HUL has been in news for recently changing the name of their product Fair and Lovely to something and making it a Glow cream instead of a Fairness Cream. The last thing I wanted my skin to do was glow like a Flashlight.
With the ever increasing Electricity Bills, wouldn’t it be better that we could apply Glow and Lovely during Sunset so save the electricity consumed by Tube Lights and wash our faces when we go to sleep. I really hope the Brand uses this ad concept in their next ad.
I am a Brown girl from the Indian Sub-Continent. Being brown is natural and I love my skin colour. But my Indian Television thinks that it is harmful for me to have a Brown Skin because apparently as per them only fair skin women can have husband’s, get a job, be successful in life. We did not even spare our Goddesses and historical characters,when they were represented in the Indian Television. Our Television serial actress never has a brown skin, always fair with almond eyes lined in kohl heavily laden in tons of other make up products to get the perfect nose and perfect jawline.
I have faced innumerable comments on my skin colour since the time I remember. Have learnt to ignore them and move on in life. But what makes me upset is when these brands just try to manipulate the teenage children openly by forcing them to buy something that is not necessary. The cosmetic industry is somewhere approximately more than a 500 crore industry. With every penny contributed by us every single day. The media was meant to spread information but unfortunately, the cosmetic industry has used the media to play with our insecurities and promote the same.
Yes, at one point of time I was a victim and a slave to the Fairness Hoo Haa. But as I grew up I learnt to accept myself.
Another trend that the cosmetic industry is targetting is Grey Hair or White Hair, which is a natural phenomenon. It is natural that your hair turns grey or white, as you grow older due to hormal balances, lifestyle or simple process of ageing. But our Cosmetic industry has ensured that they create an insecurity around grey hair and make it a crime to age.
Watch this ad in Malayalam, about a Hair Colour:
The story in short is the Child refuses to go to school with her father because he has white hair and her friends will make fun of her for that. The mother offers her hair colour to the father. The father uses the same and goes to the child’s school. So indirectly our media is teaching us that it is absolutely ok for children to bully their parents for their natural process of ageing ?
It is absolutely normal for your skin to sag, have wrinkles, get spots, your hair to turn grey. These are signs of ageing.
You do not have to be ashamed of the same. As of now, I have decided not to use hair dye on my hair, when it goes grey. I stopped using cosmetic creams to make it fair a long time ago. Facials are something that I do, only when I feel tired and want to relax myself. Not because I want to please the society with how young I look. I am 34 year old Mom of two kids, who works from home. I will do certain things just because I want to and not to please anyone. Rather I find colouring my hair to cover my grey’s very gruesome. Because every now and then you are constantly worried about how you look and need to colour your hair every now and then. Like colouring my hair will reduce the number of years I have spent on Planet Earth.
I am glad to be wise and grown up adult and there is nothing to be ashamed of, neither my age nor my body, nor my skin colour. I feel neither should you be ashamed or embaressed about the same. Today, it is your skin, then hair , no idea what would be next to play with your insecurities and exploit your hard earned money from you.
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