Thursday, February 11, 2010

Eye Spy! Uptown Visions at Guardian Pharmacy KLCC













I spied a new brand of cosmetics called Uptown Visions whilst shopping at KLCC recently. It was a small display with mostly foundations, stick concealers, lipsticks and some nail varnish. They seemed to be reasonably priced too though I was in such a hurry, I did not get details of the prices of each item. The lipsticks are currently 2 for RM8.88 - very auspicious especially during this Chinese New Year period!

However, what interested me was the fact that a lot of the foundations were of darker colors than I was used to seeing! Good news for ladies of darker skin tones! Finally someone is taking notice of this oft forgotten group of women.

It has always been my gripe that most make-up colours here in Malaysia is targeted at the fair skinned. Ladies of more 'exotic' colouring such as myself always find that we need to make do with whatever we can get our hands on because there just isn't anything specifically targeted for our colouring.

I do faintly remember a brand called Jordana which I spied somewhere in the Bukit Bintang area about 10 years ago which carried colours that were targeted for African-American women and I purchased a blusher, I believe. However, I have not seen this brand ever since.

I know because of lack of research, I may be missing the fact that some cosmetic brands have perhaps come up with a range that suits Indian or dusky skintones. Let me know if you have seen it!

We are an ethnic group that is sidelined. What I would like these cosmetic giants to see is that we, like women of other ethnic backgrounds, love looking good and will pay good money to purchase skincare and makeup. I know I will. 

My peeve is being told off that a certain brand does not carry colours that suit Indian skin. I met an SA who had the nerve to tell me that "our brand caters to fair skin only". This is an insult to the brand itself. Hire half baked and ill informed SA's whose only ambition for being where she is, is for the cool uniform and free cosmetics and you have a recipe for disaster!

In an article on beauty brands targeted at ethnic women, "newcomer Uptown Visions, are relying on face powders and foundations, as well as color cosmetics in a range of hues formulated for women of color, to cement a relationship with a wider range of ethnic consumers beyond just African-Americans."

This is good news for my Indian sisters. I hope to get my hands on some of these products so I may review them for you dear readers.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Uptown Visions gets my two thumbs up.
I have fairly sensitive skin when it comes to make up, and I'm planning to bring in a fresh and alternative brand of vegan and natural make up.

I love UV for the liquid lip gloss and eyeshadow. Gorgeous hues and excellent texture