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ANITA BHAGWANDAS

@itsmeanitab

16.2K

followers

3321

following

Demystifying beauty culture.
Journalist. Author. Speaker. Goth
Beauty Director @condenasttraveller.
🖊️ Vogue, Guardian, Allure
My book UGLY👇🏾

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Exciting stuff! UGLY is available from today in paperback - have you got yours?

Tag me if you do, and I'd love to know if you enjoyed it!

Huge thanks to everyone who has bought a copy so far

#paperback #newbooks #bookstagram #nonfiction #journalist #culturalchange #feminism #journalist #newpublication #bonnierbooks taken in London, United Kingdom by @itsmeanitab

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2 years ago

Meet the refreshed look of The Powder Room - your new beauty ritual landing in your inbox every Friday.

Expect unfiltered essays, chaotic hot takes, brutally honest reviews, haunted side quests, and yes… more than one Real Housewives shout-out.

But this isn’t just me shouting into the void. This is a space for us. A beauty community that feels like those 2am bathroom chats - raw, real, and empowering.

No glossy filters. No empty fluff. Just the beauty talk that actually matters.

Pull up, subscribe, and let’s get feral together🩷

(Link in my bio)

Anita xx

#rebrand #substack #community #beauty #substackwriter #beautystandards #hottrends by @itsmeanitab

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a year ago

Exciting start to the morning. The first exclusive extract from my book UGLY coming out next week!

Drop me a line if you read it - love to know if it resonates for you in any way. Link is in bio and stories.

And thank you to my wonderful pr team @stammydodger and editor @abigailradnor ❤️

Hope you like it!

📸 @kelliefrenchstudio
📸 assist @bruce.horak
💄 @neusa_neveslove_mkup using @avedauk and @narsissist
🪞 @houseofhackney

#authorsofinstagram #beautycommunity #beautystandards #eurocentricbeautystandards #fatphobia #prettyprivilege #racism #indianbeauty #colourism #darkskin #journalism #journalismmatters taken in London, United Kingdom by @itsmeanitab

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4 years ago

Makeup gets called vain, silly, a performance for other people. But often it's none of that - sometimes it's just joy, or to be playful and doing something purely because it makes you feel like yourself. If you’ve had a changing relationship to make up, or feel like you want to reclaim it for yourself, you’ll enjoy this feature.

Link in my bio!
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#beautystandards #selfexpression #selflove #makeup

Makeup for you
Self identity
Substack
Make up for wellbeing
Reclaiming make up by @itsmeanitab

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3 days ago

5 things that are actually worth your money because “treat yourself” hits differently when you know you’re going to use it🖤
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5 things worth your money
Make up worth the hype
Perfume to buy
Beauty must haves by @itsmeanitab

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7 days ago

I'm a real shopper when I'm abroad, so my case needs to stay as light as possible - and what actually eats up the weight allowance isn't clothes, it's beauty products. Travel size makeup and mini skincare are non-negotiable for me now, so I've rounded up my favourite teeny, travel-friendly makeup products for Condé Nast Traveller.

Link in bio!
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Conde Nast Traveller
Travel size make up
Mini make up
Travel hacks by @itsmeanitab

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11 days ago

Make up that I loved, liked, rebought and….wasn’t sure about. Is there anything you’d try? Do we still like empties vids?!

Comment EMPTIES for the full list of products that I would repurchase 🖤

@kulfi.beauty @fentybeauty @morphebrushes @makeupbymario @milkmakeup @gisou @lisaeldridgemakeup @merit @sunsolvemd @gucci @kosas @lorealparis
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Make up empties
Make up review
Beauty products I used up
Make up I would repurchase by @itsmeanitab

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13 days ago

How does it feel to be recognised at the very first South Asian Beauty Collective Awards?”, Anita Bhagwandas reflects on receiving the Breaking Barriers Award.

For more than 15 years, Anita has used her voice to question narrow beauty standards and explore who gets to feel seen. She speaks about growing up without seeing herself reflected in traditional South Asian beauty stereotypes, and how that experience has shaped her work. Through her book Ugly and her Substack, The Powder Room, she continues to open up honest conversations about beauty, identity and belonging.

Her award recognises the importance of that work and the voices helping broaden how beauty is seen and understood. by @itsmeanitab

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16 days ago

Here’s a chaotic melange of gorge shots from the professionals aka @moeez and @nadafilms and poorly shot vids (by me, lol) from the inaugural South Asian Beauty Collective Awards. Why does it look like I’ve filmed these on an iphone 4?! Those cocktails were strong….😅

I’m trying to buy less, so I re-wore some favourite things and kept the make-up goth to add my ghoulish vibe to it…I need to come up with a phrase that mixes SA style with goth don’t I?!

Anarkali - Kalki (available to rent on Byrotation)
Jewellery - very old Amrapalli set
Make up - new Fenty Foundation and Gloss bomb

@southasianbeautycollective

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South Asian fashion
South Asian Beauty
Tamil beauty
South Asian make-up
Fenty taken in London, United Kingdom by @itsmeanitab

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16 days ago

So happy to have won the Breaking Barriers Award from the South Asian Beauty Collective. It means so much, because I’ve been challenging beauty narratives and representing the people the beauty industry ignored, since the very start of my career.

That began in 2010, when I pitched and wrote a column for the Guardian about beauty for dark skin tones. At Stylist and Marie Claire women messaged me every week to say they’d never seen a woman of colour (especially a South Asian one) representing and writing about the issues that affected them, at huge mainstream women’s fashion titles. That’s a pain I know personally, growing up and never fitting the tiny, lightskinned, well-behaved Bollywood princess narrative. And I’ve carried that work on throughout my career, with my book, UGLY and my Substack, The Powder Room.

Journalism is a tough gig, especially in beauty where follower counts and being the loudest voice on social media can feel like all that matters. So after 15+ years of doing this, being recognised by my own community, really means something.

Thank you to the @southasianbeautycollective and @aartipmakeup, @shaykaurgrewal and @ranvirtv and to everyone who voted for me. And hugest congratulations to my fellow nominee @jasroopkaursingh too ❤️

Pic 1 - @moeez
Thanks to @vithya_visvendra and @humeara for the snaps and vids - the best hype women ❤️ taken in The May Fair Hotel by @itsmeanitab

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17 days ago

Frens - here’s my desert island beauty edit: the five products I'd never get stranded on an island without (if I could avoid it…obvs.) If I had to pick just a handful of beauty products to survive a desert island, here's my edit of multitasking, skin-saving, non-negotiable picks! Comment SKIN to receive more info on them! 💚

@bioreus @aestura.official @anua_global @thankyoufarmer @naked_sundays

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Skin care
Beauty essentials
SPF
Hydrating skin care
Lightweight makeup by @itsmeanitab

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17 days ago

I think I've bought a haunted compact - send help. And plausible explanations. More on my substack… link my bio!

Would love to know your thoughts below👀
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Vintage beauty
Beauty history
Beauty expert
Vintage compact
Substack by @itsmeanitab

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18 days ago