Photo credit: CoverGirl/YouTube
Back in October, CoverGirl officially changed its iconic slogan, “Easy, Breezy, Beautiful, CoverGirl”, to a new tagline that represents all types of beauty: “I Am What I Make Up.” Now the campaign features its first-ever model with vitiligo, Amy Deanna. Vitiligo is a skin condition that causes white patches of depigmentation to develop on certain parts of the skin.
In the video seen below, Deanna applies two different shades of CoverGirl’s TruBlend Foundation to accentuate both skin tones. While doing this, she asks a rhetorical yet powerful question, “Why try to blend in when you can choose to stand out?”
“Representation is important,” Deanna told People magazine in an interview. “Inclusivity is important—not just for people of different backgrounds and ethnicities, but also people of all sizes. That’s why I was so excited to partner with CoverGirl on this project. Beauty comes in all shapes, sizes, colors, etc. Let’s face it, together we are a mosaic—that in itself is beautiful. We should celebrate that.”
“Vitiligo awareness is something that is very important to me,” Deanna continued. “Being given a platform to do so means so much. I welcome all appropriate questions about vitiligo. At the end of the day, I am just like everyone else; I just happen to have spots. It’s a part of my identity, but it doesn’t define who I am…. For there to be so many of us and so little representation, it’s truly disheartening. I work with CoverGirl; I’m a Black woman; I have vitiligo. That is empowering.”
Deanna joins an influential group of women like Janelle Monáe, Zendaya, Rihanna, Issa Rae, and Queen Latifah, who she said inspired her when she was younger.
“I remember seeing Queen Latifah on TV as a CoverGirl when I was young. That was so inspiring,” Deanna recalled. “I can’t express how excited I am to say, I too have had the opportunity to work with CoverGirl.”
Congratulations, Amy! Thank you for using your platform to advocate for inclusivity and diversity within the beauty industry; you are an inspiration to us all.