Dive Brief:

• Starting April 17 on Target.com and May 20 in select stores, the mass merchant is introducing eight new cosmetic brands with more than 150 products designed for medium to dark skin tones, the company said in a blog post this week. The brands are Coloured Raine, EveryHue, Haleys Beauty, Hue Noir, The Lip Bar, Makeup Geek, Reina Rebelde and Violet Voss.

• With the new brands, Target hopes to increase its appeal to women of color, at a time when singer Rihanna's inclusive Fenty beauty line, launched last year, is resonating with a huge range of consumers and already influencing the industry.

• Items, including makeup, fragrances, skin and haircare, are priced from $9.99 to $24.99, with many of them previously only available online, the company said in a blog post.

Dive Insight:

Target, like drugstores and other retailers, has carried a few tried-and-true brands aimed at the needs of people with darker skin tones and various hair types, but in recent years several upstarts have sought to bring a wider variety of choices. For Target, partnering with some of those fresher brands is part of its longstanding outreach to Latina consumers and other people of color. 

In a post this week, HueNation cofounder Erika Liles said that Target is "quickly becoming the mass-market destination for high-quality products made with brown women in mind." 

"Target recognizes the need for affordable, quality products tailored to multicultural consumers, which is why this first national retail partnership for Hue Noir is so gratifying," Hue Noir founder and CEO, Paula Hayes, said in a statement.

Target has been among the biggest spenders on marketing tailored to Hispanic customers, not least a conspicuous tie-in with the hit show "Jane the Virgin" where the retailer's merchandise and familiar red bullseye logo is often seen.

"We know our guests have a wide range of beauty needs and preferences, and we want to make sure Target has the best assortment for all hair types or skin tones," Christina Hennington, senior vice president of Beauty and Essentials at Target, said in the blog post.

It's a smart move both in terms of giving customers more options and considering how many retailers are suffering from diversity-related mishaps as of late. Both Nike and Lululemon have come under fire for fostering exclusive cultures, especially in their leadership ranks, and Target's move positions the company as a more inclusive, diverse retailer.