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Or, An amusing incident in race identification.
A few days ago I was killing time at the Mall while T$ was getting fitted for a tux, so I decided to pop over to Sephora and pick up a new powder foundation since my old one was almost out. (I don't wear a lot of makeup, but towards the start of the semester especially I do wear just a little bit, intended to give a natural but nicer look, so I'll be a bit more respectable looking. On those days I generally wear foundation, a subtle eye shadow, and lipstick.) I wasn't sure which of two colors fit my skin tone best (I thought Light or Lighter, though they had other fancier names), so I went over to a couple of assistants and asked them. The first woman said she thought Lighter (in a thick French accent), but the second woman said Lightest. "No no no," interrupted the first, "she's not White." "She's not?" queried the second with a puzzled look on her face, swinging her gaze between the French woman and my face, looking for signs of non-white-ness. "Nope," I interjected, "my mother's Chinese." "She is?" the second woman asked again, apparently stupefied, continuing to search my face. "Yep, you can tell from my eyes," I added, grinning, which emphasizes the tilt on the sides of my eyes. "You can? I can't tell," the second woman said again, and ended up leaving me to the French woman's care in her confusion.
I do have the eyelid folds that all Caucasians have, I wonder if that was what was throwing her. And I wonder what signs specifically the French woman saw that triggered it for her. And interesting that the Lightest shade is apparently only appropriate for full Caucasians - though the photo they show of a woman appropriate for that shade is always a freckled redhead (of Irish descent), so I would think that most Caucasians shouldn't even be using that Lightest shade.
Okay, enough procrastination. Time for power cleaning since the house looks like we're in the process of moving (we are rearranging furniture) and we have two people sleeping over tonight.
A few days ago I was killing time at the Mall while T$ was getting fitted for a tux, so I decided to pop over to Sephora and pick up a new powder foundation since my old one was almost out. (I don't wear a lot of makeup, but towards the start of the semester especially I do wear just a little bit, intended to give a natural but nicer look, so I'll be a bit more respectable looking. On those days I generally wear foundation, a subtle eye shadow, and lipstick.) I wasn't sure which of two colors fit my skin tone best (I thought Light or Lighter, though they had other fancier names), so I went over to a couple of assistants and asked them. The first woman said she thought Lighter (in a thick French accent), but the second woman said Lightest. "No no no," interrupted the first, "she's not White." "She's not?" queried the second with a puzzled look on her face, swinging her gaze between the French woman and my face, looking for signs of non-white-ness. "Nope," I interjected, "my mother's Chinese." "She is?" the second woman asked again, apparently stupefied, continuing to search my face. "Yep, you can tell from my eyes," I added, grinning, which emphasizes the tilt on the sides of my eyes. "You can? I can't tell," the second woman said again, and ended up leaving me to the French woman's care in her confusion.
I do have the eyelid folds that all Caucasians have, I wonder if that was what was throwing her. And I wonder what signs specifically the French woman saw that triggered it for her. And interesting that the Lightest shade is apparently only appropriate for full Caucasians - though the photo they show of a woman appropriate for that shade is always a freckled redhead (of Irish descent), so I would think that most Caucasians shouldn't even be using that Lightest shade.
Okay, enough procrastination. Time for power cleaning since the house looks like we're in the process of moving (we are rearranging furniture) and we have two people sleeping over tonight.
