Let’s Put an End to Nose Contouring – For Good.

April 3rd, 2012 - By Charing Ball

Brandy in YRB Magazine - Source: http://freshlikedougie.com

Brandy’s got a new look ya’ll.

Yes, “The Boy is Mine” singer, best known for Moe-to-the-E-to-the…has ditched the long weaves and her signature temple-pulling braids and has returned to sporting a more mature look, complete with a cute little pixie cut for her YRB Magazine shoot. Oh yeah, and she just so happens to be like five shades lighter – at least in a couple of the pictures. Seriously, a couple of the pictures have completely washed out her lovely skin, making her about the same complexion as Beyoncé – after Destiny’s Child of course.

I don’t know if it is intentional or if it is a matter of poor lighting. I’d like to think it is the latter considering we see this sort of improper exposure use to photograph dark skin in so many photo shoots. Fairly recently, Beyoncé found herself again at the center of a skin- lighting scandal when promotional pictures were released of her with a markedly lighter and pale complexion in her face and upper body. That too, had been attributed to the lighting used in the studio. Maybe. Without definite proof, it is all speculation. However, I cannot recall an instant where black celebrity men had the same lighting issue. In their instance, they usually show up on the cover of magazines true to color – if not darker (hey O.J.).  Things that make you go hmm…

Lighting aside, there is something more bothersome about Brandy’s pictorial. No, not another conspiracy, but this is actually intentional and obvious. In short, it’s the nose. I know it’s been a long time since we’ve seen Brandy on the scene, but I’m pretty sure that is not the nose she was born with.  In fact, that nose doesn’t even look natural, very Latoya Jackson-esque. Did she get a nose job? Is it the lighting again? Nope, that’s the old makeup trick of contouring and shading.

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  • Jbug

    This article is weird because I am a girl of 100% African descent and I have a thin nose and medium sized lips. If you were to travel through sub-Saharan Africa you would see that the people have big noses, small noses, full lips, small lips, wavy hair, kinky hair, and many have narrow Asiatic-looking eyes! We as black people are very diverse looking, white people do not have a monopoly on thin noses! I DO think that we need to embrace wider, flatter noses, but a lot of people make it seem like black people with thin noses are mixed and that is not true. We as Africans have many different looks and we should embrace all of them.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001139367042 Cristine Shotyaleg McMurren

    People always want something that they don’t have. It’s not necessarily a race issue, though those pictures tell a different story. People with straight hair buy moose and curling irons for curly hair and people with curls or kinks buy the perms and the flat irons. The grass is always greener, and it isn’t necessarily a race thing. White women get injections in their cheeks so they could have prominent features like black people. And they get injections to get fuller lips. It’s not necessarily an insecurity issue. It’s just something that you want because it’s not handed to you.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Tiffanie-MadameGigglez-Thomas/665285721 Tiffanie MadameGigglez Thomas

    Yeah… i noticed that her skin was 2X lighter than her usual look but thats not the point of my comment. the point is: her hair is CUTE!!!!

  • Guest

    Best I’ve seen Brandy look ever! Where are her eyebrows?

  • Just saying!

    I researched a good number of my favorite black celebrities and found that an overwhelming majority of them have had nose jobs. Look at Oprah, Halle Berry, Beyonce, Mariah Carey, Tyra Banks, Kimora Lee Simmons, the list goes on and on and on!! People say “don’t judge people” and BLAH BLAH but I think this goes MUCH deeper than that. The question isn’t “Is it okay for them to change their noses” because I think that’s dumb–not our decision. The real question is, “WHY do they feel the need to change their nose?” What messages are being sent to them by the media and the business that convince them that their black physique is unsatisfactory for superstardom? 

    • lady g

      Sorry but I’d say 75% of famous women have had nose regardless of ethnicity. Angeline Jolie, Jennifer Anniston, the list is endless and not just black women. I resent the fact that women have to alter their apperances while the men can do whatever they like.

    • Netdandri

      Hmm, I’m pretty sure Oprah, Mariah, and Kimora don’t have nose jobs. In fact the only one I’m sure has had one is Halle. Don’t believe every rumor you hear.

  • Courtneyhilton32

    i just miss moesha

  • Mrsadkiah

    It seems that people want to brush this off as a “people can do whatever they want with their bodies” thing. I’m not saying that they can’t, neither is the author of this article. 
    I saw a comment that said “I contour b/c it looks better”…what does contouring do? Make our noses look like a White persons nose. So think about what it means to say contouring makes your nose look better: you’re saying that White noses look better than Black noses. There is no way around that. I’d be fine if people simply admitted that. If you want your nose to be more narrow and look like a White persons nose, admit that. I’m not saying that I’m not gonna look at you sideways but who cares! Most of you were going off about Lil Kim for getting her nose done, making it look more White. You think that you or any other women who contour are better than she is simply b/c you only temporarily make your nose look more like that of White persons? No. Like I said people do what you do but don’t get all defensive when someone points out the truths behind certain actions. 

    • Netdandri

      Contouring your nose does not make it look like a white person’s. It only makes your bridge appear straighter. It doesn’t make your nostrils thinner. Some people might associate a straight bridge with white features because it is more common for whites to have than blacks. But there are some blacks with straight bridges and whites without. Anyway, it’s a far cry from Lil Kim’s all the way european nose.

      • Mrsadkiah

        There are also some Whites with a little bit larger nostrils like our Black noses and? Still a narrow bridge is a European feature, which means that anyone conturing is attempting to make their nose look more European. Like I said I have no problem with it I just wish people would stop beating around the bush about what it really is. And yes it’s far cry from Lil Kim but like I said I don’t think that she’s any worse for making her nose permanently European than a person who washes off their European nose when they take off their make up at night. It’s all the same thing. To each his own though.

    • Jbug

      Its not just white people with thin noses. There are full blooded black people with thin noses and long hair too.

  • http://twitter.com/iCh3ryl Bornscorpion

    Shoot. I love my button nose. No contouring for me, thanks!. =)

  • Guest

    Bananas!

  • Netdandri

    Why can’t you give a nice article of Brandy’s new look?  She looks amazing.  I have heard complaints about the skin tone in the pictures, though. That is pretty annoying, becuase if the lighting was off, they could’ve still went to photoshop and tried to add some melanin back to her skin.  But I didn’t even notice anything different about her nose.  It may be contouring.

    But I’ve seen plenty of pics her in appearances recently where her nose and skin are the same as they’ve always been, so to people asking if she’s done something to herself, no she hasn’t.

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