Price Of Beauty: Jessica Says India's People Are "Comfortably Beautiful"

Last night was the “India” episode of The Price Of Beauty and Jessica Simpson and her friends got henna hand designs, helped a child with a cleft palate, and skipped over the whole “light skin is better” thing.

Jessica has worked with Operation Smile for years, so after taking a Bollywood dance lesson, visiting an ayurvedic spa and doing some laughing yoga, she met Meena, a little girl with a cleft palate.

Meena used to hide her face, but after the surgery, she told the doctor that she thinks she is beautiful now.

Later, Jessica got all dolled up and went to a Bollywood party. While the show touched on skin lightening in the Thailand episode, it was very odd that the complexion issue wasn’t mentioned in the India episode. Skin-lightening products are big business in India, and being called “black” is is the ultimate insult. India runs commercials in which nothing goes right for people with dark skin. The show had the chance to tackle or explore an actual issue with standards of beauty, but devoted time to glittery saris and Jessica snorting out water from a neti pot instead. A pretty serious missed opportunity. Next week: Africa! (Jessica freaks out about bugs.)

Earlier: Price Of Beauty: Jessica Meets An Anorexic Model
The Ugly American: Jessica Simpson’s The Price Of Beauty