Successful Muslim beauty blogger, Nura Afia, has just been revealed as CoverGirl's newest ambassador for their latest campaign. With over 300,000 Instagram followers and over 200,000 subscribers to her Youtube channel, according to Daily Mail. Twenty-three-year-old Afia, who has been vlogging on Youtube since Aug. 8, 2012, has now become "the first Muslim woman to wear her hijab for a major Western cosmetics campaign."
According to the Washington Post, Afia, an American woman born in Denver, Colorado, revealed in an interview with The Post that she had a difficult time wearing a hijab with pride at her American school. She claimed she had "nobody to look up to."
The professional makeup artist has a 5-year-old daughter named Laila who loves to play with her makeup, as seen on her Instagram. It is truly endearing that she can now inspire her own daughter to feel like a confident and beautiful American woman in her hijab as she grows up and starts to (or continues to) experiment with makeup.
CoverGirl claims that they have "always stood for inclusive beauty that supports any and all types - from skin types to lash types," according to their Instagram post.
💜#LashEquality = bold, sexy lashes for ALL.💜 At COVERGIRL, we’ve always stood for inclusive beauty that supports any and all types — from skin types to lash types. We know that whether you have short, straight, light or long lashes, you all crave the same bold end look, so we listened and created #SoLashy mascara: the first mascara designed for any and all lash types. Representing all types of beauty, our #SoLashy fam (and their lashes) have come together to stand for #LashEquality. Bold, sexy lashes for all: are you on board? #Repost, comment, 💜 to be a part, and stay tuned for more!
A photo posted by COVERGIRL (@covergirl) on
You can check out a clip of Nura's interview on set with CoverGirl which was posted to their Instagram on November 5th below.
Next up: @nuralailalov! Her feelings on being a part of COVERGIRL's #SoLashy fam? "Ecstatic." So thrilled to have this genuine beauty as one of the faces of #LashEquality: bold, sexy lashes for all. 💜
A video posted by COVERGIRL (@covergirl) on
I decided to speak with a fellow Muslim colleague to get an idea of what she thinks of this latest CoverGirl news. The girl I spoke with, a student at San Diego State University, told me that she admires how Afia is demonstrating that you "can be beautiful and still be covered up."
She also stated that she appreciates how CoverGirl is expanding its variety of ambassadors to include new faces that aren't commonly representations of Western campaigns.
Since America is known for being a giant melting pot, these faces should not be stuffed in the shadows of American culture. America's multiculturalism should be represented among all large American brands that want to be popularized all around the world and even among young American girls and boys.
Just recently, CoverGirl made headlines when they introduced their first Cover Boy: social media sensation, James Charles. You can check out James' interview posted on CoverGirl's Instagram. They certainly are on a roll for diversifying the makeup industry in 2016.
When scrolling through the makeup pages on Instagram, you will see a number of men doing professional makeup tutorials as well as Muslims wearing hijabs promoting some of their creations and masterpieces.
It is great to see a worldwide leading cosmetics company working to diversify their ambassadors to now include non-Western women, as well as men.
So, instead of seeing only celebrities and the typical thin, white woman as the face of their brand, you will now see the beautiful Afia, the handsome Charles and various other faces that represent the beauty of all skin types and genders.
This campaign promotes individuality and breaks down the idea of having to have the typical American look. Great job, CoverGirl! Keep doing the right thing!
