ONE FOR ALL

The OG social media influencers are doing more than just dole out beauty advice and endorse products – they’re changing the whole game

- HENA DESAI

How often have you seen deep blue eyes and wished yours were like them? Or seen fair, fuzz-free skin and cursed your hairy legs? I’ll admit it – far too many times. Mainstream media has a rather unfair habit of bombarding us with visuals of Western perfection – trying to sell products using pictures of people who look nothing like you. This is especially rampant in the beauty industry. Representation matters, and social media’s ensuring there’s plenty of it. South Asian influencers are on the rise to redefine the global beauty space as we know it. At a time when notions of beauty seem stringently set and everyone wants to look alike, these women are pushing for individuality, promoting diversity, speaking to their audiences transparently and creating feel-good communities across cultures.

DEEPICA MUTYALA @deepica

In 2015, Mutyala shot to fame with a viral YouTube video. It featured a make-up hack on masking dark circles with red lipstick, a tip that resonated with the needs of women of colour everywhere. From there on, she made guest appearances on The Today Show and Dr. Oz and went on to launch a community-driven beauty brand – Live Tinted. Born to Indian immigrants in the US, she grew up in an environment where, from time to time, she felt out of place. Given that background, today, she helms a digital community and a cosmetics company that’s not only selling products for South Asian women but is also helping fight colourism in a unique way.

Finding ‘Me’