"Skins (DC)"

9 May 2025

90s

The skin I live in.

Acne, atopic eczema, vitiligo, birthmarks… for the longest time, these and a host of other conditions have been ignored by beauty brands. L'Oreal, the world's largest cosmetics company, wants to change that in the run-up to summer. It's off to a good start courtesy of BOLD's Sophie Ebrard, who puts a brave and worthy cast at ease in her director's cut.

Life's not been easy for any of them. Whatever makes them 'different', be it a birthmark on a woman's face or a loss of pigment on a man's body, has been criticized, joked about, or hidden. Not any more—as one member of the cast puts it, "How can I tell my boys to be themselves when I'm covering up myself?" Again, this is not your standard L'Oreal ad.

It ends with a declaration that "everyone should feel comfortable in their skin". This is not something to pay lip service to in 2025, so let's see what the brand does next. Ebrard and casting director Camilla Arthur have done their bit.

UK

Cosmetics