how I brighten my Turkish complexion

Make-up, skincare and haircare for different ethnicities is thankfully becoming less of a minority. In our new weekly column, Beyond the Pale, women from all ethnic backgrounds share their favourite beauty moments, insider tips and the products they swear by. This week is PR senior account manager, Cemo Imamzade, on warming and brightening her Turkish colouring and complexion.

I grew up in army barracks in different locations across the UK, and we had very little access to shops. We had a NAAFI (Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes shop) as our local, which didn’t really sell make-up. Back in those days, we were the only foreigners there, so it was really hard to get the right foundations shades, so I was always shopping on Avon, like everyone did in the 90s.  But then I moved to London and I mixed more with other Mediterranean people.

In our school, the grunge look was all the rage - just like what All Saints were doing - with the dark lipliner and using concealer as our nude lipstick, because back then you didn’t have 50 shades of nude. We also tried to adopt a Jennifer Lopez look - from the sunkissed skin to the big hooped earrings - and most certainly tried to look like Rachel from Friends by copying her feathered hair.

I did have a bit of a beauty identity crisis growing up. As a teenager, with olive skin and really dark, almost jet-black hair, my friends and I would always try to look like somebody else, rather than trying to be comfortable in our own skin. We all used to try and do "counter girl" make-up - thick foundation, meticulously applied - and that didn't work for me. If I’m honest, being Turkish, I’ve also been a little bit more ‘furry’ in the face, it’s just a thing we Turkish girls have. So of course, using beauty counter favourite Estée Lauder Double Wear make-up was the biggest mistake for me, because it’s just so heavy and it would collect on my extra bits of annoying hair, where my cheekbones are. 

But now, over the years, I’ve got a much better education and understanding of beauty, and there's just so many more options available. I’m now a big fan of using the Zelens Active Colour range, which has got all of the coverage and colour you'd want from make-up but with active skincare benefits as well. Zelens Youth Glow foundation is my favourite.

(L-R) Zelens Youth Glow Foundation, £60, Space NK; Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Skin Enhancer, £38, Cult Beauty

Liberty and Selfridges are, of course, my beauty hubs, but for online shopping, I love Beauty Bay. There are brands on there I never even knew existed - I would recommend it to everyone. That's how I discovered Kevyn Aucoin's make-up line. It's absolutely genius. He just has the right pigments! Everyone always used to say “Oh you’re so lucky you have olive skin,” but deep deep down, I felt quite unlucky, because there’s this downside of looking sallow. But now I have the right colours at my disposal, it's not a problem.

When you’re quite sallow you have a tendency to look quite ashy, so I stay away from anything that has too many white or pink pigments. Instead I choose warm peach tones that tend to neutralise that greyness. I also love Ellis Faas and Anastasia Beverly Hills. I don’t know why, but the American brands have really tapped into the market when it comes to that bronzed, nude look. For olive complexions, they’re really leading the market.

(L-R) Ellis Faas Natural Glow Kit, £69, Net-a-Porter; Glow Kit, $40, Anastasia Beverly Hills

I’m 31 now, but it was only about two or three years ago that I found my beauty secret weapon. I bumped into Caroline Hirons, one of the biggest beauty bloggers out there, and I basically complained about how tired I looked all the time. She said, “Well, it’s because you’re vitamin D deficient,” and I said “What’s that got to do with it?”

She replied, “Well you’re olive skinned, you’re Mediterranean. Genetically, you’re meant to be more exposed to vitamin D, so in the winter when you get less sun exposure, you aren’t getting anywhere near the amount of vitamin D you need through natural methods. It means you can end up looking paler than others, and even that you might have underlying health issues. So you should start dosing up!”

Vitabiotics Ultra Vitamin D3 x 96, £5.43, Superdrug

The second I started doing that, my friends and colleagues started accusing me of hitting the sunbed because my skin looked so radiant. And I hadn't been on the sunbed, it was all because I’d been taking vitamin D. That has, for me, changed my life, my confidence, and also my attitude towards skin care. I've realised it’s not just about what you’re applying to the surface of your skin, but also how you look after yourself from the inside, and the impact supplements have on your body.

My vitamin D revelation means that when I'm travelling to work on the tube, I can identify who is of Mediterranean descent and who has the tell-tale sallow skin that is the sign of vitamin D deficiency. I don’t think it’s something they’re aware of. 

Turkish culture is very glamorous. Two of my aunties used to be beauticians, and every time I would go to Cyprus for six weeks in the summer holidays, all of the sisters would take turns to beautify each other, whether tweezering or threading each other's eyebrows, or painting each other's toenails. It was lovely family time. My female relatives didn’t believe in shaving, they very much believe hot wax is the best way to remove hair.

Being in PE at school and having hairy legs made me feel really embarrassed, and I remember when I was a young girl I shaved my legs and my mum went ballistic. She was quite traditional and she really helped me grow at the right pace when going into adulthood. And throughout growing up, she’d say “Use hot wax, never shave!” Now I can afford to have laser treatment, but back then, in a very English society, I was the odd one out and it knocked your confidence. 

I'm lucky to live in a big Turkish/Greek community in North London, so there's local beauty services at my fingertips.  Just think of the percentage of Turkish beauty parlours and hair salons in London - they dominate the beauty sector. They're very good at understanding the Turkish customer's needs, so they’re very good at power blow-dries for our coarse hair, and they know the importance of hair removal and they’re very sympathetic towards it.

For the last three months I've been going to a Turkish laser treatment salon in North London, which is results-driven, yet still really affordable. I did a lot of research, and the place I chose has top of the range machines and the prices are half of what the West End prices are. As for Turkish beauty icons? A very popular actress at the moment, Damla Sonmez, has just got it. She knows exactly what colours work for her. And then there’s Hulya Avsar. She’s got blue eyes and brunette hair, and she's like the Turkish version of Madonna. She’s been there throughout all the ages.

Actress Damla Sonmez on Instagram

At the age of 31, I’m still trying to perfect that perfect skin texture. I remember when I was growing up, my grandma had the deepest of wrinkles but her skin tone was phenomenal. She had porcelain white skin and there wasn't a pore in sight. The way that I see things is that if I'm genetically lucky enough to have skin tone like my Nan when I'm older, then I’d be happy, I’m not really bothered about wrinkles at all! Wrinkles are a great way to express your life.

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