India Is The Most Ethnically Diverse Country And There Are Many Skin Tones: Karan Ratti, Founder CEO & CSO, Ratti Corporation & Melblok

The discussion started with the fact that when it comes to various opinions around the anti-fairness movement, a lot of people in the position of having their opinions reached out there.

Karan Ratti felt that some of the panelists come into contact with consumers and in a country like India where the diversity is so much, there are so many skin tones and it comes very naturally to us. He went on to say, “We are uniquely positioned to have a conversation on what consumers perceive this whole anti-fairness agenda to be. How deeply that affects them. It is one thing to say that we believe all whitening products are bad, and there is a valid point behind that. What do we see the consumers feeling about it? Do they feel threatened when they use our whitening product or do they feel they are taking their self-esteem away? Or do they really want it for some other agenda which they are not able to figure out. If you believe that I have reached my best self, even though there might be imperfections, I am still happy. Once you do that you can carry yourself with confidence and that will lead to people wanting to talk to you, want to know who you are and more. It has a dual benefit ”

Archana Jain, Managing Director & CEO PR Pundit stated that today the whole definition of beauty has evolved.

“Today whether you are a FMCG beauty brand or a luxury beauty brand or in whatever prestige category you may be, I think companies are beginning to realise that beauty is a reflection of values. It is an inclusive world where we are all beautiful and brands have to embrace being who you are. There was a time when we were representing a couple of brands a few years back and they came to us and said here there are two whitening products and we said why are you introducing whitening products? They said that is the biggest market segment. So we said that we don’t think it is going to be progressive and not something that will build a brand image,” she said.

According to her view we have seen brands come many years ago. Each one of us is beautiful and she is happy that brands have recognized this.

Dr Kiran Sethi, Managing Director, Celeb Skin & Wellness Expert commented, ”What I found is, is in my field of treating skin and I do find that people still ask for fairness. Men also do a lot, not only women. A lot of women are very concerned about their children being dark and a lot of women have said to me that their child is eighteen months old and their body is tanned and what to do. What I feel is and what I have experienced in the kind of messages I get and the people that I meet is that men are as concerned as women about their skin tone. It is an interplay. Brands have a capability for creating a demand for themselves. Brands are also very good at identifying a demand for something as well. Different people have different looks. Self- acceptance is the key.”

Dr Sethi understands that brands are making an effort and she wonders about society in itself, what is the internal communication we have with our children, with our family members and how they would work on that, as that is where it all begins.

Shraddha Gurung, who works for Lifestyle website, an active blogger in beauty and wellness space said,” When bloggers came into the picture, content creators, influencers, any kind of creator at any point in time, the whole wave of bloggers came into place and gained that kind of popularity that it has today is because people identified with different individuals and they saw that – you know what, probably my skin tone is really out there and it is promoted and it is busted out in advertisements but they don’t see many other deeper skin tones. Actually I resonate with how they look like, or how they feel about their skin. Bringing content creators in the picture, that gave people an outlet to realise that there are more people like them. In India if you expect someone as fair as I am is actually an unrealistic expectation. It is a very different genetic composition that I have, so this conversation has been long overdue.”

She feels before we lash out at brands and other people we have to make sure about our own vocabulary. She also said that she wants to be one of the people responsible for initiating the change by changing her own values, by being even more mindful, even more careful about the things she is talking about and the brands that she is interacting with.

On a conclusive note it can be said that the pros and cons were discussed and so were the different elements and factors affecting self-confidence through looking fairer and also by believing you are perfect as you are.