“Who says that a nude colour is beige”: How one company is changing the plaster game

Adhesive bandages, commonly referred to as plasters, often come in a distinctive beige, once thought of as “skin colour.” However, this is only one, very narrow view of nude, which ignores a large swath of the population. Enter Teint, a Stockholm-based brand making plasters for a wide range of skin tones. “Since most diversity and inclusion efforts are driven by communication and recruitment, it had never occurred to me that there is one side of the triangle missing: products that are diverse and inclusive,” says Teint founder Nebe Almayahi.

Almayahi came up with the idea for a more inclusive range of ‘nude’ bandages shortly after becoming a mother. Motherhood made her “hyperaware” of her surroundings, leading her to notice a dark-skinned man with a beige plaster on his forehead. After doing some research, she discovered that, while bandages of a wider colour range existed, they were difficult to find. And so she founded Teint, with the goal of making inclusive bandages the norm. Since its launch in late 2021, the brand has won the prestigious Red Dot Design Award and is now distributed throughout major Swedish pharmacy chains.

Producing the plasters was one thing, but naming the colours presented a whole new challenge. “It feels difficult to put a name on skin tones, doesn’t it?” Almayahi says. “Should we go for the stereotypical ‘chocolate and vanilla’ or ‘light and dark?’” Ultimately she landed on variations on the word nude – Au Naturel, Bare, Naked. As she puts it: “Who says that a nude colour is beige?”

Teint considers diversity and inclusion in all facets of its production. The packaging, which is plastic-free and made from recyclable paper, is assembled by imprisoned Swedish women awaiting trial. “We learnt that when we give them something to do while waiting for their trial, it gives them a sense of fulfilment and something to diverge their thoughts from their current situation,” says Almayahi. Meanwhile, for Teint, bandages are just the beginning. “Our first product is skin tone adapted plasters, but our goal is to design inclusive and sustainable products for a diverse society,” Almayahi says. “We want to cater to everyone.”