Growing up as an Indian in America proved to be difficult. I had to search for the different things about India that make it different from America. A lot of this knowledge came from movies and the rest came from my parents and grandparents. I learned about different features of Indians that make being Indian unique.
Around when I started High School my grandma taught me more about Indian beauty, specifically products. I saw her using dark eyeliner on her under eye and I hadn’t seen this before amongst people my age. She told me I could try some and I had never felt more beautiful.
I looked into more things about this Indian eyeliner as I grew more curious and my grandma sent me home to America with some. I learned more about American beauty standards versus Indian beauty standards. For Indian women, the kohl or kajal is a way to make your eyes pop out because the darkness in the eye is the beauty in the eye. In America, if you want to appear grunge or emo one usually applies dark eyeliner to their waterline and it’s a way of rebelling almost.
I felt weird in America to put on kajal because I didn’t want it to appear to people that I was trying to rebel. I just wanted to look beautiful by my standards, not anyone else’s.
I soon learned that beauty is in the eye of the beholder as the cliche goes and as long as I felt beautiful and I thought I looked beautiful that’s all that matters. people saw me with the kajal and they didn’t even think twice about what my intentions were, I realized that because I was Indian and kajal is very Indian makeup, it just brought out my inner natural beauty.
I always found it funny that kajal is an identifier of Indian beauty after learning more about Indian culture. Indian beauty standards, by most traditional people, mean fairer skin, lighter eyes, and just a whole lighter concept than most Indians have, but with kajal, the enhancement of your eye to be darker is the beauty. A lot of the later beauty standards come from when Britain invaded India, and the concept of kajal must predate that if it still has meaning in Indian beauty.
It doesn’t seem like much but the simple eyeliner taught me to connect with my culture, connect with myself, and trust my own opinion above others. I learned that as long as I feel beautiful in whatever I wear and carry confidence with it, the whole world will see that beauty and the confidence within it.
What’s your favorite beauty product? Share with us at @HerCampusSJSU!