Since the time we learned to appreciate beauty, a clear, bright skin, glowing and radiant has been the quest of most women. Even before the fairness, skin-whitening, or skin-lightening creams came into existence, women and even men used herbs and natural plant extracts as face packs and masks to get an even complexion.

In fact our age old recipes from Ayurveda have solutions to get whiter skin. The popular Kumkumadi taila – an admixture of floral, fruits and herbal extracts in base oil – is meant to clear skin and make it brighter. If you see our traditional pre bridal and skin care ingredients like sandalwood, turmeric, lentil paste, saffron, and milk cream all have some bleaching affect on the skin leading to lighter, clearer tone.

Today’s skin-whitening or skin-lightening products are no different. Despite the ethical issues that they seem to raise, what most of these creams do is give you a clearer, brighter complexion. While you cannot become white or lighten significantly (whatever may be the claims), the whitening skin care regime basically helps the skin rejuvenate by protecting it from the sun.

Set expectations right

There is nothing really wrong about using skin whitening products or treatments. They basically improve skin’s condition. Once blemishes and patchiness is reduced in our skin, it looks better and fairer. That’s what skin whitening treatments do. Obviously if you are a dusky woman you cannot have a pinkish white complexion, but you can definitely go two to three shades lighter.

When using a skin-whitening beauty care regime, you must remember your genetic background. If you are dusky because of your DNA makeup, no amount of fairness creams can make you white. What it can definitely do though is even out your pigment– many dark skinned and medium toned women in India suffer from hyper pigmentation or patchy skin tone.

Uneven pigmentation affects most people, regardless of ethnic background or skin colour. Skin appears lighter or darker than normal; there may be blotchy, uneven areas, patches of brown to gray discoloration or brown spots.

Uneven pigmentation occurs when our body produces either too much or too little melanin. When there is an imbalance in the melanin production triggered by sun, stress, or hormones, it shows on our skin.

The actives that work

Most skin whitening creams have two main ingredients – the sunscreen and a melanin inhibitor. The two together work to keep skin even toned. The sunscreen bars the rays from acting on the melanin, while the melanin inhibitors prevent excess pigments from forming, thus giving skin a lighter tone.