‘FAIR AND LOVELY’

L’Oreal Promises to Remove Words Like ‘Whitening,’ ‘Lightening’ From Beauty Products

Unilever also promised to rename its popular skin lightening cream in India and Bangladesh.

Cosmetics giant L’Oreal announced Saturday that it would remove “whitening” and other similar descriptors from its skincare products as anti-racism demonstrations continue around the world in the wake of the death of George Floyd. “The L’Oréal Group has decided to remove the words white/whitening, fair/fairness, light/lightening from all its skin evening products,” the company said in a statement. Unilever’s Indian and Bangladeshi branches similarly promised to rename its popular “Fair and Lovely” skin-lightening cream. Recent protests over racial injustice have induced consumer brands across industries and across the world to change products rooted in racial stereotypes.