My History with Fair and Lovely

I was introduced to Fair & Lovely as the ideal “skincare regime” when I was 11 years old. Since then, I’ve thought about some things when I used the cream and watched fairness cream ads. I’ve never had the courage to say them. Until now…


  1. Yami Gautam applies the cream only on her face in the ad but her whole body turns white together with her face.

Epudraaa… Of course, neither my face got lighter colored nor my body. I wasn’t even dark (just tanned coz I was active in outdoor sports). However, I bought the propaganda that a girl can’t be white enough - the whiter, the better.


  1. Why do you need to have light and flawless skin for a profession in law?

I thought, why bother studying anyway if lighter-colored skin can win cases for you when I watched this ad. Why is the judge looking at the color of the female advocate’s skin and not her arguments? I used to use Fair & Lovely to school and I wondered if I could pass my exams with flying colors if I was whiter. It was a nonsensical idea but that’s what Fair & Lovely ads taught a kid me.


  1. Is light skin the most valuable asset I have?

I believed so. Although I was smart and studied well, somehow, my skin color took precedence. Instead of being complimented for being a bookworm and winning science quizzes, I used to get complimented when my tan was reduced. I WFH now and don’t get much sunlight. My skin color is the first thing people notice about me. What I do and my skills are secondary.


  1. Why are my nether regions darker than the rest of me? Should I smear Fair & Lovely there too?

I hit puberty when I was 11 - I noticed that my vulva and labia got dark. And I worried as a kid. I really thought I should apply Fair & Lovely on my external lady bits. Thank goodness I stopped at wondering. Then vagina whitening creams made their debut. I was a grownup by then and was sure that if the manufacturers of those creams don’t know the difference between the vagina and vulva, their products are just as harmful.




  1. When do I stop using this fairness cream? I am the same color anyway.

I knew that Fair & Lovely didn’t work. But I used it anyway. It was considered a “standard beauty regime”. And then Fairever, Olay Whitening, etc came and I was confused.


I finally chucked Fair & Lovely into the bin in my early 20s. I thought I don’t need to have light skin for people to like, appreciate, and praise me. My accomplishments, opinions, and iron will in me that’s fighting a rare genetic disease should speak for me, not my skin color. I’m happy with my skin color and all I care about is maintaining healthy skin, not lighter-colored skin.



You can rename it. I still won’t use it. I’m wiser now. I don’t need any white on my body. I need me on my body.

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