A skin lightening mask is applied to the face during a demonstration for the Associated Press Tuesday, July 7, 2020, at the Skin and Body International Centre in Lenasia, Johannesburg. For years, cosmetics giants Unilever and L’Oreal have marketed skin whitening creams to women across the globe with less-than-subtle ads promoting “fair skin” as more desirable than naturally darker shades. In the wake of mass protests against racial injustice in the U.S., these corporations are re-branding their skin lightening products in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, but for generations of women raised on their messaging, the new marketing is unlikely to reverse deeply rooted prejudices around “colorism”, the idea that fair skin is better than dark skin. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)
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