SKIN LIGHTENING
Skin lighteners are used to achieve a uniform skin tone by lightening the appearance of uneven areas and dark spots. The product can also be used to brighten the overall complexion by lightening the appearance of sun damaged skin. Many skin lighteners contain an active ingredient called hydroquinone, which for African Americans can be extremely damaging if used improperly.
Today there are more and more natural skin lighteners popping up on the market that are considered safe to use on dark skin tones (RX for Brown Skin, Makari, The all new Ambi Soft and Even) just to name a few.
To the left, to the left you see a picture of Beyonce Knowles who appears to be using some form of skin lightener. While I’m not one that should pass judgement, it’s obvious that her uses of the product are not what they should be. Without even looking closely you see where her face is at-least 2 shades lighter than the rest of her body. That’s just wrong! Skin Care Sin #9 = Apply skin lightening products all over the face instead of on darker areas.
We all know that women of color have a limited number of foundation selections to match our skin tone, but I seriously doubt that is the case here.
I’ve bypassed the topic of skin lighteners and hydroquinone in the past for many reasons. The main reason being there are far too many racial issues behind it’s use. Simply put, it’s just too damn depressing to discuss dark skin people wanting to be whiter to appeal to the masses.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with wanting an even skin tone. We all do! Skin lightening products are wonderful in the help of achieving even complexions. However, if people have to resort to using such products to drastically change the appearance of their true skin color just because they feel they are too dark, then it really becomes a problem. The problem being self hate!!!
I can only encourage people to love the skin they’re in. We are all made to be beautiful regardless of what color we are. White is not always right.
STAY TRUE
