Jacquelyn Lonje Olayiwola Oyeshola Bolayemi Aina (born August 4, 1987), better known as Jackie Aina, is an American beauty YouTuber. She was born to an

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

mother and a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

father of

Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...

descent. She is a social influencer who advocates for the visibility of

people of color The term "person of color" ( : people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is primarily used to describe any person who is not considered "white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is primarily associated with, the U ...

in the cosmetic industry. She has partnered with Anastasia Beverly Hills, e.l.f. Cosmetics
Too Faced
Sephora and Sigma Beauty.

Early career

After two years of college, Aina joined the

United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed Forces. Since July 2020 ...

. Aina launched her YouTube channel one year after joining the military. Her

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

videos were a way of expressing herself and coping with her unhappy marriage at the time. She was later divorced. While she was stationed in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

, she was hired by MAC Cosmetics. According to ''

Entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...

'', Aina "kept getting told at makeup counters that the trends she wanted to try wouldn't work for her complexion," and so she started creating videos "about the products and looks she loved that could work for anyone."

Advocacy

Aina argues that people of color are poorly represented and often ignored in the beauty industry, and she has criticized makeup shade ranges for not being inclusive. She has pointed out the lack of darker shade ranges for foundations within lines. She told ''

Bustle A bustle is a padded undergarment used to add fullness, or support the drapery, at the back of women's dresses in the mid-to-late 19th century. Bustles are worn under the skirt in the back, just below the waist, to keep the skirt from dragging. ...

'' in 2018: "We all come from so many different backgrounds, and we also come in different shades and varieties, and what may be something that I'd be willing to overlook may not be the case for someone else." In addition to

foundation Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...

shades, Aina said that eye shadow, blush, and lipstick colors aren't universal for skin tones. While Aina's criticism of cosmetics companies has compromised relations that she had with several of them, she asserts that her intention is never to disparage the companies. Aina has disapproved of people who claim that they "don't see color," saying that they ignore racial issues and discourage her from discussing them. In a YouTube video demonstration, she did an ordinary makeup tutorial in black and white, and subsequently revealed that she had put on makeup of the wrong color. After IT Cosmetics co-founder and CEO

Jamie Kern Lima Jamie Kern Lima ('' née'' Jamie Marie Kern) is an American entrepreneur, investor and media personality. She is recognized as the co-founder of IT Cosmetics and the first female chief executive officer of a L'Oréal brand in the company's hist ...

criticized the beauty industry for non-inclusive and unrealistic depictions of women in advertising, Aina, who had previously criticized IT Cosmetics, confronted her and the rest of the industry about excluding people of color and accepting critiques from a white woman.

Collaborations

In July 2016, Aina teamed up with e.l.f. Cosmetics to create an eye shadow palette. In March 2017, Sigma Beauty released a set of five "Must Have" brushes created by Aina. In December 2017, Aina announced that she would launch two rose gold powder highlighters, La Bronze and La Peach, with Artist Couture. After Aina expressed her opinion that a foundation product by cosmetics brand Too Faced did not feature enough shades, Too Faced announced a collaboration with her to expand the shade range of its Born This Way foundation. By June 2018, the shade range had been expanded from 24 to 35 shades. Nine of the eleven new shades were formulated by Aina. She said that she listened to perspectives of her online followers and other influencers of color. She also said that the brand had reached out to her in efforts to diversify their products long before she had such a large online following. Aina told ''Bustle'' in 2018 that she would create a cosmetics line by 2019. In August 2019, Aina released an eyeshadow palette in collaboration with Anastasia Beverly Hills. On the included shades, Aina said, "the palette is for everyone but my priority was making sure I chose shades that would specifically work for dark and deep-dark complexions."

Awards

At the

49th NAACP Image Awards The 49th NAACP Image Awards ceremony, presented by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), honored outstanding representations and achievements of people of color in motion pictures, television, music, and liter ...

on January 15, 2018, Aina won the NAACP

Image Award The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ( NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. Similar to ...

for "YouTuber of the Year." The NAACP introduced the award category in partnership with Google, in 2018.

References

External links