Vanessa Hudgens was left shocked when an Asian makeup artist tried to make her skin look like porcelain.

The 34-year-old actress wants everyone to know she is Filipino and one way she does that is by showing off her natural skin colour.

Speaking to Allure, she said of the "beauty culture shock": “I looked in the mirror and I was like, ‘Ohhh!’.

“They were about porcelain skin, which is definitely a choice — not necessarily my choice. I want to be a bronze beauty. The tanner, I am the happier I am, and the healthier I look and feel, so that isn't my bag, really."

The KNOW Beauty co-founder is hoping to use ingredients from the Philippines in her skincare line.

She said: "I just love looking to nature to find ingredients.

“There's so much that Mother Nature has for us.”

Asked if she will be sourcing ingredients from her mom's nation, she replied that it's “something that's being thrown around by me, constantly, and we’re working towards.”

Due to her 'High School Musical' alter ego being called Gabriella Montez, people used to assume that Vanessa was Latina.

She shared: “Obviously, I became famous for High School Musical. And my character is Gabriella Montez, so everyone automatically assumed that I was Latina, and most people still do. And when I tell them I’m Filipino, they’re like, ‘What?!’ You haven’t met my mother. I think that I’m quite ambiguous so people don’t really know. But I am doing everything that I can to let people know, because I am proud.”