Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Skin Lightening Creams



I just wanted to take a moment and write my thoughts on the many skin lightening creams that are on the market and how I ALMOST got sucked into it.

People bleach their skin for many different reasons. Some just to get rid of some marks and some because they want a completely different skin tone than what they were born with. I can understand wanting to get rid of dark marks but I can't understand wanting to completely change your skin tone. Whatever your skin tone may be, it is beautiful and you should rock it with pride. I've seen some slide shows on youtube that make me want to cry. Women with gorgeous skin tones that destroy their skin and end up looking....scary.

Now having said that I have tried some of those creams. Back in high school I would sometimes get a  leftover dark mark from the occasional pimple. So I picked up the AMBI fade cream If I remember correctly I went through a whole tube of the stuff. I would apply it on each spot. I guess I got results. They weren't miraculous results but I did see a difference from when I didn't use the cream.

Using those creams to bleach your skin is an entirely different thing from trying to lighten dark spots though.

I was doing a little research on the ingredient that is used to lighten the dark spots and it's something called hydroquinone. Which seems to have been banned in a couple countries.

I read a couple other things on it. Supposedly it thins the skin and destroys skin cells. Ive read that for some women that use it over an extended period of time, it can discolor the skin a blue black shade. Of course it said that was only with prolonged exposure. I've also read that it ages the skin prematurely.

I don't think it's very harmful if you are using it as a spot treatment but at the same time it just doesn't sit well with me. Back in high school, I didn't really take the time to research what I was putting on my skin-if I had I probably would not have used it.  I'm one of those people that is easily scared from   from side effects. You know how you watch a commercial and the product helps treat one problem like dry eyes-then they read the side effects which include all types of craziness (your eyeball might spontaneously fall out, you might think it's a good idea to jump off a bridge, you may break out in random bright purple spots etc)? They may have a 2% percent chance of happening but I don't care. I'm still not touching the stuff! That's how I feel about hydroquinone.

Plus, I've found natural ways of lightening my dark marks. Cocoa Butter and Turmeric Face Masks have been working wonders. It takes time though. But in the meantime that's what they make concealer for!

I did try the Clinique Dark Spot Corrector not too long ago. Unfortunately, it really didn't do much for my skin. There is no bleaching ingredient in it but then at the same time I didn't really look into what was actually in it (FAIL). .I did notice brighter skin....but at $50 I wouldn't recommend it. Luckily I didn't pay anything for it.

Of course, deciding to use bleaching creams is a personal decision. I've seen many success stories that sometimes make me want to try it, but I decided to try the natural route. That seems to work better for me. I have found a couple lemon face masks that are supposed to help lighten dark marks too! I will try them out and report back....

How do you feel about Skin Bleaching? Have you ever used one of those fade creams? Did it work for you?

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