Overcoming diversity hurdles in the beauty industry

The thing that makes you different makes you special, with Anita Bhagwandas

Anita Bhagwandas has been a trailblazer in our favourite women’s magazines for over a decade. Known best for her award-winning journalism, she’s worked to champion inclusivity and diversity in the beauty industry. And now her debut book, Ugly, is on the way…

The powers of makeup can be both empowering and exclusive. What does it mean for those who don’t fit into the narrow expectations? 

In this episode, Anita shares the joys and challenges of being an advocate. Navigating colourism, poor representation, and her late ADHD diagnosis, she helps listeners unpick ingrained beauty standards and cultivate a beauty regime that celebrates themselves. 

'I see beauty as part of self-care’

We caught up with beauty journalist Anita Bhagwandas on The Wellness Edit to talk beauty, diversity, wellness and self care

Her passion for all things beauty began growing up in South Wales in the 1980s. Being of Indian heritage, dark-skinned and plus-sized meant she didn’t meet the stereotypes of what was supposedly pretty (in her words, ‘thin, white, straight hair’). ‘Nothing about me felt like it fitted into what was meant to be beautiful,’ she says. ‘So I became very interested in the transformative powers of beauty products.’ 

‘Beauty should be enjoyable’ 

Incredibly important to Anita is the idea that beauty products shouldn’t be about hiding our flaws, but something enjoyable that enhances our life. ‘We have to be really careful when using cosmetics, and make sure that we are putting them on as a ritual and part of self-care, not from a place of concealing or negativity or self-criticism. That can happen a lot, particularly as we get older. That diminishes our power as women.’ However, used mindfully she says: ‘They are a lovely accompaniment to life and who we are.’

When it comes to her beauty approach, Anita is open-minded: she’s as happy with homemade products as luxury or science-based ones, while her regime changes through the seasons. And she admits she has a weakness for nice packaging. ‘I’m definitely drawn to things where I like the look of them. I like the sensorial feel of a product.’

At the moment, in her own regime, she’s simplifying things. ‘I veer towards quite a complicated regime as I love skincare products. But I also had really bad eczema the last couple of years so I’m paring things back.’

‘Why inclusive beauty matters’

Today’s cosmetics ranges are finally serving a range of skin colours, but growing up, says Anita, 'I couldn't buy a foundation for my skin tone in a shop. It sounds ludicrous, but that was the reality.’ The young Anita sought refuge in music, identifying as a goth (‘I still do,’ she says), and loved the freedom. ‘It gave me acceptance as it meant I didn’t have to fit into that mainstream narrative of beauty.’

Her formative experiences hugely shaped her journey as a writer. ‘I don’t see beauty through a traditional lens,’ she says. ‘If I’m writing a feature, it isn’t just “Here’s five moisturisers to try”. I really think about anyone reading who feels like they don’t fit in, or struggles with their skin. It’s given me a strong intersectional viewpoint.’

The highs and lows of social media

Today, social media is giving a voice to less represented groups, says Anita:  'But before the internet, we were sold one idea of beauty as everyone read and watched the same things. Now you can choose not to partake, and turn off things that are damaging.’

However, filters, fillers and ‘tweakments’ are also accelerating a modern beauty standard that won’t let us age, with a familiar uniform look (think plumped up lips, big brows and poker-straight hair). ‘We’re being sold a beauty ideal presented as real life through social media and reality TV as damaging as airbrushing was in the 1990s,’ Anita agrees. 

The history of beauty

So where do our beauty standards actually originate? It’s a fascinating question that Anita’s forthcoming book, Ugly, out early 2023, explores. A keen history buff, her research got her thinking about how vastly society’s ideas of beauty have varied across different eras. ‘Today we’d look at, say, the Edwardian period’s giant bouffant hairstyles and think, “that’s not very attractive.” In the Elizabethan era, the standard was: very pale, no eyebrows and plucking your hairline back, as there was a belief it looked aristocratic.’

The title is meant to be provocative. ‘Ugly is a word we cower from. As recently as five years ago, I’d have described myself as stupid, lazy and ugly. I now realise that the fact I don’t fit in does not mean I’m ugly. It’s a powerful construct.’

‘Your difference makes you special’

One thing that’s helped her is undertaking what she terms a form of ‘immmersion therapy’, where you flood your social media feeds with people more like you. ‘We can feel like things about us are abnormal, so it can help normalise things. I’d suggest that to anyone struggling,’ she says, adding: ‘My message to my younger self is, the thing that makes you different is the thing that makes you special.’

‘My ADHD means I’m super-creative’

Anita has had other personal challenges. During the pandemic she was finally diagnosed with ADHD, helping her make sense of some of her issues over the years. ‘I definitely struggled a bit at school academically. My focus is really short. I’ve always found films really hard to sit through.’ But there are also positives. ‘It means I’m super-creative and dynamic, and can come up with ideas really fast.’ She’s learned to be kind to herself, and find strategies that work. ‘For example, recognising I’m great in the mornings but not the afternoons.’

One practical thing that’s helped is a clock-like gadget called a time timer. ‘A lot of people with ADHD struggle with “time blindness” – where, before you know it, four hours have gone and you haven’t done what you needed to do. The timer physically shades in time as it progresses so you can see how much is left.’