To My Niece

Hey Everyone!  Today’s post is a little bit different than my other ones but means a lot to me and one day, I hope that it will mean a lot to my niece too ❤ My niece is 11 years old and definitely the most beautiful girl that I know.  As some of you may already know, I come from a South Asian background, both of my parents are South Asian and this was further confirmed by my recent Ancestry DNA results telling me that I was 93% Asia South!  With all the vibrant and beautiful things that come along with being South Asian, there was always one thing that stood out in my mind that I just didn’t understand.  Growing up, I always noticed what the South Asian culture thought about darker skin and how it didn’t live up to what certain standards of beauty were.  While I know many other cultures may have similar thoughts on darker skin, I can only speak for my own.  It never made sense to me that lighter skin was prettier than darker skin and it still doesn’t make sense to me, why couldn’t ALL shades be beautiful?  While my sister and I have skin tones on the more fair side of the brown girl spectrum, I always felt defensive of those beautiful girls that I’d see with the darker skin tones even if I didn’t know them.  It wasn’t fair and it wasn’t right.  Fast forward to so many years later when my niece was born.  My niece is half black and half South Asian and her skin tone is the most gorgeous shade of dark brown.  As I became more and more of a beauty junkie and got more and more into trying out different foundations and makeup brands, I realized how important it was for me to have my niece see that dark skin is BEAUTIFUL.  And that she is represented in beauty.  As she grows up and maybe finds an interest in makeup and beauty,  I hope that more and more brands recognize the importance of diversity, inclusivity, and respect of all shades as our society grows and people of all different backgrounds beautifully blend together.  I hope that she can see herself represented in beauty ads and commercials and never have to think or feel her shade of skin isn’t anything but GORGEOUS.  Because that is exactly what it is, gorgeous.  

I’ve included some of my favorite brands and foundations below that have done a fantastic job of including numerous shades for many of the skin tones out there.  And I absolutely love companies like Live Tinted that have recently emerged to come out and represent all shades of skin in beauty and feature so many beautiful people on their site.  

Stay Vibrant!  Spread love! 💗

NARS Natural Radiant Longwear Foundation:  NARS has 33 different shades of foundation ranging from the lightest shade of Light 1 to the darkest shade of Dark 6.  And for my South Asian girls out there, I thought it was just too cool that they’ve got a shade called Punjab!  My family and I are from the Punjab region in South Asia and this just spoke to me! I love the finish of this foundation and it’s one of my favorites.  

Hourglass Vanish Stick Foundation:  Hourglass is another one of my favorite foundation brands.  They’ve got 32 different shades to choose from and their foundation is so creamy and blendable!  This one is also a staple for traveling since it’s a stick foundation.  

Too Faced Born This Way Foundation:  This is a great foundation for a medium to full coverage and it gives a great glow to your skin when you put it on.  There are 24 different shades to choose from with the lightest being Swan and the darkest shade being Cocoa.  

Fenty Beauty Foundation:  Bravo Fenty Beauty!! There are 40 different shades to choose from!  I think we all know this makeup brand was an absolute hit and I have no doubt that one of the reasons was because of the number of foundation shades they came out with.  This foundation has a fairly matte finish and I recommend definitely hydrating your skin very well before putting it on to get that perfect look!

Cover FX Power Play Foundation:  I have not actually yet tried this foundation but Cover FX just recently came out with this.  And wow they too came out with 40 shades!! You go Cover FX!  I have heard great things about this foundation.  This is also a matte finish like Fenty Beauty’s foundation.