Crème Siamoise Advertisement
Crème Siamoise is a skincare advertisement from Lucien Berthet & Cie in the issue of Phụ nữ tân vă, an influential women's newspaper published in Saigon. This cream has two compartments for daily and nightly usage to whiten the skin and smooth out blemishes.
Throughout history, a common beauty standard in Vietnam, and other Asian countries such as Japan and China, is to have whiter skin because it was associated with the higher class. Since the upper class stayed indoors, they were less exposed to the sun's rays, unlike the lower class, and thus were naturally lighter.
National Library of Vietnam