The colour spectrum
produced by many cosmetic companies is widening. High street make up brands
such as Sleek feature dark skinned Black
and Asian women in their advertisement campaigns and aim to target their
products primarily at ethnic minorities. Affordable brands such as MAC, Sleek
and Barry M have a vast variety of high intensity pigments on offer, with
many of their make up ranges falling into the neon, brights, pastel and natural
categories. Most of us, no matter how
light or dark our skin is can experiment with adventurous make up pigments for
affordable prices from high street brands. Though just because bright make up
pigments are on offer and are being targeting at all skin colours, does it mean
that people of all skin colours should wear them?
OK admittedly most of us would find a bit of difficulty in
rolling up to a generic drugstore and picking out a cosmetic product from their
generic range that suited our skin types and tastes. When skin colour is factored
into the mix it then becomes increasingly more problematic for those who possess
a skin complexion which falls outside the ’50 shades of beige’ target mass
market.
On a positive note, cosmetic companies have come a long way
and as a whole, they have made great progress in creating inclusive products
for all skin types and skin complexions. There is always room for improvement
but amongst all the specialist cosmetic brands, beauty magazines and tutorials;
it seems after a quick look around products can be found in a wide variety of
shades for every colour to suit a wide variety of complexions. In the UK, we
are encountering that nightmare drugstore scenario of not finding a product
suitable for our skin type or complexion less and less. MAC, Sleek, UNE and Fashion
Fair are all brands available on the high street that sell products that
can be used on darker skin tones.
Just because companies like Sleek are targeting certain
products to dark skinned woman, not everyone thinks they should be using them. Earlier
in the spring, rapper ASAP Rocky sparked a bit of outrage with his comments regarding
dark skinned women and their make up choices. When The Coveteur sat down with ASAP Rocky to discuss his opinions on women’s make up, the rapper
responded;
“But for real, for me, I feel like with the red lipstick thing it all
depends on the pair of complexion. I’m just being for real. You have to be fair
skinned to get away with that. Just like if you were to wear like—f*cking for
instance, what do dark skin girls have that you know fair skinned girls can’t
do… Purple lipstick? Naw, that looks stupid on all girls! Purple lipstick,
guys! Like, what the f*ck…”
This cannot be said enough but yes skin colour should be taken into consideration
but contrary to ASAP Rocky’s comments, it is never ever ever a limitation when it
comes to fashion and style.
Typically ‘It’s just an opinion!’ became the battle cry of
ASAP Rocky and his defenders in response to the backlash he received from
numerous black women, fashion and lifestyle blogs. ‘It’s just my opinion’ never
serves as a credible defence as opinions are not above criticism and opinions
can be ignorant, poisonous and deconstructive. ASAP Rocky’s comments are
birthed from the polluted cesspool which is shadism within the black and Hip
Hop community. Dark skin on black women is treated as a bad fashion accessory.
Black women on camera are often digitally lightened and on the rare occasion
when a rapper specifically asks for a dark skinned model, it becomes a big
news story amongst media blogs as it goes against the status quo which is often
not inviting dark skinned models to casting calls at all.
ASAP Rocky was not merely expressing an aesthetic preference
in regards to make up and skin tone pairings. His comments reeked of a disdain
of dark skinned women especially when he pitted them against light skinned
black and biracial women and concluded that dark skinned black women come out
short.
Now shadism is not just a poison within many black people’s
minds, it manifests itself within all races. Whilst it is fashionable for many
Caucasians to sport a year round tan, many white people with pale skin find
themselves the victim of harassment and ridicule (girls aloud link). Nicola
Robert of Girls Aloud is often dubbed ‘The Ugly One’ in tabloids for being pale
and having red hair. It is also socially acceptable for people to mock pale
skin on national television and in a public environment.
Skin complexion should never be a limitation upon a person,
especially something that is meant to be fun such as lipstick and make up. There
is a large range of affordable reds (pinks, oranges and nudes) that are bold or
subtle to suit your complexion and your personal style. Not every shade is
going to suit you and that is okay because there are a lot of products out
there and one will. When you find a bright red that suit you and that you love,
never feel that you shouldn’t wear it because you are too fair or too dark
skinned.
0 comments:
Post a Comment