L'Oreal denies lightening Freida Pinto image for ad campaign

French cosmetics brand L'Oreal has denied allegations that Freida Pinto's skin tone was lightened in its latest campaign.

According to masala.com, the cosmetics giant issued a statement on the issue:

"L'Oreal Paris strongly reiterates that Freida Pinto's skin-tone in the campaign has not been altered in any way.

"This campaign was meant to highlight Freida Pinto's make-up colours applied on her eyes and lips. Thus, some powerful studio lights with ring-flash have been used for this purpose to create a runway effect on the picture. There has been no whitening retouching process whatsoever on her face."

The Slumdog Millionaire actress has been a L'Oreal Paris spokesperson since 2009.

This is not the first time the cosmetics brand has been accused of lightening the skin tones of its models. Recently, the brand was accused for using airbrushed pictures of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.