Jennifer Lopez made dark skin beautiful

Kai Magsanoc

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

Music, fashion, fragrance, Hollywood — Jennifer Lopez has conquered them all. Unwittingly, she has also become the beauty icon for the morena.

THE WOMAN WITH MANY FACES. Here's how to look like J.Lo when you watch her in concert on November 26 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena. Image from the Jennifer Lopez Facebook page

MANILA, Philippines – Not too long ago, a retail brand drew rage in social media because of a campaign that seemed to highlight the mestiza beauty in a country where there are definitely more morenas.

It is no secret that skin whitening products are everywhere because many a morena would rather have lighter skin and be called a mestiza. To this I say, to each his own.

In my case, I have brown skin, a feature I inherited from my father who hails from Lingayen, Pangasinan. My mother is a Chinita from Pampanga, and her skin is “milk” while mine is “coffee.” I don’t mind at all.

I don’t mind that, when under the sun, I don’t turn rosy or pink. I immediately turn dark brown.

I don’t mind that my hair is not brownish, too. I actually love it when it is a deeper shade of black, and I miss the curls I used to have as a kid, never mind that people called me “negra” and even “baluga” then. I faintly remember being called a “mestiza” but in the sarcastic sense. 

I write this on the eve of Jennifer Lopez’s Manila concert because I couldn’t help but think about how she has become sort of a beauty icon for girls like me with morena, brown, olive, mulatto skin, however you want to call it. She, along with other Latina personalities like Eva Longoria and Michelle Rodriguez, have placed the morena beauty stamp on the map of what the world considers beautiful (I forgot to add one of my favorite artists, Frida Kahlo).

I couldn’t set my thoughts aside and I felt compelled to write. So I asked two of my makeup artist friends, Georginna Desuasido and Kris Bacani, about their thoughts on J.Lo’s beauty — of course, this led to the two beauty experts dishing out their suggestions on how we may get the Latina’s look.

Cinematic makeup expert Georginna tells us how we may get J.Lo’s different looks step by step:

1) J.Lo au naturel

SHE LIKES 'DRAW SOMETHING.' Jennifer Lopez loves to play the game in her down time. Image from Facebook

  • Start with creating perfect dewy skin using a high definition foundation
  • Correct shadows and discoloration with a concealer
  • Use cream blush to get her signature dewy skin
  • Top with a shimmery highlight

2) J.Lo with smoky eyes

SHE WORKS IT. Any eye treatment looks good on J.Lo, like this smoky eye on the cover of Vanity Fair in 2011. Image from Facebook

  • Do the steps for the “au naturel” look
  • Lightly seal eye area with loose powder
  • For striking eyes, choose a shimmery bronze base 
  • Contour with a darker espresso-colored shadow
  • Highlight with a light gold color (the parts that protrude or get hit by the sun or lights)
  • Work the lashes to make them look lush
  • Line the eyes with black liner
  • Blend with a small brush to create a soft smoky look

3) J.Lo with the “bombshell” look

MORENAS CAN CARRY THE STRONG LIP, TOO. J.Lo on the cover of Vogue in March 2012. Image from Facebook

  • Do the steps for the “au naturel” look
  • Use peach-colored gloss to give the effect of soft, kissable lips (or dare enough to go red!)
  • Use a brown eyeliner to create wings on your eyelids (for the evening, use midnight blue or black)

The best “beauty accessory” is healthy, glowing skin like J.Lo’s (check out her People magazine cover from April 2011 where she was declared the “World’s Most Beautiful Woman”).

Beauty and bridal makeup expert Kris gives us skin care tips so that we may have J.Lo-glowing skin:

  • Exfoliate once or twice a week
  • During exfoliation, use facial scrubs or cleansers with beads to remove dead skin cells and reveal new, fresh skin
  • Don’t forget to moisturize well after exfoliating to lock in moisture (Try VMV Hdrabalance for day, and Body Shop’s Vitamin E Nourishing Night Cream for night)

To complete your J.Lo beauty bag, the must-haves according to Kris are:

  1. For the “au naturel” bronzy look – Nars Powder Bronzer in Laguna
  2. For the smoky look – Makeup Designory eyeshadows in Ice, Graphite and Onyx
  3. For the bombshell look – Revlon Colorburst Lipgloss in Gold Dust

“One of the advantages of having morena skin is that discoloration, breakouts and other skin problems are less noticeable,” says Kris. “Less work is needed on concealing! Another advantage is that you actually look more healthy as opposed to having pale skin.”

“We’ve got to love our skin color and use what we have to our advantage,” adds Georginna. “If one has a golden skin tone, work it by making it look sun-kissed and fresh.

“Don’t pack on too much product as it looks more fake than fresh.” – Rappler.com


Jennifer Lopez’s ‘Dance Again’ world tour is organized in Manila by MMI Live. It is presented by Vista Land, Zenea and PLDT Fibr. Her show is for the benefit of UN Women National Committee Philippines, a gender equality and women empowerment organization.

Add a comment

Sort by

There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.

Summarize this article with AI

How does this make you feel?

Loading
Download the Rappler App!