – with and without makeup.
Keys has announced she will team with popular US budget beauty brand, e.l.f Cosmetics, to launch her own, vegan beauty range in 2021.
Beauty brands have become one of the major ways singers such as Rihanna, Selena Gomez and Lady Gaga have diversified as music piracy and illegal downloading have affected their earning power.
Keys says her point-of-difference in collaborating with e.l.f is to create a brand that blends beauty and lifestyle to focus on well-being and inclusivity. Little has been revealed, except that dermatologists will help to formulate the products for a clean beauty emphasis.
The move is timely. Makeup sales have been battered during the Covid-19 pandemic. But Allied Market Research, the global market researcher, has released a new report that predicts the worldwide colour cosmetics market will reach US$9.55 billion by 2023 – up from US$5.87 billion in 2016.
In Australia, e.l.f Cosmetics are available at Kmart, Target, Big W, Chemist Discount Centre, Advantage Pharmacy and Adore Beauty, in addition to a dedicated local website.