Ep 13: Redefining Beauty and Exposing the Dangers of Skin-lightening Products with Amira Adawe, MPH

Beauty comes in all colors. But sadly, skin color (colorism) features in defining standards of beauty due to the historical context of colonialism in large parts of the world. Our next guest, Amira Adawe, MPH was the researcher who discovered the high levels of mercury and other toxic chemicals in skin lightening creams. These chemicals were not identified on the label, which not only bucks FDA laws but led to harmful effects on unsuspecting women. Join us in this episode as Amira talks to us about her early research and ongoing advocacy through The Beautywell Project a non profit organization that aims to end skin-lightening practices and chemical exposures. She’s on a mission to help women embrace their identity and love themselves. Amira shares why she started her research on preventing skin-lightening products and the dangers it can cause. We also discuss the topic of beauty standards and how we can change the narrative around it. In this Episode, We Talk About: The origin of skin-lightening practices The reason why Amira started her research on preventing skin-lightening practices How colonialism affected the defining of beauty in many cultures around the world  The dangers of skin-lightening products What beauty means in the culture Is a career in public health really fulfilling? Educating individuals about wellness The reason why Amira chose to teach Where to reach Amira Adawe: LinkedIn Twitter Amira’s Bio: Amira is the Founder and Executive Director at The Beautywell Project, a non-profit organization that aims to combat skin-lightening and chemical exposures as well as addressing other environmental impacts in Minnesota, nationwide and international. She previously managed Minnesota’s Children Cabinet of Governor Mark Dayton where she worked on early childhood in all policies and systems using equity lens. She’s also a public health researcher and her research interests include women’s and children’s health in the areas of access to health care, skin-lightening practices, and chemical exposures. Amira is the host of Beauty-Wellness Talk at KALY Radio and Podcast. Amira has an undergraduate degree in Family Social Science from the University of Minnesota and a Master of Public Health from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. She was also a Policy Fellow 2015-2016 at Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. Amira's work has been featured on local and national media including StarTribune, Minnpost, STAT News, National Public Radio (NPR), Matter of Fact with Soledad O'Brien and WSB-TV.  Mentioned from this episode: BeautyWell Project Why black people discriminate among ourselves: the toxic legacy of colorism   Want to hear more stories from amazing Muslim Women? Please subscribe on Apple Podcast, Stitcher or on your favorite podcast platform. Get notified so you never miss out! Let us know what you think and what part of the podcast conversation you enjoyed the most by leaving us a review and rating here! And don’t forget to join us on our Facebook group Professional Muslim Women to continue the conversation and connect with a community of Muslim women like you!