In my first year in India I was living in a hostel which I could term as the international kind. I was the only African there along with people from Europe and the Americas as well as some Indians. We were truly international. In fact we used to joke that the only continent left unrepresented was Australia. When we’d walk together, we’d refer to ourselves as “United Colours of Benetton” like the brand!!! Come to think of it, we should have asked to be brand ambassadors! I had never been prouder of my African roots.
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| The beautiful Alek Wek (Image) |
After my first winter when the sun was gentle and we were all excited to see it, we would have lunch outside on the terrace just to enjoy the sun. (If you can imagine an Indian summer of 45 degrees Celsius you will understand why the sun is only exciting in that month and a half after the winter). For the Caucasians, it was an opportunity to get a tan as well. I used to marvel at the importance of ensuring that you get the same amount of sun on various parts of your skin so that you have an even sun tan. They even told me that I was very lucky because I didn’t have to worry so much about the paleness of my skin. Even in terms of make up, I didn’t have to struggle too much with applying blush and lipstick etcetera to add some colour to my face. All I had to do was put some lip gloss and I was good to go.
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| Gabrielle Union (Image) |
This is one thing that completely cemented my love for my skin colour. I said to myself that no matter what happened I would never use skin lightening creams or buy fairness anything!!! Who said that to be lovely you must be fair? Many people long to have this beautiful African skin of ours. The black colour (it’s not actually black but varying shades of brown), not only protects you from harmful UV rays but also gives you a much envied skin tone. And think about it, you rarely have to worry about the colours you wear because believe me, even without trying too hard; you have a wider spectrum of colours at your disposal than our Caucasian friends.
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| Oprah Winfrey (Image) |
What’s your take on these matters of fairness creams and bleaching of one’s skin? How proud are you of your African roots??
xo
Audrey
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Xo Megan
Hi Audrey great post! bleaching skin sounds hazardous in my opinion, I think everyone should embrace the skin they're in, though I myself like a good tan every once in awhile, my personal cure for the winter blues =)I hope you had a great weekend!
Holly