Beige flags

We're more than tan, dark, olive and (eww) wheatish. We react to the sun, smog and humidity, but don't stress over wrinkles. So, what do Brown complexions really need? Is there even such a thing as Indian skin? Experts break it down

- Noor Anand Chawla

On Nykaa and Tira, the serums are 8% Glycolic, 2% Salicylic and 10% Vitamin C. On Insta, an NRI skinfluencer (ugh, they call themselves that!) is convinced that drinking soy-turmeric latte cured his acne. On billboards, global skincare brands claim that their new moisturiser is formulated for Indian skin, but can't explain what “Indian skin” means. White women are worshipping sunlight, Asian women are buying anti-UVA face hoodies. Indians, battling nationwide Vitamin D deficiency and a preference for fair skin, can't decide between sun and shade. Meanwhile, grandma has no crow's feet or laugh lines; mum and dad have hyperpigmentation from years of dusty commutes; your older cousin's Instaapproved retinol regime is drying out her skin; and your BFF is at the dermatologist, learning the hard way that Indians need sunscreen too. Amid India’s beauty boom, we're moisturised, but hardly unbothered.

So, we asked experts the basics. What, given our ethnic diversity, does Indian skin even mean? What is smog doing to city skin that it isn’t doing in less-polluted villages? What do Brown people worry about as they age, if not crow’s feet? Does the Western formula for fillers and injectables work on Indian features? Which global beauty benchmarks just don’t work for India? We’re more than our skin colour, see how much more:

Is there such a thing as Indian skin?

Dermatologists typically use the Fitzpatrick scale, a set of deepening skin tones, to determine how much melanin pigment a person’s skin contains. So far, so good. But on a scale of I to VI, people from India fall anywhere from Type III to VI. That’s half the scale already, and we're only measuring colour.