Priyanka Chopra A Universal Beauty

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

Priyanka Chopra, the Indian actress who rose to fame with her starring role in Quantico is the new ambassador for the campaign for the inclusion of the Obagi firm. We talked to her about diversity and her dream of starting a family, in a more multicultural world than ever, after her recent wedding to Nick Jonas.

Why is inclusion important to you, especially when talking about skin color?

What bothers me most is that we keep talking about it. Look around you, we are all different! Inclusion should be the norm. […]. As a woman, I am at a point in my life where I think about starting a family, I want to have children and I am very afraid to bring children to a world where when someone is different from you you are afraid, instead of recognizing that that's what makes each of us special and unique.

How did you come to that conclusion?

The maturity. There are things that affect us even subliminally. [For example,] in India the lighter your skin, the prettier you are. It is important there. My family was not like that and no one ever told me that directly, but since I was part of the culture I did not believe that I could be beautiful. It seemed impossible to me. Even when I win Miss World … I work in entertainment and still feel uncomfortable with who I am! I think it is for those beliefs that society instills in us as children, such as being very thin is beautiful and other standards of beauty clearly created by men.

How was the relationship with beauty in your family during your youth in India?

My mother was always perfectly dressed and groomed. Nor did she leave her room in a nightgown. I grew up being aware of the importance of taking care of myself and they never instilled in me that this was vain, it was very important for my mother to take care of herself. During adolescence I had many insecurities, I felt strange. I don't think I ever felt beautiful until I won Miss World. I always thought I needed to hide behind a lot of makeup. [Also] I had very dry skin and I felt very uncomfortable with it. It took me at least until the age of 25 to feel comfortable with myself and with who I am, with my skin, my beauty and my color.

Have you ever felt discriminated against because of your skin color in the entertainment world?

I think most women of color have felt that way. We are not the first to think about casting. [Although] I think that is changing. […] I have reached a point where I am producing a movie with a completely Indian cast in Hollywood. We are making great strides, but much remains to be done.

Is the change also noticeable in the world of beauty?

Now we think more about inclusion, but it is also about looking good, for marketing reasons. In beauty, for example, all the skin tones in the world have been reduced to 6. Obagi is probably one of the first brands that develops all its products thinking of those 6 tones, while most brands only use 3. My tone of skin is not even considered, I am a number 4. Of course I want to buy a product that has been designed taking into account my skin color.