Mumbai: National Lipstick Day, celebrated every 29 July, is not just a celebration of a cosmetic product, but also the confidence and strength it symbolises. July is also National Cleft Awareness Month. Smile Train, world’s largest cleft charity, saw this as an opportunity to spark meaningful conversations surrounding the importance of inclusivity and representation for individuals with clefts.
The campaign, conceptualised and executed by Tonic Worldwide for Smile Train India, is centered around the story of four beautiful women with cleft. These women have lived with apprehensions all their lives and have worn a bright lip color for the first time in their lives during the shoot of this campaign. Not just these four women, but most people born with cleft, live with apprehensions when it comes to embracing their beauty. Overall, the initiative showcases the transformative power of confidence and self-acceptance, underlining the significance of celebrating diversity and embracing every individual's unique beauty.
Talking about the campaign, Smile Train’s senior vice president and regional director for Asia Mamta Carroll said, “At Smile Train, we believe that no matter who you are or how you smile, your unique face deserves to be celebrated. As a cleft-focused organization, we work closely with cleft affected individuals as they navigate their journey from cleft to confidence. National Lipstick Day is just one such occasion to celebrate the courage of our cleft warrior women! We are delighted to partner with Tonic Worldwide to bring focus on the stigma around clefts with this unique and powerful campaign.”
“Beauty, I believe, is absolutely personal. Imagine thinking twice about wearing a fun, pop colour that you love! That’s not right. You can’t find an image of a person with a cleft wearing a bright lip colour online. That’s not right! During the shoot, it took just one person (model) to wear a bright lip colour and that brought a smile to everyones’ face. From there on, it was all excitement, laughter and pouts. It’s pretty simple, it all starts with representation - which neither makes you too bold, nor too subtle - just normal. We’ve tried to take a small step. Hope it becomes a giant leap someday,” shared Tonic Worldwide creative director Josna Joseph.
