Common causes of skin darkening as we age
Skin color at birth is an indicator of each person’s original shade before environmental and lifestyle factors could have an effect.
Going under the scalpel and using bleach creams in Mumbai
The desire to look European is deeply rooted in India’s history and psyche because of centuries of British colonialism and subjugation. “We were ruled for 200 years by white people so it shows that a certain amount of power came with being white. White is beautiful. And beauty is power, right?”
How taking extra Vitamin C lightens skin
The saying “one thing leads to another” is especially true of Vitamin C. Ingesting Vitamin C doesn’t just increase Vitamin C levels in our blood, but also two important antioxidants -– glutathione and Vitamin E.
Hydroquinone is not for long-term use
Some skin lightening ingredients work well in the short term, but damages skin when used over a longer period of time. Hydroquinone is one of them.
Bleaching in some parts of Africa is nothing less than a way of life
Women are known to have strict regimes where they take anything up to half an hour in the morning and evening smearing themselves with powerful soaps and creams in an effort to attain their ideal image of black beauty.
Do not use monobenzone if you don’t have vitiligo
Monobenzone may be the worst thing that anyone without vitiligo can use.
“Bleaching destroyed my skin”
Carlene from Kingston, Jamaica, has been bleaching her skin for three years. She uses skin lightening creams popular with many Afro-Caribbeans, despite repeated health warnings. After three years, she stopped because it gave her stretch marks on her hands and parts of her body.
In some communities in the US, skin bleaching products remain popular
In Hartford, Connecticut, shopkeepers see demand for skin whitening products among their African and West Indian customers.