LAKME... Is this a JOKE? Honest Review of LAKME. 

When I Participated for lakme India fashion week as a model , I remember even then they used to apply foundations that made us look white. Everything was about skin whitening. Even their face creams. They never took brand ambassadors that were dusky. We were meant for the ramp and the fair ones for commercials. They always took Katrina or kareena kapoor. We couldn’t complain because we needed the job so badly as ramp models , since if you did they would never take you for shows and for melanin rich girls , this was our only source. This brand ignored women of deeper skin tones then and continue to shamefully do so even now. P.s :- combination of both lighting. Colours showed more

This is why Rihanna's makeup line is more successful than any other brand

Thank you for this Arshia

Finally someone took stand against Lakme for their shade range. Thank you Arshia❤️

The major problem with most of the people here in India is that are so obsessed with being fair they actually have the audacity to discourage us if we are embracing our melanin. Honestly, I'm so done with my grandparents and uncles and aunts and padosi aunties saying that I'm too dark. Let mE GLOW.

India has people with so many colors and this brand is not embracing them. What the bloody hell ?!!! That's just unacceptable. ( edit : thanks honey for the heart you're sweet.)

This makes me want to cry. I was recently in Mumbai, lost my luggage, went to Sephora. They literally didn’t have a color for me. To give you reference, I’m medium tan sand in Tarte and warm beige in Too Faced. I’m the epitome of “medium”. Sad that our people have not even remotely embraced all shades.

Good on you girl, i hate Lakme foundation. Its all about looking white their darkest shade is too light for me its legit just peach colour. 👏🏼

Lakmé just wants us to look gray and white and pale and ghostly. They are CRAZY!!! 🤮😡😤 FAIL!!!! #darkisbeautiful

If lakme is watching this they should realise how bad their shade ranges are. Its so frustrating when an indian brand is not having shades for brown skin.

OMG! Thank God someone acknowledged this shade monstrosity! Shreya Jain has been saying this for so long and Lakme just doesn’t care. Also the obsession in India with fair skin is so ridiculous that people are forced to wear shades that are way lighter than their skin tone, which is sad. All skin types are beautiful in their own way. Thank u for making a video on this aspect.

I WANT WHOEVERS WATCHING THIS TO KNOW YOUR SKIN IS BEAUTIFUL WHETHER ITS AS DEEP AS COCOA, AS GOLD AS HONEY OR AS WHITE AS SNOW YOUR.SKIN.IS.BEAUTIFUL AND U DESERVE THE WORLD thank u for coming to my ted talk

I’m not even half way through the video and I’m literally getting so pissed off! How does a HUGE brand like Lakme not carry NC42 equivalent shades in any foundation?! Like that is probably one of the most common colors amongst all brown women. This is absolutely disgusting. This is the type of stuff that promotes colorism in all south Asian countries. I hope they watch this video and feel embarrassed. Thanks for sharing as always Arshia! We love you💘

Ive been a makeup junkie since I was a teen and I have never bought Lakmé for the simple reason that their products are mediocre at best and their shade range is dismal.There are so many better brands out there in India.Although I must admit most drugstore brands carry 50shades of vanilla in a country of mostly brown people.🙄

I have stopped buying lakme, their shades are always fair and make you look grey and smells so chemically. Thanks fr sharing this video, love you Arshia

Philippines has an obsession with overall skin whitening too, not just the face. But beauty reps in all make up counters would always always always match the foundation to your skin. Like, if you're tan, they'll match you with tan. If you're darker, they'll suggest a shade that matches your tone. I once picked up a lighter shade (light beige) for my skin 'cause I didn't know how to match, the lady from Maybelline told me that it didn't matched my skin as it was a bit white for my skintone and picked up (sand beige) the right shade for me. Even local brands only releases shades that are fit for Filipinas, and ran campaigns about embracing our skintones. I hope Lakme helps push a campaign for true Indian beauty too.

People in India r obsessed with light complexion....so r d brands.

psh! beige caramel??? more like vanilla pudding! that's ridiculous!

Lakme is the most disappointing brand ever.. my whole life i grew up thinking 'why am i not fair?' shameful and having that said i am thankful for MAC cosmetics for showing me i can be beautiful in my own skin.

You hit the nail on the head when you said "India still sees light skin/eyes as beautiful" even their bollywood actresses are all fair skinned. Brands like Lakme need a swift kick. I feel very sorry for your subscribers who live in India and cannot find their foundation shades from the Indian brands....by the way I am Indian too. I suppose we can live in hope that one day India will see how beautiful dark skin women/men are.

#unfairandlovely (amazing movement)

In India ppl (my own family) are so use to wearing the light shades of foundation that they laugh at me by looking my shade (mine is your shade). I also gifted them some of the USA foundation and tinted moisturizers for them of their shades but they just told on my face that it doesn’t work for them. I was speechless.

Did 30 Lakme employees just come and thumbs down this video? 😂

Last Sunday, one of my Friends was getting engaged and hence She doesn’t own any makeup except Kajal , Mascara and Lipsticks.. So we both went for Makeup Shopping two weeks back , We did find her shade but Not from Indian Brand .. And when I tried it on her , She looked beautiful but her parents, sply her Mom was soo Disappointed that she looks Dark in Her Foundation Shade , Even after speaking with her bout how we should embrace our skin tone , she was still Not satisfied , and she told that Our community ppl will not want to look dark , Basically My Friend’s Skin tone is Medium toned and still forcefully she had to wear a lighter shade 😭😭 because of her mom .. PONDS AND LAKME and the STUPID FAIR AND LOVELY should be demolished

One of the weirdest thing about lakme's shade range is that even the darkest shade is quite light for many ,Lakme will be thrown out of the Indian market in no time if it continues with this approach.And the weirdest thing is that the shades leave a whitish caste on your face which makes u look horrible!!!!I am glad RU-vidrs are speaking about this!!

I have never used Lakme. The foundation shades are crazy! 😮

growing up I always felt that I could never get a matching foundation to my colour tone in India. I am glad that at least now there are more options to buy

True which is why Lakmé makes me look like geisha

Being on the privileged end of the Indian colour spectrum, I still hate Lakme, because they have cool undertones in their foundations, and Indian skin tones have warm or neutral undertones, so even with the lightest shade, it doesn't match my skin, because it's a clash with the undertone. Also their white beauty line makes me gag! P.S. - The last shade is Indian Pink.

YAAAASSSS QUEEN!!!! Arshia destroying Lakme's skin range is every Indian girl's knight in shining armour!!! Thank you for this video and I really hope Lakme is watching. Growing up, I remember feeling like crap because Lakme was one of the only accessible make-up brands. And they never had a single shade that didn't make me feel horrid. They have the power to make people feel so beautiful and powerful, and they let it go to waste. Thhuu!

this video is amazing. There are soo many beauty bloggers in India and they never bought this up Because all go for paid partnerships and themselves use international brands. I dont even think they put any genuine reviews(except 1-2). I am soo glad you bought this up. love your work.. lots of love..

When I visited India last month, I made a resolution that I will not buy any Lakme products. That brand is a total turn off for me, but I ended up buying the Lakme Iconic Kajal since its one of my faves... But, everytime I look at it I feel like if the brand deserved even the 150 rs I spent on the Kajal 🙄

Please do more reviews of Indian brands for us audiences here in India, you have so much knowledge regarding cosmetics and skin care, would love to see how you compare the other leading brands here like PAC, Colorbar, Sugar and Chambor etc to what you get out there.

a shade range is not even a thing in india. also, in india by 'foundation' they almost always mean 'something to make you fairer'

Gurl I thought it was clickbait but OH MY GOSH

This is the reason why I hate buying base products from lakme.. I have medium deep skin 😑😑 In India people think base products are made to make you look fairer and that sucks.. That's why I only shop base products from maybelline and loreal.. No hate for lakme.. They make one of the best lipstick at affordable price... Anyways thanks you arshia for this video

No one...NO ONE looks good in makeup that is too light for them. A lot of Indian beauty gurus on here with beautiful luscious dusky skin swearing up and down that they're NC 30;they rather walk around lookinglike an ashy wannabe than wear their true shade. So I appreciate you girl, keep up the good work.

Good on you for exposing this. We shouldn't let Desi brands off the hook for this kind of behaviour. If we drag other Western brands for only catering to non-POC then we need to do the same for Desi brands. The favouring of light-skinned people is disgusting. We need to do better

It’s absolutely true. As A Teenager With a Medium tan complexion, And Hailing from a Small town , the only makeup Brands I could Access were Lakme or Lo’real . And Lakme had been really really Disappointing in terms of Shade ranges for base makeup. Thankyou Arshia , For bringing this matter Into Light.

I'm so glad you did a review on this because INDIANS need to stop obsessing over fairness and start appreciating every skin type. We are all created differently by God for a reason. To all Indians out there that are obsessed with getting fair.. just accept and love yourself the way you are.. and Lakme, SHAME ON YOU!

I went to a MAC store in India once and the makeup saleslady asked if I wanted to try a shade lighter than my skin tone. I asked her why I would want to do that. Apparently, it's quite common for women in India to buy lighter shades than their skin tone so they can look 'fairer'. What? Why in the world would you want to walk around looking like a clown? Also, with this collection, Lakme's basically giving South India a big middle finger. Don't understand why people and celebs haven't made some noise about this.

The foundation shade range of Lakme is such a joke 😞😡

Honestly i did not know foundations came in so many shades until I was like 16. Until then I knew that foundations (which were Lakme for sure) only came in like one color and it was white and I was too dark to wear foundation because I would appear ashy. So i thought dark skinned girls like me could and should not wear makeup. Cut to 2 years later in college I tried to find a shade which matched (by now I realized there are 3 colors like OMG! that's huge) but then I was still too dark for it. So I totally gave up on make up. Until i came to the US and one day visited Sephora inside a JC Penny and was frigging blown away. Finally i have a shade I like now. Lancome Suede 420W. Honestly this whole skin color issue might sound trivial to people but its a huge morale factor. I may not personally be very affected negatively by it because i thought not much about it. But subconsciously i did think i wasn't pretty enough. Only when I moved out of the country I realised maybe I am beautiful in my own ways. Thanks for calling out this brand.

Wow I’m so glad you made this video, this is so ridiculous I mean come on light skin isn’t the only tone that exists, I hate when companies don’t cater to women of color or when they have light and the jump to dark like hello what about us brown girls in the middle.. I stopped supporting brands that are not inclusive it’s just not worth it. Thanks again for this video! ❤️❤️

We need RU-vidrs like you How is Lakme even existing keeping their eyes shut !

I stopped buying Lakme products ,since they do not want to cater women of colour. They are losing a major chunk of business to Maybelline and Loreal who are coming up with products for medium to deep skin tones and are almost in the same price range. I love Maybelline for the variety they bring in for all skin tones at an affordable price point.

Thank you so much for speaking out on this matter 💞

Thank you for saying this out loud!! All the beauty influencers in India get paid/ are associated with this brand and they shamelessly promote their products, while dissing Lakme's clones like Pond's or F&L. It was high time someone called them out for their pathetic shade range.

Glad you made this. I was so frustrated when I last went to India. I remember looking at at least four brands and none of them had my shade and I’m not even that dusky! Even if they have darker shades, the girls at the store would only match me to lighter ones... to look “brighter” 🙄... SMH...I had to go to MAC.

Stopped buying lakme base products years ago! They are always a fail. They still have a fixation with fair skin!😡. Do try PAC the next time. Its an indian brand and their foundation range is great and also the prices are decent. They make some great brushes too! When i got married (a long time ago).. there werent too many options as we dint have access to brands that catered to a range of skin colours. I decided to ditch the foundation and did my make up with basic stuff. Glad that i dont look grey in my wedding pix!! Coz even professional beauticians would assume that everyone wanted to look "white" 😂 in pix!! Lakme is a brand owned by unilever so i guess its just an additional brand that brings in revenue for them. Thats probably the reason they arent interested in actually coming out with wide range of base products and feel that whatevers there, ppl are buying, so why bother.

The shade range is sooooooo disappointing and its such a shame that its an Indian brand where there are sooo many dark skin women😔😔 When you put the foundation on I screamed because it was too light and your skin is only medium toned 🤦🏽‍♀️

Thank you for making this video. Most affordable brands in India do not cater to a variety of skin tones. Nykaa, being the largest online website for makeup, doesn’t have shades deep enough in their foundations and compacts. It’s truly depressing that these brands think it is okay to have only four shades, in this day and age. Hopefully they’ll take some tips and expand their shade range. However, there are some brands which have amazing foundation for every skin tone - like PAC. If you order anything again from Nykaa, then please order their foundation. You will love it. I would love to see your review on it. I used to use maybelline fit me earlier but it wasn’t warm enough for me in my shade or even a darker one. Always made me look a bit grey. But the PAC one is absolutely gorgeous! Lots of love hun xxxx

Take a shot everytime she says, "oh my god you guys." and "mindboggling"

Hey Arshia! Lakme has been such an iconic brand in India. It has such a strong hold over the market, but their shade range sucks big time! I just never buy Lakme foundations anymore, because they are not inclusive, even though they have my shade. As consumers and beauty enthusiasts we need to let a brand know, that we are not here for BS shade range. Be inclusive or go home!

Before I discovered the beauty community on RU-vid, I wasn't aware of other brands and that so much shade range exsisted. Lakme is used widely here in India. Literally looks like chalk on my skin. Its not just the shade range but the formula too. I mean if this happened in some other country there would have been considerable outrage. But here it's not a big deal. Its not just Lakme even when Maybelline sells in India its always the lighter shade which looks chalk like shade. Its literally 4-5 shades and the darkest one is just wheatish. I mean it's frustrating so I stopped wearing foundation all together for quite sometime.

I always look so gray with these types of foundations

Why is “beige caramel” white.

Arshia plz try to order PAC products from nykaa.. Let me tell you they won't disappointment you... Only Indian brand which has got base products for women of all colors.

Really fun to see an Indian product review. Please review Chambor next.. thank you ❤️

Oh my goodness.. that is just an awful shade range and I cannot believe this is the main brand my followers from India mention, wish they had more of an option...

Studio and natural for sure. Sunlight is the best lighting 👏

I am dark and I was frustrated for years because one cannot find good foundations for dark skin in India. Just not lakme but also maybelline L’Oréal. I found my right shade after I moved to Uk in almost all brands. It’s such a shame that these brands don’t realise that. Not everyone can afford Mac.

Thanku 4 this vid Arshia! Thats terribly disappointing coz I was going to look into Lakme products too. They need to be much more competitive in the market as other foundations have more choices..,they definitely need a broader Shade range. They are so famous I am so surprised. Couldn't find it that easily in South Africa aswell.

Arshia thank you so much for honest review. I am indian, yes and that's completely true that we don't find our correct shade in indian brands. In india people are obsessed with FAIR SKIN, and that's really sad. I bought lakme foundations but they were too lighter than my actual skin tone, then I save my money for good international brand & I bought Mac nc40, which is perfect for my skin. When I used lakme foundation I look like a ghost. 😂

Lakme shades are an embarrassment to say the least.

Thanks for doing this for review Arshia. Lakme needs to desperately up their game when it comes to foundation. For home grown Indian cosmetic and skincare company they are really off with the foundation shades. I think they still make foundation with the intent of making one 3-4 shades lighter their skin tone.

Finallllyyyyy you said it !!! Thank you for this! hope they realise .. and love you Arshia .. you're so pretty 😍😍😍😍😍😍

#darkandbeautiful

I remember buying foundation from loreal, I have tanned skin currently and the makeup lady took out a shade lighter than my current tone and tried to push it on me until I had to make her stop and bring out the darker shades in which she had only two options and both were still for wheatish skin, thankfully the 2nd most darkest shade worked for me and I didn't have to go more makeup hunting. My sister has darker skin and she has to spend a bundle to buy a decent foundation from brands like Clinique

This is the reason why I hate buying base products from lakme.. I have medium deep skin 😑😑 In India people think base products are made to make you look fairer and that sucks.. That's why I only shop base products from maybelline and loreal

Such a nice video! Loved it! Yes the foundations are so light! I am Mac NC 40 and 42 in summer! Please film a current foundation shades you love! I wanted to get IT Cosmetics illumination foundation and was so disappointed with the shades range!

What u said was 100% true. Every foundation I've used from Lakme had really strong chemical scents in it. And it wasnt 24 hours stay even if it claims to be. I never buy from Lakme except for their sunscreen range.

Thank you for making this video! We really needed this. These buggers make like 50 shades of wall plaster and have audacity to say that darker skin tone girls "don't purchase as much". who? Who is telling you that you can get away with making "almond" as the darkest shade? Bish, almond is my winter shade. Sit yo racist bum down.

Good to know! I bough Lakme lipsticks on a visit to Mumbai a few years ago and loved them. I will avoid buying their foundation.

Combination of studio lighting and natural lighting is so necessary... Like I loved this video... As u can actually see the products real shade... Or else now a days these beauty gurus... Put on anything and everything and it looks good... -_-

I am exactly your complexion, Arshia! And I have never used Lakmé products except exactly 1 lip colour. The brand is extremely disappointing, in terms of the range they cater to, and quality. Thanks for the video ❤️

Never bought Lakme because I was too dark, never will.

By the end of the video you have actually said good stuff about the brand. They do really know about their lipsticks and lipsticks only. (maybe eyeshadow too) But their foundations are pathetic. From the shade range to their quality. I did really appreciate your efforts for making this video. Thanks!

Wonderful video .. for the 2 lipsticks in the end.. would you mind sharing the exact shade names? Cuz you didn’t mention the second name and the first one which you mentioned .. I couldn’t find it .. I know it’s been years since you uploaded this video .. but I loved the shades on you and I’m also NC42 .. so would love to get my hands on these lipsticks which you tried .. you are super pretty BTW .. thanks a ton for the reviews

Hey Arshia thanks for bringing out this subject out on such a big platform...i hope Lakme listens to you and so do Indian women...the sad reality is that even the Indian women think that applying a lighter foundation will make them look beautiful...and beauty in india just means being white...in my life if i have ever point ed it out on my friends that they need to use a foundation or any complexion product that matches them...they feel i'm degrading them because i'm "FAIR" and they are not... women really need to learn that beauty comes in all shades, shapes and sizes.... Sending love XOXOXO ❤️😘

I've been complaining about Lakmé for a long time now. It is INSANE how they are supposed to cater to India when all their shaded are Caucasian focused. I, as an NC40, could never find a decent match. When I used to work in Mumbai I had to just put up with their HORRIBLE ashy cast because it was all that I could find. It really stressed me out during work too :( I'm so glad for the internet and for brands like Fenty. Never again Lakmé. You have humiliated Indian women.

Not to defend Lakme coz their shade range obviously sucks but one thing I have observed with Nykaa is that their shade cards/ blocks on the website almost never match their products be it base products like foundation/ concealer or lipsticks, lipglosses, eyeshadows etc. I always end up googling the shades before buying because If I relied on Nykaa's shade card I would get a completely different color than what I thought I was buying.

I love your videos, you’re honest about the products you try. I also have problems finding the correct foundation shade. I currently use Mac NC40 and sometimes I add NC37 during the fall, I might go up to NC42 to see what that looks like. I also see you use Fenti, I’ll have to try Fenti and see if they have my shade. Keep up the great work. XOXO

can I just say how pleased I am you made this video- this should've been talked about yesterday. The dismal shade range Lakme has always had and continues to is the one reason I don't care for this brand xx

Lakme is a white girls brand. Honestly. It caters for pale people because of the illusion that pale skin is more beautiful. It is dont get me wrong, but deeper darker shades are also beautiful.

I'm so triggered and offended by most Indian beauty products

I've literally NEVER had lakme my whole life....i went to india a few years ago when i first got into makeup. And since lakme was hyped up there. so i decided go check out one of the stores and the darkest shade was shitty as hell....it was TOO LIGHT...AND the coverage was shitty...AND it was pricey? like what the actual fuck. i told them i wasnt gonna buy from there and they went all "Ma'am this is the best brand you'll find here" and i for a fact found another better, cheaper brand which had good coverage too. i told the employees that their foundation was shitty right at their face.

I am not dusky. I am dark. And i have 4 perfect foundations. Smashbox, hourglass, kiko, and mac. I highlight with bobby brown and kiko. They works perfectly

Beautiful Arshia 😘 💕 U should try PAC cosmetics this time..A fabulous brand with amazing products at affordable prices 👍

I would really like to see Lakme get the same shit storm that Beauty Blender and Tarte did. Thaaaaat'd be great.

Great video Arshia! I hope they watch this and realize how pathetic their shade range for a country whose shade range doesn't stop at medium or beige. But also shade range is a whole another story, I just hope they start understanding the concept of golden/warmer undertones first.

This is so truee i can never find the perfect shade for my wheatish skintone

YAASSSS! I love you Arshia!!! 😘😘😘❤️

Lakme is a genuinely shitty brand. It's always catered to absolutely pale people and looked terrible on medium to dark skin colors. Even the lipsticks or nail colors. It recently hired Kareena Kapoor Khan who is whiter than egg protein, even made a range with her in the center of it, so it tells you a lot about it's philosophy which is inherent racism. I'm so glad Nykaa opened up the door to other brands.

It was a good video. Your review helped me to decide that I shouldn’t consider this brand for foundation. But definitely I’ll try out the your lip shades. They were gorgeous.

Well I am naturally light but I don't try to make myself more light. I am so jealous of dusky girls as I feel some shades of lipsticks and eyeshadows go so perfect with them. This is the reason why I have tried so many tan sprays.

Lakme sucks in their shade range and overall I don’t like lakme. Great review

Can we please have fenty enter India's market!

Finally someone speaking about it. I am an in between shade and I get pushed by the staff for shades way too lighter for me. Thankfully am aware of what to put on my face but oh! Lord I have seen women wearing all wrong shades thanks to these not so aware Indian brands for advertising fair skin is in joke. More power to you girl ...

This is honestly the best review of lakme. I hate that brand. It’s costly but the shade range is disturbing.