Identifying Injustice w/ Ina

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Ina Navaro is an edgy-ethereal makeup artist whose online presence is marked by monikers, memes and brightly-colored beats. “The Bolinao Beauty” has been serving selfies since 2016 highlighting a style of makeup that’s influenced by shades and scenery. Crediting her culture and parent’s plant passion with influencing her most recent looks, Ina is definitely a product of her environment. “Most of all I'm inspired by my own art and colors I like!”, she said. Ina reminds us, through her work on online presence, that style is everything and fearlessness is ultimately what leads to true success - in any space.

When asked about her experience in regards to building a brand (online), Ina admirably denied the deed. “I definitely don't think I've ‘built a brand’, I don't necessarily focus on just makeup...for the most part, I'm just sharing my art and thoughts, and I pull in people with similar interests. So, I guess my answer is I don't actively build a brand.” E-commerce and branding site, Oberlo reported that 3.5 billion people use social media. It’s safe to say, based on how often we scroll past an ad or other forms of call-to-action, that a significant number of users are starting to or in the middle of building a brand online. And, when you get into how many of these users are building a beauty brand, specifically, it makes you wonder why beauty still has a color problem.

Ina was inspired to wear makeup by her sister, but now she wears it for self-expression and social justice. As a brown skin, Asian-American makeup artist, Ina has seen very little representation in the mainstream, beauty industry which led her to the all-too-common regimen of bleaching. “I used to use skin-whitening products, but when I realized the physical and emotional harm it caused, I made it my goal to show off my brown skin against bright colorful eye look - hoping to inspire others from my culture to stop whitening their skin.” As we know, lighter skin is not just a beauty industry issue, but beauty ads are what many of us have admired and measure ourselves to all our lives. Ina now uses her social media platforms to “put an emphasis on intersectionality” and the anti-blackness in her culture by highlighting the makeup artistry of Black women, other artists of color as well as her own.

Her inspirations include Pat McGrath and the array of makeup looks that Beyoncé has rocked over the years. Over the last year, Ina has not only been doing her own makeup, but that of her family and friends. Beauty continues to serve as an escape for the Portland-based artivist who recently became a part-time student, due to COVID-19. “It’s my way of coping with the stress and frustration of moving to online classes...and showing that morenas can be beautiful in a skin-bleaching culture.” You can enjoy her transparent and hilarious posts via Instagram and Twitter @jollibeauty .