Nose Tag

A two-minute mirror rule was effectively enforced for many of my childhood — as often as possible, I allotted myself a gracious two minutes for mirror usage to minimise seeing myself. Mirrors jogged my memory that frizz control was beyond me, my dark complexion scolded me to remain out of the sun, and my hooked brown nose dominated my entire face. By ignoring brown racialised noses, the mainstream beauty industry reduces South Asians as simply “other,” revoking the complexity to a cultured identity. Lots of us develop self-hatred for our roots because of the socialised disgust for anything that isn't white. We predominately see white women, “respectable” light-skinned black women, and everybody else that may be a brand of white-passing within...