I want to share one of my blog post on Wix on here.Â
LET'S TALK ABOUT COLOURISM
Colourism is discrimination based on skin colour, I think that colourism is a very important subject to talk about has most people don't see coloursim as a thing, but in reality happens almost everyday in some country and in the makeup community. The issue of colourism is deep-seated in many communities of colour as a direct result of colonisation and the Westernisation of beauty standards, as well as certain linkage to class and social status. In certain countries, issue of coloursim has led to both systemic discrimination of darker skinned individuals and the popularity of harmful cosmetic products, such as bleaching creams and soaps in countries such as India, China and many more.Â
Due to very harsh chemicals used in lighting creams, it is recommended they are only ever used by a dermatologist for the treatment of conditions such as vitiligo. However many can be brought illegally or at shops and could contain banned substances, steroids and bleaching agents that are not allowed to be used in cosmetics. These are aborted into the skin and can cause illness and skin damage including; skin bleaching that is permanent, thinning of the skin, uneven colouration and redness and irritation.
The exclusion of one of largest markets in the cosmetics industry is largely due to the issue of colourism. An offshoot of racism colourism regards the preferential treatment given towards people possessing. Most often, lighter complexions within a certain racial group.
Recently in the makeup community big brands like Fenty Beauty, Huda Beauty, Mac Cosmetics, Bobbi Brown, Nars and more are coming out with 30+ shade range of foundation and concealer. I think this is a really big step that they are talking and really showing how it should be done. There has been scandals in the past about big companies who came out with a really poor shade range, fans were really upset and hurt by the shade range options as they couldn't buy the product because there was no shade that matched their skin tone, this was also seen as a racism. I think that the scandals are what made these other companies take a big step and improve the game.
I use to ask myself all the time when I see brides or girls wearing makeup who live in Mauritius (where i was born) why their foundation colour was 4 times lighter to what their skin tone actually are. This would bother me has i'm one who loves a good foundation match. When i visited Mauritius a couple of times in the last few years I realised that 1, they mostly do it purposely because having a lighter complexion is associated with beauty and being more beautiful. Lighter skin girls in Mauritius also get treated differently to a darker complexion girl. The second reason why is that they lack access to foundation shades as there isn't many shades. I went in many stores and in most of them they only had about 12 shades of all medium colour base.
By talking about colourism within brands and countries in this blog post I hope to raise awareness to first change these old mindsets of that the lighter you are, the more beautiful you are. I hope that makeup companies provide a good service to were they don't leave anyone out.
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