Makeup Artist Grace Lee on Why You Should Embrace Your Natural Eye Shape

Do a quick YouTube search of Asian eye makeup tutorials, and you’ll be flooded with videos on how to transform monolids into looking bigger and rounder. Usually this is done by adding depth to the orbital bone using shadow, in order to create the illusion of a crease. And while there’s nothing wrong with wanting to do your makeup this way, Asian eye looks shouldn’t be limited to just faking a crease, especially when there’s women who want to embrace their natural eye shape.

One woman who knows the perils of making Asian eyes look more, well, white? Canada’s very own Grace Lee. The Lead Makeup Artist for Maybelline New York, Canada, recently spoke to Allure on Asian eye makeup, telling the magazine, “The fake-crease thing drives me to drink. Our eyes have monolids — they’re flat! Why are you trying to make us look like white people?”

She also explained the discrimination she faced, being a visible minority in Canada.

“When I was at university, I got a part-time job working at a M.A.C. counter,” said the Korean-born makeup artist, who moved to Canada when she was six months old. “One day I did this woman’s makeup, and afterward she said to me, ‘You must be so proud of yourself — your English is superb!’ I was speechless.”

“The other thing growing up was people asking me if I was related to Bruce Lee. Is he the only Asian person you know?” she added.

Lee’s interview is part of Allure‘s April 2017 cover story, in which they asked 41 women of colour to share the stories of their lives through their skin and skin tone. Other notable ladies included in the roundup are Meghan Markle, Huda Kattan and fellow Canadian, Lilly Singh.

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