The mission came my way via Abhi over a month ago, a reader had contacted our comment line with the following:
The high-end cosmetics company NARS has a new lipstick shade called Hindu…I wonder how a shade called Jew or Protestant would fare in the public eye? Is the idea that all Hindus have temptingly red lips? To be fair, there are also shades called Afghan Red and Gipsy. What do you think?
Said Abhi, “This one is ALL you.” Said me, “HELL YES!” I love Nars. If I’m not wearing Chanel makeup, I’m glowing because of the most notoriously named blush of all time. One problem– “Hindu” proved more elusive than I imagined. It was sold-out all over town. The intrigue grew; if it was so desired, I had to keep it under surveillance for the sake of the Mutiny. I finally located a tester of it at Blue Mercury Apothecary (apothecary!) and made my way to my prey.
Part of Nars’ Holiday ’06 collection, “Hindu” had sold so well, it would take a month for me to procure one for the Mutiny. “Nars just didn’t make enough,” my source said, as they prepared the tester for germ-phobic me. I loathe such situations, because I prefer to examine communal cosmetics on the back of my hand. The allegedly-disinfected lipstick was headed right for me. I started to panic, but then I remembered that every Mutiny requires pain and sacrifice.
When she was done with me, I was wearing a very brown lipstick with excellent texture, which reminded of a sheer version of Chanel’s “Very Vamp”. I expected redder tones, not the muted brown which I was studying. I also thought there would be more glitter, since it’s very visible in the tube. The staff praised the end result; I was less convinced by the “Hindu” effect. Maybe for the office, but it was too dull for my scenery-chewing tastes. I was thrilled that it looked so good on South Asian skin, though.
“Would you like to be put on the waiting list?”
I hesitated; normally I would have politely declined, but Abhi had tasked me with more than just scouting “Hindu” out:
My biggest question is can a nice Christian girl such as yourself be labeled a “heathen” if they apply this? If you kiss a nice Mallu boy with “Hindu” lipstick on, what would happen!
In the name of the Mutiny, I gladly put myself on the line to complete this mission; alas, I did not find a suitable partner for such a life-or-death covert operation. Abhi, forgive me.
saab– thank you! i wrote a letter as well.
The Turnip–
I don’t believe writing a letter to the company reflects any sort of insecurity on the part of those people who find a lipstick named after the follower of a religion offensive. I am angered at the company for their usage of ethnic and religious references as a marketing scheme.
All religions and peaceful followers of those religions deserve to be treated with respect. My culture, religion, and ethnic identity are not a commodity. I don’t believe they should be treated as such and I don’t think that makes me insecure.
Oh my god, I know! It was like brown-on-brown violence, it was so bad. I myself like a little shimmery light pink lipstick. I know it can be dangerous, but as long as you’re not wearing blue eyeshadow it’s great, and unexpected. I always found brown lipstick too frumpy…
“For some reason, this is reminding me of Revlon’s “Toast of New York”, that ALL the brown girls in my high school wore. I remember it was matte and more brownish/red of a tone than i should have been wearing, thus making me look jaundice in complexion. But alas, doesn’t matter now since i’ve entered the land of pink lip gloss and haven’t looked back since!”
How could I forget “Toast of New York”? Every brown girl I knew wore that shade? I remember running into the local CVS and hoping they stocked that color. Speaking of pink lip gloss, have you notice that a lot of the free lip samples (mostly Lancome/Clinique) are those very pinky lip glosses?
“My culture, religion, and ethnic identity are not a commodity. I don’t believe they should be treated as such and I don’t think that makes me insecure.”
ylrsings-
I could not have articulated it any better.
JOAT – just so you know it works the other way around. I have gotten confused on multiple occasions by the Indian nurses at the VA hospital and Parkland (County Hospital) for various non-descript white dudes, two of which looked nothing like me (i.e. they had hair or glasses).
I find these incidents quite amusing and respond with something, “You know, not all us white guys look alike.” To which there is usually some good natured and sheepish laughter.
Check out last weeks episode of “The Office” A Benihana Christmas. Michael Scott cannot tell two of the waitress apart. “Uh I’m drunk, they’re both wearing the same uniform. And you know all waitresses look alike.”
Sorry not buying that. Not from two people who know me and the other person when we aren’t physically the same height or body. Grrrr
Re the pink lipstick: Most dark skinned women don’t have lips light enough to pull off light pink lipstick. And not wearing pink lipstick does not mean wear dark lipstick. 🙂 there are tons of neutral shiny shimmery shades in between that are much better for brown chikas.
JOAT – If you wanted to this could be a moniker for Janest Of All Time a la Muhammed Ali (aka GOAT – greatest of all time). You put the rrrrrl in Girrrrrrl. Fight the Power! (clenched fist raised high)
Coach and DD, ask and ye shall receive, my pretties. See? It’s way subtle. Not unpleasant, but not something I’d wear. It’s too quiet. 😉
I thought undertones were yellow or pink? Mine are definitely yellow, people tell me that at makeup counters all the time.
I’m right there with you. In fact, when it’s wintertime and I have no tan, I am more fair and that’s when I look really yellow. It makes it hard to find a flattering red lipstick. Any recommendations ladies?
Sorry for breaking the suspense, but that lipstick looks like any ordinary lipstick but the moment you apply it to your lips, it blows your noggin off into a billion bits. Ok, sorry for the off-color joke!
But seriously, why is everyone so concerned about the name of the product? Heck, when Walmart sells shoes called “Brahma”, why can’t the lipstick be called “Hindu”? My only beef (bad word in this context!) is with their using it for a brown colored lipstick. Are they trying to say all Hindus are brown? That may be true but it’s very racist. How about a lip stick called “Rap Artist” that is jet black? The next day they’d get their ass sued by NAACP (and Eminem maybe :-P).
I wish I had some. One of my New Year’s resolutions is to wear red lipstick sometimes so I hope someone has some good suggestions. (Clearly I have been putting a lot of thought into spiritual and moral improvement in 2007).
Is it really red? The website says it is terractoa-plum.
Uh oh…where’s Jai-saab to kindly remind us what the “above average” Indians look like?
Jaipur glossimer was way too bright and light for my colouring. MAC’s Viva Glam V gloss is a pretty good neutral browned-down pink shimmer on me. Then there are a few bronzey-pink shimmers in the Maybelline Shine Delice line that work for desis.
Nice red lipstick – Club Monaco Femme is great for us, just enough brown that it doesn’t look hooker-ish, but still a nice deep glam decidedly red red. Not sure if it’s made in the US any more. Nars has a few good ones too, Tanganyka is not bad. For a slightly more burgundy deep red, I LOVE Vincent Longo’s Belle Etoile.
I believe the idea is that neither of these things should happen 🙂
I am picturing a line of scents called “White Privilege”…
That line is already out, I just picked up a bottle at Nordstroms last week. (It makes you smell like bourbon and Vicodin.) I always dab a few drops on my wrists before I go out to the
klan rallyGOP luncheon.DJ Drrrty Poonjabi,
I think that the implication within your statement is a heinous perpetuation of ongoing South Asian cultural prejudices regarding the actual-or-perceived superior attractiveness of melanin-deficient individuals vis-a-vis melanin-excessive individuals, both of which are highly-subjective concepts independent of psychologically-reinforced intracultural stereotypes, thereby reinforcing macro-societal behavioural traits oppressing the chromatically-challenged’s status in relation to White Privilege within the 300+ million population of the United States and the 1 billion+ total population of the Western hemisphere as a whole.
And that is why this thread should now have
gratuitousenlightening links to lots of lovely pillow-lipped ladies displaying various shades of the aforementioned deep red lipsticks.Before I read this comment thread I thought I was brown. Apparently I’m brown with blue, yellow, and pink undertones. Who knew?
I’m working on it. Give me a day I have about 10 recommendations for ze ladies with pictures and all. 🙂
I bet DJ Privileged Whitey would play a lot of Spoon.
How’d you know?? Oh wait, I think I remember you from the last Bush Twins’ party. Were you the Yale rower with the purple velour ascot and an unquenchable thirst for apple martinis and loose Asian women? If so, you owe me a drink and $5000 for bailing you out that night. Whadditellya, “I thought she was 18” never flies with the feds.
shudder this thread has unearthed years of suppressed memories involving brown revlon lipstick. UGH!
here was the NARS company response to my letter:
Hello,
We acknowledge receipt of your email concerning the NARS lipstick named “Hindu”. Please be assured that in no way is the use of the name intended to offend the Hindu religion, culture or people of India. We appreciate that you have shared your viewpoint with us and for taking the time to contact NARS.
Sincerely, Customer Service NARS Cosmetics, Inc.
hmm— i’m guessing they won’t pull the lipstick name?!??
and i’m brown with totally red undertones with a sister who has yellow undertones. oh how the sari and make-up choices differ!!!!!!
Most probably not because they’ve already gone thru legal and other patent issues that they will not revisit. It’s tacky but there simply won’t be enough noise to make it go away.
Having been a MUA (make up artist) for Chanel for 3 years, I can say Indian gal pals have red, yellow, and peach undertones. I even made a gorgeous;y fair pakistani girl, who had blue undertones cos’ she was so fair! Please do go by the gal behind the counters, who throw out such terms to make their commissions for the day. YES, you’ll likely have yellow or red undertones, but choosing a red liptick is not about the undertone as it’s more about the texture and shade that complements your sexy smiles or sparkling eyes. As Anna mentioned, Mac lipticks can dry up your lips (as their matte versions are intended to do so), but a matte finish looks striking on sharp features, not on the glowy skin Anna perfects. Jaipur is a pinky glossimer created for yellow undertoned women, because it will make your teeth look whiter, which is a challenge for darker skinned women. The end result: choose shades to complement your skin tone, with a finish to accentuate your entire look. And, for heaven’s sake — stay away from the horrid Toast of New York!
Saira,
I really loved the tone of “russian red” from MAC, but it did dry my lips out so badly that they hurt and I couldn’t really apply any other lipstick for quite a while. Do you have a recommendation for a shade that is the same as russian red but more emolliant? Thanks!
Amen to that. I didn’t want to ride on the happy memories so many had about Toast but it had a hint of cinnamon in it that yellowed teeth. Shiny brownish tones always make teeth look whiter while deeper pink based bronzy shades make teeth look yellow.
I’m a huge fan of gloss. I always think a dabble of gloss can never go wrong for anyone. Oh and not gloss alone, at least not for me because my lips don’t have a definite line between skin and lip I need a lipstick base to bring out the lips then gloss on top.
If you must try Nars (which I’m not a huge fan of because too many of their lipstics are Matte) try:
Sheer Reds – Flaming Dust, Flair & Kiss & Zanibar are great sheer reds for brown skin Darker for the evening I prefer Tamango, Nouba & Spanish Red
Forgot to mention: SEPIA CHIC for the Sepia Chicks 🙂
SemiDesiMasala: Do try Laura Mercier, Chanel, and Smashbox for brighter, ruby red lips. LM has great reds for all skin tones, which are long-lasting on shoots but not drying. Chanel will be most emollient, but tends to discontinue shades faster than lip glosses that fade. They had a great Russian Red replacement, but may have disc. it.
Janeofalltrades: Try using a nude lip liner to fill in the entire lips before using a gloss. It keeps the look sheer and glossy without fading too quickly. Bases don’t do much for glosses, but liners help prevent the feathering and bleeding. A mattifer also helps keeps the glosses from fading. We use them under intensive heats found in studios.
After seeing pics from the meetup all i have to say is
Hi a n n a 😉
So so sorry for the multiple posts but I keep remembering something else I didn’t share before. Forgive me ANNA.
Cranberry by Laura Mercier is a limited edition lipstick gloss that is the perfect red for brown chicks out right now during the holiday season. Go check it out, try on the lipstick and walk out in the daylight and see what it looks like (before you buy of course) I didn’t link to it because their website has a mistake on this shade (wrong color with the shade name) and yes I’ve already emailed them to let them know. Can’t mess with a girl and her lipsticks.
Great tip just not a liner girl and I apply more lipcolor than I drink water during the day (to give you perspective) so to keep it all together and reapply lipliner doesn’t always work. By base I simply meant a neutral shade under like Le Rouge Absolu’s Walnut Mink a godsend for my skin, it keeps the gloss on longer like you said. I’m addicted to Lancome Juicy Tubes & Maybelline Shinylicious and use them liberally and highly recommend them.
JoaT: Glosses vary in pigment as well. Juicy Tubes and Bobbi Brown as great glosses but have little pigment. Smashbox, Chanel, and Mac glosses are higher in pigment, so they may also last longer. Finally, try Clinique’s Long Quickliners, as they last through drinking water. Silicon based liners such as these are water (and spit) resistant. Sorry for the boys, but know that these are tricks we use to help us look sexy after a serious lip-lock session.
Many buy their salvation; now they can do it via NARS.
Thanx for the great tips Saira 🙂 I use Smashbox primer and shadows but haven’t really bought any other makeup. I’m a huge fan of Vincent Longo & Bare Escentuals for face. Most of MAC rips my lips and dries my skin so I tend to stay away unless it’s the Viva Glam new news but will try the gloss for sure.
Let me ask you this since you are the guru. I tend to find myself drawn to pretty much the same shade or range of shades in lipsticks. I have about 40 lipsticks and I swear there are probably 5 different shades in there. I’ll buy everything from Guerlain to Stila to Lorac to Covergirl but I keep venturing into the same palate.
Any tips for the brown girl other than the bronzy/mauvy browns and what’s the best way to buy lipstick because obviously trying something on the back of my hand is not the same as actually putting it on my lips???
Apologies from this end, too, for the multiple replies.
My favorite red is the matte NARS Shanghai Express. A less-expensive option is L’Oreal’s Crimson Joy. Every once in a while, when the dark-fuchsia mood strikes, Lancome’s Rouge Sensation in Cherries Jubilee is a sure bet, too.
Once I get a sizzling macro lens for my nouveau digital SLR, it’s all yours, baby.
JoaT: Not a guru! Just experienced. We are migrate to similar palettes because we are comfortable with what we like. Most Indian girls think they can’t wear navy blue eye shadows, but they can depending on the shade and style worn. I would suggest looking through magazines to see a look you’d like to try, and ask a MUA to replicate on you. We then get the sense of what you like and modify it for your personal style and expression. Brown girls look great in ANY colour, but it’s the intensity of which to wear such shades as fuschia and peach. Smoky eyes look great on darker skinned sexys, but with grays and browns, not harsh black. Pinks are a must have in any make-up wardrobe, but not shimmery pinks (which is what women think of first when suggesting pink). I always ask my clients to pick a colour they’ve never worn, and show them how to wear it with their current colours.
http://www.makeup411.com has great looks that we get requests from. Perfect for allowing you to choose your look, style, colours, and face from. We get a lot of desi divas bringing in Halle Berry looks and half-breeds like myself bringing in J. Lopez looks (I got that bronzy not so fair not so dark skin).
Thanx Saira. That def helps. I know tons of ladies here are really appreciative of this info. Not shy of experimenting with shadows 🙂 I just want to venture more outside the standard lipcolors.
JoaT: THAT was the perfect sahde of blue on you!
I’m not sure I understand this. I think one of the most interesting things about Indians or desis or South Asians or whatever you want to call us is that there’s such a range of skin tones. So, aside from Toast of New York, which we can universally agree is horrid, different colors are going to look good on different desis.
i feel as if i’ve tried every high, mid, and low end cosmetics line to find proper foundation and lipstick colors, but two brands i’ve had the most luck with (because the products work especially well with yellow/brown tones) are:
Vasanti (www.vasanticosmetics.com) and Zhen (www.zheninc.com)
I am a big fan of Clinique for foundation and powder because they have a whole range of browns, not just one or two variations on the same theme.
On the subject of Clinique, they recently discontinued most of their Almost Lipstick line which was awesome because I basically used it as chapstick. Anyone have any suggestions for substitutes? I really liked Almost Cocoa because it basically matched my lip color so I looked like I had natural, but enhanced lips…now I’m sad because I have to find a substitute…help!
Ooooh, Almost in Black Honey. Perfection. 🙂
I’ve actually been using the Bare Minerals powder foundations from Bare Escentuals for a couple of years. They’re very sheer but they cover imperfections and they have a golden undertone in a wide range of colors. They have colors for me when I am tan and when I am not. Plus, they are gentle so my skin doesn’t freak out. I tried for years to find makeup that makes me look nice and polished and I found too many with pink undertones that were not flattering.
I also loved those almost lipsticks from Clinique!! 🙂
…not one that matched my face. 🙁 I loved the idea of such pure makeup, too.
Yeah, Bare Escentuals did NOT work for me either. I was sorely disappointed:( I use this Paula Dorf concealer, called Magic Stick in #4. It looks like a tube of lipstick and it totally works on my yellow/orange undertoned skin. But again, I think makeup totally depends not only on undertones, but also on what skin type you are, (oily, combo, dry). I have extremely dry skin and even a normal application of powder looks really matte on me most of the time.
Clinique’s Black Honey is awesome. I remember few years ago, they would give it away in their gift bags and I was so thrilled to be getting a lipstick color I could actually use from a freebie bonus bag!
And speaking of Toast of New York, I just revisited some memories about lipstick discrimination I held in my early high school years. Toast of New York = cool, Coffee bean= Ghetto, Blackberry= Fair enough to get away with this color, Nude=what the white girls wore and the Indian girls could never pull off. The politics of lipstick!
Hey…some of us are still there!
I just wish brown people would give up on the pastels. NO. Just say NO…they are so tack.
What about Estee Lauder’s lipsticks? They do some great deep red shades. It seems to be all about Clinique and Nars…