Lighten Up!

The craze for lighter skin with the hundreds of creams and cosmetics being marketed to achieve it are testimony to the fact that many women dream of acquiring a fairer skin tone. What to consider to achieve a lighter, brighter skin? An Aesthetic Physician & Cosmetic Surgeon advises.

What’s the difference between skin lightening, brightening, bleaching and whitening?

Skin lightening and skin brightening are basically the same thing, it simply means rectifying dark spots and dull skin in a quick period of time. Skin whitening and skin bleaching refer to the practice of using chemical substances in an attempt to lighten skin tone or to provide an even skin complexion by lessening the concentration of melanin in the skin.

What can one do to brighten their skin?

One can do natural home remedies by controlling over exposure to sun, medications, reducing stress, and also not prolonging the use of chemical-based cosmetic products. The market is flooded with chemical-based skin lightening creams and lotions but such products have harmful chemicals that can ultimately damage the skin even though they are very expensive.

Natural products that can be frequently used include yoghurt, lime or orange juice and powdered turmeric. Honey helps to lighten the skin as well as act as a moisturising agent. Dry skin is a common factor that causes uneven skin tone. Orange is high in Vitamin C and can help even the skin, with its skin lightening properties. Turmeric has anti-inflammatory properties to help de-stress the skin. Aloe vera and honey both have properties to fade dark spots and scars.

Can diet help in whitening the skin? Of course it does. Eating less chemicals and additives helps the skin greatly. An abundance of anti-oxidants, essential enzymes and amino acids is a good balance to help the skin to be lighter and more even toned.

What can one do to help speed up the skin lightening process?

Prevention: you have to reduce sun exposure or use appropriate sun protection if sun exposure cannot be avoided. Getting to know the sun screens and sun blocks as well as knowing how long each product can efficiently protect the skin goes a long way in choosing the right sun protection.

Take anti-oxidants specific to preventing the oxidation or darkening of existing skin melanin. At the same time regulation and reduction of pigmentation is also possible with right supplements. Occasionally it may be a necessity to add on supplements that precipitate the shedding and removal of melanin laden skin cells.

What should be avoided to achieve bright, flawless skin?

Do not use uncontrolled healing products that harm the skin by removing the protective barrier of the skin, leading to skin burns and the damage of the dermis. Using too many chemicals which goes above the safety regulations for the skin can cause premature skin ageing, skin allergies e.g. contact dermatitis, eczema, etc. Some chemical ingredients such as mercury, some types of acids, hydroquinol etc when not controlled by a specialist can cause damage not just on the skin but may also harm the many organs in the body including cancer.

There are many skin whitening products, and many seem similar. How do I choose?

You can choose substances that contain Vitamin C, both oral and physical sun protection for adults that are FDA approved. Products containing acids, retinols, hydro quinone should be bought by prescriptions from medical practitioners who have license to sell such products or deliver treatments using these products. Go for oral anti-oxidants or nutritional supplements only if you know the doses and the purity of preparation of these products. Avoid buying products or supplements that do not have labels and avoid procedures like whitening or lightening done by unregistered beauty salons or practitioners.

Does Dr. Alice Total Wellness Specialist have any product for skin whitening? And how does it work?

We have internal supplements made of pure plant origin that is produced in US using cutting edge technology that contains hyaluronic acid molecules that prevent ageing of the skin cell, amino acids that keep the skin strong and prevent from skin degradation and glutathione which inhibits tyrosinase which causes the growth of melanin which is the culprit for skin darkening. Alpha-Lipoic acid enhances the whitening effect of glutathione and Silymarin improves liver function thereby enhancing the lightening effects to be long lasting on the skin.

With my concept of “beauty from within,” I greatly believe in good detoxification procedures. At Ageless Medispa, I offer regular skin detoxification that helps the skin to shed all toxins that darken the skin e.g. lead arsenic, mercury which is in all products we use in daily life. Our spa procedures use infrared and hyperbaric technologies to detoxify and oxygenate the skin. We offer whole body lightening scrubs made of all natural choice ingredients and crystal white peels also targeting skin lightening for the whole body with special emphasis on darkened or hyper pigmented areas.

For the face and neck areas we have many home care as well as depigmenting treatments done at the clinics and then lasers (dual yellow laser) for safe bleaching effects on the skin. Several IV nutritional therapies for lightening skin are also offered for more lasting results.