A major American cosmetics brand, has just named Muslim vlogger >Nura Afia as its latest ambassador. Afia, who is of Lebanese, Moroccan and Swiss descent, will represent CoverGirl in the launch of the So Lashy! BlastPro mascara.
The Youtube beauty blogger, with over 200,000 subscribers, is best known for her makeup tutorials in a hijab.
"It feels so surreal. I never thought I would see Muslim women represented on such a large scale," she tells Glamour.
Taking over billboards around Times Square, Afia's is not a face you're used to seeing in the world's most famous commercial intersection.
She's just joined the ranks of CoverGirl's other ambassadors including Sofia Vergara, Taylor Swift, Queen Latifah and Katy Perry.
CoverGirl is in heated competition with L'Oreal's Maybelline line and has shifted its focus to promoting “ target="_blank">inclusive beauty”.
The campaign supports “any and all types— from skin types to lash types”.
It recently featured a gender-nonconforming boy, who’s also a part of the So Lashy! BlastPro mascara campaign.
>"I hope [this campaign] will show Muslim women that brands care about us as consumers and we're important, especially hijabis," >Afia said, according to >Refinery29>.>
>"[We] can be featured on TV, [we] can be featured on billboards in Times Square. [We] can be represented."
US advertisement has made large strides in representing hijabi women of late.
This September, PlayBoy magazine featured a hijabi woman for the first time. Another hijabi also recently made the cover of a major fitness magazine, Woman's Running Magazine.