. Throughout her childhood she was surrounded by a societal mindset that dictated light skin was beautiful and dark skin was “ugly”, a concept even her family held. Growing up she remembers being presented with the skin whitening cream 'Fair and Lovely’. “I can’t say I was pressured to use it” Karishma, 25, says.
With an ever increasing market in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, global brands such as l’Oreal, Lancôme, Vaseline and Garnier each have their own lines of whitening creams advertised by high profile celebrities including Deepika Padukone and Blac Chyna.
But while these fears are racist, unfortunately they aren’t entirely misplaced. Colourism does systematically prejudice PoC, especially women.of Southern Illinois University found that light-skinned women in India are more likely to receive career opportunities than darker skinned women. In the world of dating, websites such as shaadi.
Karishma's looks merge a unique combination of make up tailored to her skin tone with an elfin, mystical fantasy aesthetic. “It’s important not only for South Asian make up artists and influencers, but for every race to celebrate their natural skin tone," she says."It makes people feel accepted; it makes them feel seen, inspired and powerful.