Embrace your natural skin colour
FOR the longest time, I used to wish I had fair skin. What triggered my obsession was a TV commercial that showed a girl achieving fairer skin after just seven days of using a certain product by a well-known beauty brand.
Given the brand’s credibility at the time, I was convinced by the advertisement and believed the message it was trying to deliver — that fair skin was tantamount to being beautiful.
I was in secondary school at the time and I saved up my allowance to buy the product.
In case you’re wondering, no, I did not look fairer or more beautiful after seven days.
But I was still obsessed with achieving fair skin. I would feel envious of my friends who had creamy, porcelain skin because they could swipe on the slightest amount of lipstick and it would instantly light up their complexion.
I, on the other hand, felt very insecure about putting on make-up, because I worried that it wouldn’t complement my skin tone.
When I reached my 20s, I came to realise that having fair skin wasn’t the answer to everything.
It did take a lot to finally come to terms with it. In fact, when I was a few months shy of my wedding, I was still searching for whitening products.
Thank God for my wonderful family and husband for making me realise that having fair skin would not solve anything. I have learnt to embrace and love my tanned skin.
While the desire to achieve fair skin is still an obsession in many Asian countries, including ours — with so many skin whitening beauty products (both local and international) sprouting every day — it’s a relief to know that there are beauty brands that advocate that customers embrace their natural skin colour.
For example, many brands are slowly widening their range of foundations.
Long gone are the days when foundation used to only come in three shades — light, medium and dark. There were no “in between” shades.
We now have many brands that offer shades in more than just these three options.
Take popstar Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty foundation range, for example — it has 40 shades in total! Brilliant!
Being a woman of colour herself, she knew how many women struggled to find the right foundation for their skin tone so she created a whole range to cater to different women.
So if you’re looking to find the right shade for your skin, this will be a good choice.
Another brand that offers shades that suit Asian skin tones well is Etude House.
The brand recently introduced its Double Lasting Foundation range in seven shades.
While it may not have 40 shades like Fenty Beauty, its spectrum of colour is very well suited to Asian skin tones.
I also think Maybelline’s Fit Me! Foundation range is a good choice as it offers various shades that are well suited to our skin tones.
Its foundation gives me that extra coverage and glow, which is perfect.
No matter if you’re fair or tanned, you should embrace your natural shade.
I have nothing against women who are fair. In fact, I still admire their beauty but we should always be proud of what makes us unique.