Fair & Lovely was a major South Asian skincare brand best known for its facial creams marketed around the idea of achieving a lighter, more even-looking complexion. It was developed and marketed by Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), the Indian subsidiary of Unilever. The brand was introduced in India in 1975 and subsequently became one of the best-known products in the region’s skin-lightening market. 1

In 2020, Fair & Lovely was renamed Glow & Lovely as part of a major repositioning intended to move away from language associated with fairness and a single ideal of beauty. HUL described the rebranding as part of a more inclusive vision of beauty. 2

Fair & Lovely was particularly prominent in India and other South Asian markets, and products under the brand were also sold in countries including Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. 3

Origins

The brand dates to the early development of modern mass-market skincare products in India. Unilever patented the Fair & Lovely brand in 1971, and the product was introduced commercially in India in 1975. Its formulation and marketing were built around skincare ingredients and the perceived cosmetic benefits of reducing the appearance of pigmentation and producing a lighter-looking complexion.

Its rise coincided with a large consumer market for fairness and skin-lightening products in South Asia. Fair & Lovely became particularly successful because it combined relatively inexpensive mass-market cosmetics with extensive advertising and distribution.

Expansion

During the following decades, Fair & Lovely expanded beyond a single cream into a broader skincare brand. Different formulations and variants were introduced, while the brand became a familiar presence in supermarkets, pharmacies and small retail stores throughout South Asia.

Advertising was an especially important part of its growth. Campaigns frequently presented a narrative in which a woman’s lighter complexion was associated with increased confidence, attractiveness, social acceptance or professional opportunities.

For much of its history, Fair & Lovely’s identity was explicitly connected to “fairness.”

A typical advertising narrative involved a woman experiencing some form of social or professional disadvantage and subsequently becoming more confident or successful after using the product. The advertisements therefore did more than promote skincare: they connected physical complexion with ideas about beauty, confidence and success.

This approach was commercially effective, but critics argued that it reinforced colorism—the preferential treatment of people with lighter skin within a society or community.

The most important event in the modern history of the brand occurred in 2020.

On 25 June 2020, Unilever announced that it would remove the word “Fair” from the Fair & Lovely brand. 5

On 2 July 2020, Hindustan Unilever announced the new name:

Glow & Lovely

The company also announced Glow & Handsome for its corresponding men’s skincare product. Products bearing the new name were expected to reach stores over the following months.

The rebranding was intended to shift the brand’s positioning from fairness/lightening toward glow, radiance and skincare.

HUL subsequently described the transformation of Fair & Lovely into Glow & Lovely as part of its effort to promote a more inclusive vision of beauty.

The name change can be understood as a response to several overlapping developments:

1.

1. Changing beauty standards — There was increasing demand for advertising that represented a wider range of skin tones.

2. Global racial-justice discussions — The 2020 Black Lives Matter movement intensified scrutiny of brands whose marketing could be interpreted as privileging lighter skin.

3. Changing consumer expectations — Beauty companies increasingly began replacing words such as fair, white and whitening with terms such as glow and even. 6

Historically, Fair & Lovely was primarily positioned as a skin-lightening/fairness cream.

Its formulations and variants changed over time, but the brand’s central proposition traditionally revolved around improving the appearance of complexion.

Following the rebranding, Glow & Lovely adopted a more contemporary skincare-oriented vocabulary. HUL later described the brand as having been relaunched with a sharper product proposition and updated packaging, while also introducing formats such as powder-finish cream and sunscreen products.

Thus, the fundamental evolution can be summarized as:

Fair & Lovely → fairness/lightening → Glow & Lovely → glow/radiance/skincare

Interestingly, Fair & Lovely’s identity was not limited to cosmetics.

Unilever also attempted to associate the brand with women’s education, careers and economic empowerment.

For example, the company launched the Fair & Lovely Career Foundation in 2017. The initiative sought to address barriers preventing women from accessing skills and employment opportunities. Unilever reported that more than 700,000 women had registered for services provided through the platform at the time of its 2019 report. 7

In Indonesia, the brand was also associated with the Fair & Lovely Bintang Beasiswa scholarship program, conducted in collaboration with the Hoshizora Foundation to support Indonesian women pursuing education. A 2020 Unilever Indonesia report described the program as being in its fourth year.

Fair & Lovely became much more than an individual cosmetic product. It became a cultural symbol in discussions about colorism and beauty standards in South Asia.

Its enormous visibility made it an easy example for both sides of the debate:

• Supporters/consumers viewed it as an ordinary cosmetic product that could improve the appearance of their complexion.

• Critics argued that its historical advertising encouraged people to associate lighter skin with attractiveness, confidence and success.

• Unilever ultimately attempted to separate the brand from the concept of “fairness” by changing its name and marketing language.

Consequently, the Fair & Lovely story is often discussed not simply as a cosmetics-business case, but as an example of how commercial advertising can interact with deeply rooted social attitudes about skin color.

Fair & Lovely was part of the Hindustan Unilever portfolio. HUL is the Indian subsidiary of Unilever, one of the world’s largest consumer-goods companies.

The company has historically marketed a very large portfolio of household, personal-care and beauty brands in India. Fair & Lovely was one of HUL’s most recognizable beauty brands and became particularly significant in the South Asian skincare market.

1971 — Unilever patents the Fair & Lovely brand.

1975 — Fair & Lovely is introduced in India.

1980s–2000s — The brand expands its distribution and advertising throughout South Asia and becomes a major mass-market skincare brand.

2017 — The Fair & Lovely Career Foundation is launched to support women’s career development.

June 2020 — Unilever announces that it will remove “Fair” from the brand name. 8

July 2020 — Hindustan Unilever announces Glow & Lovely as the replacement name. 9

2020s — Glow & Lovely continues as the successor brand, with updated positioning and product formats. 10

The legacy of Fair & Lovely is complicated.

From a business perspective, it was an exceptionally successful mass-market skincare brand that achieved enormous recognition across South Asia.

From a cultural perspective, Fair & Lovely became closely associated with the debate over colorism, skin-lightening and the representation of beauty in advertising.

And from a brand-management perspective, its transformation into Glow & Lovely is a notable example of a multinational company attempting to reposition a longstanding brand after its original messaging became increasingly difficult to reconcile with changing social expectations.

Its 2020 transformation into Glow & Lovely marked a major shift from the explicit ideal of “fairness” toward a language of “glow” and more inclusive beauty.** 11

1. Glow & Lovely
2. Unilever to drop ‘Fair & Lovely’ skin lightening product name
3. Unilever to rename ‘Fair & Lovely’ cream to ‘Glow & Lovely’ | Lifestyle News – The Indian Express
4. Unilever’s ‘Fair & Lovely’ to get makeover after backlash – FashionNetwork USA
5. Unilever’s India unit to rebrand ‘Fair & Lovely’ cream to ‘Glow & Lovely’ By Reuters
6. Purpose-driven brand Fair & Lovely empowers women
7. Fair & Lovely (Glow & Lovely)– India’s Iconic Skincare Rebrand
8. Fair & Lovely’ to be rebranded as ‘Glow & Lovely
9. HUL’s ‘Fair & Lovely’ is now ‘Glow & Lovely
10. Unilever’s India unit to rebrand ‘Fair & Lovely’ cream to ‘Glow & Lovely
11. HUL’s Fair & Lovely to be renamed ‘Glow & Lovely – The Economic Times