Plant A Seed.

Where do I start? A heavy blog post. A triggering one, if I dare say. Unfortunately, our beauty ideals are marred by society’s ideas of beauty, racism, and colorism. We all know this, and if you don’t, you probably belong to the privileged camp. The camp of white Euro-centric beauty. So, my darling privileged human, even though this blog post is not about you, reading it could be a part of you doing your bit towards dismantling these towers of ugly thought. 

So let’s break down my two Instagram posts that have inspired this post. 

Your fear of breaking out is rooted in society’s irrational demands of perfection in beauty.

Whew! If you have breakout-prone skin, this must sting a bit and I am truly sorry. Sorry for all those times you were made to feel ugly because of your skin. Sorry for all those times you desperately used or avoided skincare in a hope that when you woke up in the morning, you would have ‘flawless’ skin. Sorry for having to live in fear of your own skin. All because society said clear skin and ‘pretty’ privilege carries more weight than it actually does. I am here to tell you that the onus is on YOU. To free yourself from the dogma, from the people’s own insecurities projected upon you, from the fear of your own skin. Skin is NOT perfect and will never be. All we can strive for is a complete acceptance of self outside of the opinions of others and healthy skin. And I know these are two things that are not easily accomplished. I don’t have a list of things for you to do to get to that point. We are all different, both as skincare enthusiasts and inner beings. You have got to figure it out, for your sake, and for the narrative, you will pass on to those around you and those that look up to you.  hugs

Your fear of hyperpigmentation and becoming ‘darker’ is rooted in society’s racist and colorist ideas of beauty.

Once again, it stings. Over the last few years, hyperpigmentation has been a skin concern that the skincare industry has circled around like a shark around a wounded seal. Everyone is incredibly concerned and worried about being ‘dark’. I hear the shock and disgust in the voice of skincare influencers when they talk about their hyperpigmentation and how some sunscreens seem to make them darker ( a result of how sunscreens react on darker skin). The search for the next chemical acid that will magically erase every spot of darkness is almost like a hunting sport. The use of sunscreen has become almost cult-like, with its importance being sold to us with an iron fist. Let me remind you that a lot of sunscreen studies are carried out on people with very little melanin in their skin. The very thing we are being asked to protect as black folk, our melanin, is studied as a thing to get rid of or reduce, rather than something to understand and perhaps find more innovative ways of protecting it. The sales of chemical acids (products you could only get in the aesthetician's office) have skyrocketed and the marketing manipulates everyone to thinking that they MUST have one. I also hear that same shock and disgust when beauty influencers open a new makeup product and realize its ‘too dark’ for them. These are what we call underlying racist and colorist beliefs. God, forbid we are too dark. Why? Because we live in a society that punishes darkness. We don’t realize how ingrained they are in us. We don’t realize just how racist and colorist the beauty industry is. It does not stop at marketing but goes as deep as affecting the research and development of new products. Hyperpigmentation is a part of our skin story. To approach it with such powerful emotions and reactions indicates these ugly beliefs that are within us. They indicate how triggered we are by the idea of darkness and the idea of ‘perfect beauty’ A friendly reminder; the idea of perfect beauty is Eurocentric. A fair spotless ‘beauty’.

I could type a longer blog post but I would lose the point of my blog post. As I said, I have no list of things to do so you can do the inner work that this blog post is inspiring you to do. I simply seek to plant a seed of thought. A seed that will grow into a tree of self-love and autonomy that should come with beauty. This is your body, your face, YOUR story. It’s time that we see how some of the choices we make, in regards to beauty, are very much so tied to a story that is not authentically ours. 

Here is to self-forgiveness and clarity