After years of criticism, Unilever recently announced that it was renaming its popular skin-lightening brand Fair & Lovely as Glow and Lovely. The name change was prompted by the Black Lives Matter movement. But changing the name doesn’t solve the problem. A lot of whitening products have harmful ingredients such as mercury and glucocorticoids, which are toxic and banned in many countries.
As a make-up artist, I faced racism in my own way when I started my hunt for a foundation. I was immediately appalled by the limited shade range of foundation available in India. I watched once how the salesperson at the counter was trying to sell a foundation that was at least three shades lighter than the client’s skintone, but it was the darkest they had. None of the eyeshadow pigments were strong enough to be shown on her skin.
I felt furious as at that moment I realised the impact the limited shade range was having on her emotions and pointed her towards a foreign brand cosmetics store. On the other hand, as a make-up artist, I have been asked several times to use a foundation which is at least two shades lighter than the actual skintone.
Most foundation brands in India have only four to 14 shades. How can a sizeable chunk of 135 crore people fit into such a limited shade range, India being as diverse as it is, where we have people of all different skintones? Ironically, foreign brands cater better to Indian skintones. Brands such as Fenty Beauty, Pur Cosmetics, Mac Cosmetics or Bobbi Brown have 40-100 foundation shades. We need to learn from these brands and do better!
Shop shelves are crammed with creams, soaps and serums promising to lighten skin. This is the situation in most Asian countries, not only in India. In Bangkok, I was stunned to see that the local make-up brands from Thailand hardly had medium-deeper shades of foundation.
I was shopping at New Market once along with my friends from South Korea and the US, and we were asked for a selfie by a stranger, because I was with lighter-skinned foreigners. I have never got this close to feeling like a celebrity. That night my friends and I had a lengthy discussion on how India is racist to its own people. Normally, racism works this way: You think your race is superior to another. In India, however, it’s the other way around: white is good, dark is bad. It’s a twisted version of racism that makes India racist against its people. It has a lot to do with our colonial past.
The world should not be black or white, it should be black, white, and a thousand shades in between. You don’t need to have a hundred bottles of foundation if you’re a good make-up artist. You would know how to mix and match. Carry three or four shades of foundation for each range: light, medium, dark and deep and a pure white and black foundation to add to any shade. Or invest in a good foundation palette from brands such as Mac or Bobbi Brown.
Let colour theory be your best friend. Learn about undertones and what suits darker skintones. Get inspired by different artists/cosmetic brands who are pushing the beauty industry forward.
Make-up artists not having a shade for everyone and not knowing how to deal with all skin and hair colour, type and texture is not acceptable. It is just another form of racism.
