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June has come, which means summer is just around the corner (in the northern hemisphere at least)! While Westerners rejoice at the chance to work on their golden brown tans, their Asian counterparts have a completely different take on health and skin tone, and want nothing more than to avoid the sun’s harsh rays.

No one, even the most vehement proponents of milky-white skin, can avoid the lure of the sea or pools on hot summer days, however, so they’ve turned to the help of the Facekini, a ski-mask-esque sun cover-up that emerged in 2006 and was thought to become the next big trend.

While it hasn’t quite taken over the globe yet, the new generation of masks are sure to get the attention of the fashion world with their wild Beijing Opera-inspired designs.

▼ For those unaccustomed to the head accessories that have been popular in China since their debut in 2006, they may look pretty really silly.

[tweet https://twitter.com/kurisumakise15/status/502302628286431232 align=center]

In Asian countries such as Japan and China, pure-white skin is considered the essence of beauty. It’s common to see women walking with parasols, and getting a suntan is considered just as undesirable as a bad burn. Sometimes, peroxide-enhanced sun screen is just not enough to keep your body from producing that pesky skin-darkening melanin, though.

So, what’s stronger than sun screen? Shade. How do you swim at the beach and still shade your skin? Wear more UV resistant clothes and facekinis so that nearly none of your skin is left exposed to the evil, evil sun.

▼ The fit has been improving with every generation.

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Dissatisfied with the current models of facekinis, designer Zhang Shifan has designed the fourth generation to have the comfort of the improved triangular tailoring from the third-generation, yet she has added something a little more fun and unusual.

Instead of the solid colored options available until now, she has taken inspiration from the famous Beijing Opera to create facekinis that are colorfully gaudy.

▼ Who wouldn’t want to go to the beach looking like this?!

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▼ Zhang revealed her new designs at the 13th China International Marine Fair and Boat Show in Shandong Province.

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Facekinis may not yet be the desired product for Westerners this summer, but those seeking to keep their fair complexion should probably look into getting a couple of these wild opera mask facekinis, which are due to go on sale later this summer. We just hope the sun doesn’t penetrate the white areas of the mask more than the dark and leave crazy tanned patterns on your face; that would be worse than an even toasting!

▼ If you’re going to wear a facekini, you might as well make a statement while you’re at it!

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Source: Oddity Central, Shanghaiist
Images: Qingdao News via Shanghaiist, Wild China