This Vietnamese Cosmetics Brand Features Models With Different Vietnamese Skin Tones To Challenge Asian Beauty Standards
I recently came across a post on Instagram praising Vietnamese cosmetic brand OFÉLIA for its decision to feature models of different skin tones in its promotional images, challenging beauty standards in Asia, where white and pale skin are considered the ideal and preferred over darker skin tones. I decided to do some reporting and reached out and spoke to the co-founder and beauty YouTuber Tracy Ngo.
OFÉLIA Cosmetics was founded in Los Angeles in 2016 by Annie Le and Tracy Ngo, two Vietnamese women.
“Growing up as a Vietnamese [woman], there were certain beauty standards that we observed and I also fell into,” Ngo told me. “I was trying to make my skin paler as I constantly heard from elders that white and pale skin is better-looking.”
@ofelia_vietnam / Instagram
That mindset sabotaged her self-esteem for years, she said.
Ngo, who has a beauty YouTube channel @changmakeup with more than 1.2 million followers, said that it was only as her work reached more people that she realized that she wasn’t the only one with those insecurities.
@ofelia_vietnam / Instagram
She started noticing that whenever she made lip swatch videos, many of her Vietnamese followers would ask her which lipstick would fit their darker skin tones compared to her natural beige skin.
“I thought it would be a great idea if I can demonstrate the lipstick color on different skin tones in my own cosmetics brand,” she said.
@ofelia_vietnam / Instagram
Since testing that concept out on a liquid matte lipstick collection in 2018, Ngo said she has tried to addressed her audience’s feedback and concerns when creating OFÉLIA products.
Ngo said she wanted create products that fit different Asian skin tones to help people feel less alone and “to let all the women and men know they are beautiful in their own skin.”
@ofelia_vietnam / Instagram
Ngo said she was happy to discover that OFÉLIA’s promotional images had gone viral.
“It’s 2020. We believe that there’s no such thing as ‘a beauty standard’ that applies to everyone,” she said. “We hope our photos and products inspire people to embrace their own beauty, to be confident and happy with who they are, and to express their uniqueness in their own way.”
@ofelia_vietnam / Instagram
Ngo added that thanks to the positive feedback, OFÉLIA will “try our best to do an even better job at highlighting women and men’s different skin undertones and keep challenging the outdated social conceptions of beauty.”