One skin care ideal that has changed over time is skin color. American ideals of skin health have always been tied to problematic ideas about race and economic class. White Americans have idealized a pale complexion for most of American history. A pale, creamy complexion and smooth, white hands not only signified that one was racially white, they also demonstrated one’s wealth by implying that a man—but far more importantly a woman—did not perform manual labor or work outside in the…