Is it okay to fake Vitiligo makeup for a cosplay??

Submitted ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨Cock_Inspecting_Asexual@lemmy.world⁩ to ⁨[deleted]⁩

Ok, please don’t kill me for asking this…

I’m black, and I wanna do an Afrocentric cosplay of Jeff, the Killer. I’m planning on getting dreads or braids for it, but I also thought about maybe doing some Vitiligo-type makeup for it. but idk if that’s okay to do or if that’s offensive.

I don’t have vitiligo, I never did. The reason I ask if it’s okay to imitate this is because Jeff the Killer is canonically a burn victim due to either fire or chemicals. Sometimes, if you have dark skin and get burned like that, you’ll have white patches left behind once the skin heals which look a lot like Vitiligo. I’m unsure of what lines can and cannot be crossed when it comes to doing theatrical/character makeup other than “don’t do blackface”

Im autistic, so if some of the stuff i say is offensive just be aware that wasn’t my intention, thanks!

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EleventhHour@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
I wouldn’t. What I would do instead is make convincing-looking burn scars.

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- Cock_Inspecting_Asexual@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  Burn scars on black skin make white patches tho… Especially when healed
  
  That’s why I asked <:p
  
  Tbh the more I research about burns on dark skin, the more I realize doing Vitiligo makeup is unavoidable, as burns can very much trigger vitiligo anyways.
  
  ::Image:::
  
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  - lath@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
    Depends. Which do you prefer, explaining the incorrect scars or the the correct vitiligo if needed?
    
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  - feedum_sneedson@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
    The spoiler tag hasn’t worked and that looks extremely painful.
    
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  - rowrowrowyourboat@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
    This is incorrect. This is not a healed scar at all. That’s a very fresh burnt wound exposing the flesh underneath without the melanin layer.
    
    You can literally see the wound is fresh and is peeling off. Not a healed scar.
    
    Go look up healed burn scars on black skin. The images can be pretty gruesome, but the melanin mostly returns.
    
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NekoRogue@slrpnk.net ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
I used to be really into cosplay and the cosplay community and these kinds of questions about makeup and skin color would come up regularly. And without fail, the consensus always ends up being that it’s a bad idea. The rule tends to be that you shouldn’t change your skin color unless it’s a fantasy color like purple, green, etc. It very likely will be offensive to someone. If you’re okay with offending people, that’s your choice to make. But if you do this, especially at a convention or if you post it online, there will very likely be people who are bothered by it. The fact that you felt the need to ask usually means that there will be at least a few people bothered by this.

This is a bit of an atypical situation though since you’re black and you’re portraying the character as black. You’re not portraying a different race than your own. I think that’s what bothers most people. Especially if it’s white people mimicking a different race.

But although this isn’t mimicking a different race, it is mimicking a real skin condition that people can be born with and it can be a struggle for them. People may see that as insensitive to their struggle.

Personally, I don’t think your costume idea is a major offense, and you probably won’t get too much backlash for it, especially considering that you are portraying yourself as your own race. But some people will definitely see it as an offense. If you don’t post it online, and you’re not going to a huge convention, it might not be an issue for you at all.

But if I was a person with vitilligo, I might be a lot more upset by it, especially considering that the character is a horror character meant to be scary to look at. Imagine having this disorder and running into someone at a convention who is wearing the thing you’re insecure about to look scary. It might be a bit hurtful and make them feel worse about their condition if it’s something they struggle with or have been bullied for.

Unrelated to your issue, but I saw another comment in this thread saying that portraying black characters as a cosplay is different than doing Vaudeville-style blackface, but most people in the cosplay community would disagree with that. Nobody has a problem with people playing characters who are a different race than the cosplayer, but the consensus tends to be that you shouldn’t change your skin color to do it. It’s heavily discouraged. “I can’t take off my race at the end of the day” is something I’ve heard from black cosplayers a lot when this discussion comes up.

I’ve seen white people cosplay black characters in full makeup at conventions and it doesn’t go well. A white woman cosplaying Michonne From The Walking Dead in full makeup was the talk of a con I went to once. Lots of “oh my god, did you see that? Why would she think that’s a good idea?” Changing skin color makeup is definitely a big deal in the cosplay community, and a lot of people have zero tolerance for it, even for this kind of thing.

Anyway, this has gotten very long. I’m not going to tell you what I think you should do, but I wanted to share my experiences with this. I don’t think your intentions are hurtful. But if you choose to do the costume, you need to be okay with the fact that it will very likely offend or be hurtful to some people who see any skin tone changing as completely unacceptable. Consider where you’ll be wearing it and the kind of people who might be there and make a decision from there. I don’t think it’s really very offensive, but I’m a white woman and I don’t have vitiligo so I can’t speak for everyone. I have a few mixed feelings on the issue, because it’s complicated. But personally I would rather avoid doing something potentially hurtful, even if it’s unlikely to happen, than risk upsetting someone or making them feel bad about themselves because of what I chose to do.

I hope that helps you make your decision, and I wish you good luck no matter what you decide.

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- Cock_Inspecting_Asexual@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  
  But if I was a person with vitilligo, I might be a lot more upset by it, especially considering that the character is a horror character meant to be scary to look at.
  
  jeff being burned white is not why he’s scary but alright 😭😭😭😭 Jeff the killer is “Scary” because he cut a whole smile into his face and killed off his whole family. if someone assumes the Vitiligo makeup was only added to make him “Spookier” I feel like that says more about them than me. I want the Vitiligo makeup because it adds more character to my version of Jeff The Killer. Dark skin, long black dreadlocks and these bleached white patches on his skin… It all apart of the character design, MY design. It’s cool as fuck, and if anything should be the opposite of offensive seeing more black people like me still active in the Creepypasta community.
  
  I thought over it for some weeks, and tbh- if someone is truly offended by it, 9/10 their getting offended for someone else, or are getting themselves mad over what deadass isnt that offensive at all.
  
  I feel like this sorta goes back to that whole thing of just white people(dont kill me for saying this it’s just an anecdotal observation ;w;) being offended for something that fr doesnt effect them, no offense… Jeff’s skin being pale is not his horror aspect, if people really knew who he was, then they’d know that and just respect the choice I made on the cosplay. This is like going to see a certain movie or a haunted house and then being offended because someone has on Burn-victim makeup/SFX scar makeup. I always thought It’s weird asf for people to just kinda- pick and choose what they wanna be offended by and what they dont. Like If I wear blinding white eye contacts; the ones that make you look like you have no iris, that your eyes are blind or all white; I’m not mocking those who already have blind eyes, it’s a cosmetic and nothing more, especially if its just for a goofy little cosplay like a ghost or Storm from X-men.
  
  Offensive is me wearing the makeup without the cosplay, putting on white splotches and scar tissue SFX and then just walking around like that in public where there is no convention; It wouldnt be in a costume either, it’d just be the makeup. That I can understand, cus unless it’s just to see how convincing you can make your SFX makeup look, there’s no real reason for someone to be doing that tbh, and if they wanted to spook people, there’s plenty of other wounds and scars they could go with.
  
  “I saw another comment in this thread saying that portraying black characters as a cosplay is different than doing Vaudeville-style blackface, but most people in the cosplay community would disagree with that. Nobody has a problem with people playing characters who are a different race than the cosplayer, but the consensus tends to be that you shouldn’t change your skin color to do it. It’s heavily discouraged. “I can’t take off my race at the end of the day” is something I’ve heard from black cosplayers a lot when this discussion comes up.”
  
  Me putting white splotches on my skin to portray a character that is a burn victim of some kind or that they had had lost melanin on some parts of their body body due to a traumatic injury to their skin ain’t changing my race tho 😭 Like- I’m still black, I’m just applying small splotches of pale colored scar tissue to my face to look as though I’d been affected by a bleach attack… Which jeff was. His skin was bleached and set on fire. I’m not painting my whole face white XDDD that’d defeat the purpose of me making it afro-centric.
  
  The rule tends to be that you shouldn’t change your skin color unless it’s a fantasy color like purple, green, etc. It very likely will be offensive to someone. Technically blue skin can also be considered offensive, as there are people in this world with blue skin, The Blue Fugates come to mind. But I don’t think any of them care at all about someone painting themselves blue so they can look like papa smurf.
  
  To be honest, I’m not really sure why I asked in the first place 😭😭 I think I was just really paranoid at the time and thats why I hurriedly went and made this post. My general existence is an offense to most people by default, so me doing some funky makeup ain’t gonna make much of a difference in that fact XD I’m cosplaying a fictional emo serial killer, any effort of being tasteful then is now automatically lost by that fact
  
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- Randomgal@lemmy.ca ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Bro that’s crazy.
  
  TL&DR: Cosplay your own or fantasy colors. Probably no issue with burn-mark makeup. (Think Freddy Kruger but tasteful)
  
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  - Cock_Inspecting_Asexual@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    how tf does one make Freddy Kruegar tasteful? /g
    
    his whole existence is centered around him hunting down and killing little kids
    
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YaDownWitCPP@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
I know who I am! I’m a dude playing the dude, disguised as another dude!!

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waz@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
I have vitaligo. I’m just one person, but I wouldn’t care. Though, perhaps I’m not the best person to ask. Sometimes I forget about it until someone else makes an awkward comment. Personally, I think it’s kinda cool.

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- Cock_Inspecting_Asexual@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  THIS- FUCKING- FINALLY GOOD LORD.
  
  I really dunno why I asked cus like- 9/10 the people saying “ouuh uhmm, that could really hurt someone feelings” or that it’d hurt their feelings are either white or don’t have vitiligo. This question woulda been better if I’d ask about it in a black community but there’s not a lot of active ones here on lemmy it seems like? idk
  
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CaptDust@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
I think it sounds like a cool spin on the character and you should do it. You’re not faking vitiligo, you’re faking burns, and I agree with your assessment that skin will look like that while healing… chances of anyone getting upset about this seems low.

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- pearsaltchocolatebar@discuss.online ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  It’s 2024. Tons of people these days are just searching for reasons to get outraged for no legitimate reason what so ever.
  
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  - imPastaSyndrome@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
    
    it’s year
    
    Yeah so it’s the same as it’s ever been
    
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  - Cock_Inspecting_Asexual@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
    I’m curious what they’d call me if I am being offensive.
    
    Ableist? - I got severe learning disabilities Racist? - ??? … I ran out of 'ism words
    
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- Cock_Inspecting_Asexual@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  If someone fr got an issue with my makeup IRL I might have to pop off on someone tbh 😭😭😭
  
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Anticorp@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
You’re playing a character with burn scars. Yes, you should use burn makeup. End of story.

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Sundial@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
If it’s true to the character the I don’t see a problem with it. The whole issue with things like blackface is more of an issue with stereotypes and racial profiling that are typically associated with it. This isn’t a race thing, so I don’t see that being a problem here. You’re just cosplaying a character you like.

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- Glide@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  Right. People fail to recognize that blackface is a practice created by white people to entertain other white people by making fun of black people, portraying them as stupid and uncultured. While I think asking questions about what is and isn’t okay is good practice, there’s no cultural history connected to what OP is asking if he should do. That said, I am not someone with the skin conditions in question, so I’m not the one to decide whether it is “fine”.
  
  I do want to offer the argument that you should do your best not to give people opportunities to miscontrue your intent. You are correct that, in some cases, black burn victims can have lighter patches of skin where they were burned, but this is both not universal and not an experience everyone will have had. If you’re making a cosplay that requires a bit of mental work on the viewers behalf, you probably don’t also want it to be a cosplay which could be perceived as insensitive if people fail to make those connections or put in that work.
  
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- Cock_Inspecting_Asexual@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  JTK Is white, so his burn scars are way different than how they’d be on white skin. In fact, his burns are the reason he’s paper white to begin with
  
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feedum_sneedson@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
Think about it this way - it’s okay this year.

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Boomkop3@reddthat.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
Hi, I’m white and autistic. I think that’s a really cool idea!

If you’re worried people might get the wrong idea, you could attenuate the scars with a red edge or something to make it look more like a scar/wound

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Gradually_Adjusting@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
I tend to be pretty sensitive about that kind of thing, and it doesn’t get my hackles up at all. Not familiar with the character though either. If there are people who you can trust, do a test run of the cosplay and show them pictures, see how they feel. It’s going to depend on the exact vibes, yanno?

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- Cock_Inspecting_Asexual@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Image
  
  Image
  
  On the left is Fanon JTK and the right is a more lore accurate version of him.
  
  Every character in the creepypasta fandom so far is paper white, and if they arent white then their some inhuman color or a beast… For years, the fandom has always been dominated by WHITE people :p. so all of the characters are white or European in some way
  
  In his origin story, we was caught in a fight with one of his bullies when the bully has splashed jeff’s face with bleach before lighting him on fire. After healing up and taking off the bandages, dude went nuts about how “beautiful” he was, before cutting off his eyelids so he wouldnt sleep and slicing a smile into his face. After that, he killed his family and did some other spooky shit ig.
  
  The vitiligo makeup is a design choice that I MADE. I wanted him to have an afro-centric look to him. to replace the scene hairstyle with large, matted dreads, and to add white splotches or scars to his skin. It was after the accident that the dude snapped due to his face no longer looking like his face. thats why I wanted to add areas of white scare tissue or vitiligo to his skin. I’m not doing it just cause, I’m doing it cus im black, and being able to put my own afro-centric spin on things, on a fandom that I like thats only really been dominated by white characters, is cool as shit to me. The vitiligo appearance is just another Black design choice I made cus its cool asf, it’s accurate to how dark skin can react from certain injuries, and just an overall look that is unique to version of Jeff the Killer. In my mind, if I was him and was burned the same way he was; my black skin was now covered with various A-symmetrical, leathery white splotches; yea I’d prolly go crazy too. This is how I interoperated my race-swapped version of em
  
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  - Gradually_Adjusting@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    I really love the thinking behind the idea, and it sounds like a striking image. I’d say go for it. Still best to get a test run in with some feedback; same as any new cosplay. Hope you end up wanting to share somewhere on Lemmy when you do it
    
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HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
I mean, let’s think less about the world at large and think about the audience in particular for your costume. Do the people who are going to see your costume, them specifically, are they going to get upset if you don’t quite nail the line between scar tissue and vitiligo? Or are they going to give you high fives on your awesome costume and makeup job? (I think it’s gonna be the second one, just personally but you would know better than me)

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- Cock_Inspecting_Asexual@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  i think most people aint even gonna know who i am- Creepypasta fell out of relevancy :(((
  
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Countess425@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
I feel like if you’re unsure enough to ask the Internet about something like this, the safest bet is to just not do it.

Sounds like you’re gonna do it anyway, tho, so good luck.

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- SlothMama@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  Such weird reasoning - people ask because they don’t know outside of their own limited perspective and what they can infer from their idea of the values of their peers.
  
  You should absolutely ask, no shame.
  
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- Cock_Inspecting_Asexual@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  eyup.
  
  usually people who are offended by what I say or do are white. I dont really know why I asked this question knowing how sensitive some people can be.
  
  Context: I make a lotta slave/black stereotype jokes towards myself, I remember a friend of mine showing me this picture of a baby monkey and my immediate response was “Damn how’d you get ahold of my baby pictures??” It was funny asf to most, but one person was like “UHH UHH I DUNNO IF IM ALLOWED TO LAUGH AT THAT- UHHHH”
  
  ima just do my thing anyways lmao. especially cus the people who do got Vitiligo have commented here saying the dont gaf and that its cool. B )
  
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broton33@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
I think you’re OK as long as you’re genuine and respectful. It sounds like you’re interested in this character and share your interest in the story with others (so they can be in on your fun too). Go for it, it’s your life :)

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- Cock_Inspecting_Asexual@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  Yessssssss. i always loved creepypasta as a kid. Sadly, being in fandoms like those were seen as a “White people” kinda thing. There weren’t any black creepypastas to even begin with tbh… I’m hoping my cosplay may spark some interest in both the community and with other black folks :3
  
  I also just love adding my own spin on stuff when I can (＾ｖ＾)
  
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Zelaf@sopuli.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
You can get a white friend to do a side-character of a person that ran away from the fire getting charred.

Maybe it’ll turn into that one scrubs flashback

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Nemo@slrpnk.net ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
I wouldn’t, that’s for sure.

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- Cock_Inspecting_Asexual@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  Im gonna do it-
  
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  - Nemo@slrpnk.net ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
    to quote E40:
    
    everybody got choices
    
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- atlas@sh.itjust.works ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Why? It’s not a debilitating disease, he’s not making fun of it, just representing a character. I genuinely don’t see why people take issue with this. I’ve got vitiligo and I love to see it represented in fictional characters and I’d for sure love to see how OP manages to do it
  
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  - Cock_Inspecting_Asexual@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    im taking the steps to make itt a reality, its gunna be lit B )
    
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Aarrodri@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
Yes

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aamram@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
I’m a man from the old world and I really don’t understand these questions. Everybody is offended by something nowadays.

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AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
Just do it subtly enough that you notice the character first and the vitiligo second.

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- Cock_Inspecting_Asexual@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  Dunno how they wouldnt notice the red eye contacts, the bloodied knife and hoodie, and the cut smile on my face before going “oh hey that kinda looks like Vitiligo” but I’ll try!!
  
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sunbrrnslapper@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
My mom has vitiligo and this doesn’t seem like it offensive, since it is part of a larger costume. Probably ok at a costume party with close friends or in play.

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JackbyDev@programming.dev ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
Are you trying to make it look like vitiligo or just make your face super pale? If you make it look super pale and uniform I don’t think anyone is going to question it.

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EABOD25@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
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- Cock_Inspecting_Asexual@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  If its burn scars, then no. Its not offensive, its scar makeup/SFW.
  
  Offensive is when you paint your entire skin brown or try to paint yourself as a different race to play a character.
  
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