Face-kini Keeps Chinese People Fair: The latest craze in China is a new beach style: the face-kini.
The face-kini looks similar to a ski mask but instead of keeping the face warm during winter, it keeps the sun off the skin in the summer.
In China, fairer skin is considered more beautiful, so the face-kini will keep even the most avid beach-goer fair-faced.
The idea is likely the result of natural cultural progression. By Chinese reckoning, tanner skin is a result of working outside in the fields, while paler skin results from wealth or professionalism — as neither would require long exposure to the sun.
This agrarian ideal is maintained in the culture today, even as many Chinese people leave the farms and move to urban areas. While umbrellas and long pants are common on a sunny day, the face-kini is the next step in keeping the skin pale and perfect. via NBC News
