By Macaela Mackenzie, Allure
It sometimes feels like two conflicting messages are duking it out in our cultural narrative. On the one hand, we hear calls to love the skin you’re in and embrace diversity. On the other, things like blackface and hair discrimination still happen in the beauty world like it’s NBD. (For the record, it’s a very big deal and this should not be happening.)
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To address that conversation head on, African beauty bloggers Ronke Raji, who’s made a name for herself sharing dark skin makeup tutorials in her YouTube channel, and Nyajouk Deng swapped makeup routines for a YouTube video. While both beauty bloggers are of African descent (Raji is Nigerian and Deng is South Sudanese), the women — DUH — have very different skin tones. The resulting makeup swap results in a serious case of foundation mismatch.
But this tutorial is about more than just hopping on a YouTube trend for clicks. The duo of African beauty bloggers has a serious message about embracing a full spectrum of skin tones beyond just black and white. “When I was putting on the makeup I just thought to myself, people really need to be confident and comfortable with their skin tone,” Raji says in her video. “You guys are probably tired of hearing me talk about it, but I just wanted to show you guys what it looks like to be a different person’s skin tone. You’re not going to look yourself.”
[post_ads]Raji and Deng look radically different after switching shades — the end result, naturally, feels totally wrong.
Not only is Raji and Deng’s confidence-boosting message inspirational as hell, it’s a practical PSA. So often we see brands in fashion and beauty release nude shades that only apply to a narrow definition of “flesh-tone.” And beyond that, even when collections claiming to be aimed at women of color are released, there’s still a narrow spectrum of options. Meanwhile, you can swim through endless variations on ivory, olive, and beige before finding a handful of darker shades in the foundation aisle.
“Your skin tone is given to you for a reason. Don’t be ashamed of it, don’t be sad that you have it,” Raji says. “No matter what, you are beautiful just the way you are. You don’t have to be lighter or darker to be beautiful — you just have to be you.” We couldn’t agree more.
Watch the full video:
