Why it’s time to embrace skin-tone diversity

Share

21st Aug 2019

My mother’s favourite accessory is an umbrella. She likes her handbags just fine, but it’s her collection of umbrellas that’s truly impressive. They range from pretty paper parasols, to floral ones, to the black-out umbrellas favoured by Beyoncé’s bodyguards to deflect paparazzi. Only about 10 per cent of them are used for rain, the rest are for preventing what my mother considers to be the number one enemy of good skin (UV rays aside): a sun tan.

My mum has waged a war against the sun for all of her life. When she drives, she wears full-length gloves and a beekeeper-like hat, which she quickly whips off before her colleagues can see. For gardening, she’s a fan of a full-face UV visor. When we walk outside, she shields us both from the sun with one of her giant umbrellas (in addition to a thick layer of at least SPF 50). Although the United States has gradually become more aware of the importance of sun protection, to buy all of her very extra sun accessories, she needs to travel to Asia, where there is generally a wider understanding that tanning is the antithesis of beauty (although this is starting to change).

For women of my mum’s generation (born in the 1960s), having pale, clear skin has always been seen as the epitome of beauty. Blame it on the pervasiveness of Western beauty ideals, and historically, class divisions, where the poorer would work outside (getting a tan) and the richer could afford to stay inside. In 2018, global market research estimated that sales of skin-whitening products will reach up to $31.2 billion by 2024, with Asia-Pacific representing the fastest growing market. Big beauty conglomerates sell products such as Fair & Lovely and Pond’s White Beauty and Flawless White cream, both purported to lighten skin tone. More dangerously, there are under-the-counter lotions containing mercury and hydroquinone, which experts say can lead to long-term skin damage, poisoning, and liver and kidney problems.

Change is coming, though, especially in a post-Fenty world where skin-tone diversity is celebrated. Although the majority of actresses and models in Asia are lighter-skinned, there is now greater representation. In India, high-fashion models now include the likes of Pooja Mor, Bhumika Arora and Neelam Gill, who was recently signed as L’Oréal Paris’s first British-Indian spokesmodel.

In Korea, veteran K-pop singer Lee Hyori was one of the first darker-skinned celebrities, while fans of Yuri of Girls’ Generation affectionately call her the “Black Pearl”. Charlotte Cho, founder of K-Beauty startup Soko Glam, says, “I do think that lighter skin used to be the ideal 10 to 20 years ago, but in recent years, the more healthy and attractive ideal for Millennials is actually skin that is darker and more tan, not pale.” She points to the popularity of Hwasa from Mamamoo, one of the hottest K-idols at the moment, dubbed “the icon” of Millennials by Cosmopolitan Korea. Nick Barose, a celebrity makeup artist and contributor to Vogue Thailand, praises Metinee Kingpayom, one of the original Thai supermodels, for her warm, golden skin tone.

Priyanka Chopra, who once starred in a skin-lightening cream advert, told Vogue India that she regretted it. “When I was an actor, around my early twenties, I did a commercial for a skin-lightening cream. I was playing that girl with insecurities. And when I saw it, I was like, ‘Oh shit. What did I do?’ And I started talking about being proud of the way I looked. I actually really like my skin tone.”

In the last decade, some countries have enacted laws banning skin-whitening creams. They’re currently outlawed in Ghana and the Ivory Coast, and Pakistan is cracking down on them. In 2014, India banned “colourist” advertising, making it illegal to show darker-skinned people in a negative light.

Social media activism, too, has been a force for change. In 2009, Indian NGO Women of Worth, started a “Dark Is Beautiful” campaign, promoted by Bollywood actor Nandita Das, which runs media literacy workshops and school advocacy programmes to educate about colour bias. In Pakistan, social activist Fatima Lodhi has created a global anti-colourism campaign called “Dark Is Divine”. And in Austin, Texas, student Pax Jones created a photo series, #UnfairandLovely, highlighting the beauty of her South Asian friends and making a play on the name of the skin-lightening brand (thousands shared their own photos, using the hashtag). Twitter, meanwhile, has called out the Miss Korea and Miss India pageants for their lack of skin-tone diversity.

Beauty brands, including Asian labels, are also expanding the shades they offer. Barose says, “I used to see people trying to wear foundation lighter to look lighter but now I see people embracing the correct colour to match their skin. You see Asian brands like Koh Gen Do, Clé de Peau and Shiseido with more warm tones now.” It’s not quite the 40 offered by Fenty, but Shiseido will be launching a new foundation later this year with 30 shades. Next year, Clé de Peau Beauté will also be offering shade extensions of its cult concealer after only having six shades for years. “Korean cosmetic companies are providing more shades for their customers to fit this trend and shift in consumer demand,” says Cho.

Indian fashion designer and passionate advocate against skin-colour bias, Masaba Gupta, perhaps puts it best: “The colour of your skin has to do with which side of the equator you live on and it doesn’t have to do with anything else.”

Click Here: cheap INTERNATIONAL jersey