Neha Shares Her Journey Navigating the Aussie Beauty Industry as a South Asian.
When I first met Neha over half a year ago, I saw a striking young woman who looked determined and was glamourous in the chicest way imaginable.
Dressed perfectly with a confident air around her, and her weapon of choice - her Canon EOS200D in hand - I approached and asked about who she was and what she loved.
I gleaned via this conversation there wasn’t a doubt in her mind; she loved beauty and loves expressing herself artistically through her cultural dress and makeup.
Neha told me this shone through in all of her content, and a quick follow later confirmed this to be true.
She also casually mentioned, “oh, and I’m studying law, too.”
Neha is a 23 - year old Content Creator and now a recently Admitted Lawyer. She’s also immensely proud of her Fijian-Indian heritage.
Born and raised in Sydney, Australia, Neha hung onto her culture which filled her younger years with lots of events and family time.
Even though she’s an only child, Neha shared with White Rabbit Social she never felt any void or lonliness, because growing up she was always surrounded by loved ones.
“I was also very much into dressing up in our traditional wear – this has clearly continued” she laughs.
Why did you start your page and when?
“I started my page in 2014 as my personal account.
In 2016 I had my first proper collaboration with a temporary tattoo and face gem company called ‘Glo Tatts’ – this is where things started hitting off with my content as I started to really explore the idea of creating and posting makeup looks.
Back then, the terms ‘content creator’ and ‘influencer’ were not something heard of as often as it is now.
It most certainly was not something I could see myself doing (and loving) as much as I am now.
A huge influence was actually Rowi Singh – I remember finding her in 2015 and later emailing her as I was so intrigued by the idea of creating content and collaborating with brands.
By 2019, my personal account turned into a full-blown beauty account where I started to really incorporate my traditional wear/jewellery into my looks, then I found a niche to start recreating a few iconic Bollywood looks - this went a bit viral!
This is when I really started investing time and energy into my craft. Now, I live and breathe beauty haha.”
How has your culture influenced your fashion and makeup?
“Growing up, I would always wearing our traditional wear – salwar kameez’s, ghagras, lehengas etc, to our family functions, parties and events.
This carried over into my adulthood, more specifically in my makeup and overall content.
I was always, and still am, very intrigued by the details and intricacies of our outfits and jewellery, so I try to showcase that as much as I can with what I wear, and the looks I do.”
“I’ve also been a huge Bollywood fanatic. I’ve always been mesmerised by the colour, sets, outfits, songs and movies as a whole from a very young ages – this has transpired into my current content.
I love integrating my culture into my looks on social media – whether it be a statement jewellery piece, bold eye looks, or an overall glam look head to toe – I try to corporate my South Asian roots in any way I can to bring some representation into the Australian beauty and fashion space.”
How do you want to see representation in the industry?
“It would be great to see more POC in beauty campaigns and events, and regularly, not just a random opportunity for a person of colour.
Also, regardless of the follower count – everyone has an impact no matter how big or small.
Seeing representation on panels – I sometimes see events online or in person where the panels lack diversity.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s evident that the industry is slowing working on diversifying the space but sometimes it may come across as a disingenuous attempt towards inclusivity as brands may sprinkle People of colour once and then forget in their next campaign or event.
There’s still a lot of work left to do here.”
Neha shared some examples of recent work outside of Australia which showcased representation in the industry:
October 2023, MAC Canada, Diwali Campaign: Featured South Asian beauty content creators, including @glambygilly and @dhivya.srii.
This was showcased in store and online. They also created curated PR boxes to celebrate and distribute.
2020 Sephora Canada Diwali Campaign: Also featured in store.
ANKITA BHARDWAJ. PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF SEPHORA CANADA
2021 Sephora Canada feature of Ramie Veerappan
Why is representation for South Asians important? Where is the biggest pain point for this?
“It’s extremely important for there to be South Asian representation, for many reasons.
The biggest pain point in this matter is that South Asians tend to be misrepresented or, represented in the most stereotypical way.
We need true representation - Representation which celebrates/embraces and empowers all the diverse cultures within.
Representation which allows our stories to be seen and heard.
Representation which allows us to see ourselves on the big (and small) screens in an accurate manner.”
What are you most proud of during your time blogging?
“It’s so easy to get caught up on numbers or comparing myself to others but when I take a step back, it really has been an incredible experience, and I cannot believe how far I have come.
There are many things I’m so proud and grateful for during this time. Firstly, the opportunities I’ve received along the way – never in a million years would I have believed you if you told me 3 years ago that I’ll soon be attending events for brands such as Fenty Beauty, Benefit Cosmetics, Sephora etc.
Or receiving PR to trial from big brands like YSL Beauty, Huda Beauty, NARS, Hourglass, Anastasia Beverly Hills.
I’ve also had to pleasure to work with some of the big names - like MAC, Estee Lauder, Maybelline, Rimmel GHD, Shark Beauty – to name a few.
I’m also proud of stepping out of my comfort zone constantly, whether it be at events or through my content.
I’ve also recently been signed with management - which was a huge *pinch me* moment!”
To Sum Up
In conclusion while I was finalising this write up, I scrolled some ANZ (Australia & NZ) brand pages, as well as some Aussie only retailers in hopes to give kudos to brands that were doing an amazing job…
it was mostly a confusing experience to say the least.
Brands were engaging white creators but not POC creators, instead sometimes opting for POC models to bulk shoot and reuse.
Brown skin was few and very far between with posts being clustered around Diwali. Although amazing that brands are recognising this event and engaging POC models, it begs the question, why aren’t they engaging more brown creators?
Regardless of where someone or their parents or their grandparents were born, in the 2021 Australian Census there were 976,000 people who responded with an Indian-related ancestry.
From 2016-2021, the number of Indian-born Australians increased by 47.9%. Almost three quarters (74.6%) of Indian-born Australians were aged between 20 and 49 years.
What do all these numbers indicate?
To us, it is clear that there is a young Indian Australian population that aren’t getting adequate representation in the media, specifically in the Aussie beauty space.
Many questions get raised, like; why are some brands not even doing the bare minimum?
Things like including more and more diverse Indian and brown skinned people in beauty photo shoots- or engaging South Asian creators in the beauty space besides when it’s a cultural holiday?
We are deeply grateful that creators like Neha are able to share their culture with us through their artistic beauty expression, and it’s our hope to keep highlighting diverse creators that accurately represent the Aussie population, because young brown people deserve to see themselves in media in a true and non stereotypical way.